Marks I, Bebbington P
Br Med J. 1976 Aug 7;2(6031):345-7. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6031.345.
Four elderly women had intense fears of falling when there was no visible support at hand or on seeing space cues while driving. Two patients had cervical spondylosis. The mean age at onset of the fear was 54--thirty years later than that for agoraphobia. Fear of public places and of heights was not prominent, nor was depersonalisation or depression. These "space phobias" might be a hitherto unrecognised syndrome or an unusual variant of agoraphobia. The visuospatial reflexes involved might illuminate the pathogenesis of certain fears.
四名老年女性在附近没有明显支撑物或者开车时看到空间线索时会极度害怕摔倒。两名患者患有颈椎病。恐惧开始出现时的平均年龄为54岁，比广场恐惧症的发病年龄晚30年。对公共场所和高处的恐惧并不突出，人格解体或抑郁也不明显。这些“空间恐惧症”可能是一种迄今未被认识的综合征，或者是广场恐惧症的一种不寻常变体。所涉及的视觉空间反射可能会阐明某些恐惧的发病机制。
