A Family "Affear"

The disabling condition agoraphobia with panic disorder is explored across the life spans of three individuals who are related: 63 year old Grandmother, 43 year old Mother, and 23 year old Son. As their life stories are told, glimpses of experienced stigma, emotional management, creation of identities, and coping mechanisms are revealed. These are analyzed using the sociological theories of Goffman, Ellis, Cahill, and Davidson. The notion of nature versus nurture is most apparent in Son's story which details the effects of growing up with Grandmother's severe agoraphobic episodes. While each individual does have similarities in their experience of this disorder, nevertheless they each cope and manage in very different ways. I look at my own experience with the disorder, provide the definition, etiology, and risk factors, as well as the prevalence of the disorder, and how it affects the individuals' quality of life. Of particular interest is Son's life story followed by his personal depiction of the evolution of his anxiety, his theory concerning causes, and his methods of control.