ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes the positioning in order to communicate something of the stories told by a largely neglected group—agoraphobic women—about their restricted and debilitated 'life-worlds'. It provides non-clinical, specifically geographical insights into agoraphobia of relevance for its sufferers. The book expands human geography understandings of the relations between gender, embodiment, space and mental health, via a study of agoraphobia. It deals with 'philosophical' issues that seem very far indeed from most people's everyday concerns. The book suggests that sufferers might benefit from re-learning how to use particular coping mechanisms to strengthen their weakened and fragile boundaries. It addresses the potential relevance of this approach for sufferers from agoraphobia through a specific case study that serves to emphasize the embodied nature of agoraphobic experience.
