House of Agoraphobics

Dave has mentioned this already - it's on again tonight, Channel 4.

There are 3 serious agoraphobics - two women and a man - placed in a house with a clinical psychologist helping them to overcome their panic. I thought it was interesting - mostly concerned with exposure therapy, making them go a bit further each day. The man had barely left his bedroom for 5 years. It was very moving - the guy and one of the women were crying as they went on a train journey, but they were incredibly brave and seemed determined to see it through however difficult. There was a bit of a Claire Weekes and cognitive therapy feel to it - they were told to let the panic come and to think 'it doesn't matter if people look at me'.

The third person is a doctor who came to Britain from South Africa for an arranged marriage after living quite a sheltered life. Her doctor husband came over as unsympathetic - she is pregnant and at one point he basically said he would leave her and get custody of the baby if she didn't pull herself together. He was too busy to speak to her when she rang up after the first day in the house. No wonder she is anxious, married to a bloke like that.

It's worth watching - they take them off to Hong Kong tonight, presumably to be in a really stressful busy situation. You can watch it and think 'yes, I know just how you feel', though I didn't think it gave many tips for sufferers at home.