- I'm agoraphobic.
I can't go outside.
- Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder.
(bright music)
Hi, my name is Dr. Courtney Tracy
and today we're gonna be watching "The Woman in the Window."
(suspenseful music)
- This is a safe place.
I'm agoraphobic.
- Agoraphobia is essentially fear of fear.
There are five different categories
where somebody could be "core & core" or "agoraphobic".
Being an open spaces.
Being in closed spaces.
Taking public transportation.
Standing in lines or crowds
and being outside of their home.
The reason why people with agoraphobia
experience fear of fear is because their concern
is that when they are in any of these environments
that they will experience panic, anxiety or fear
and be unable to get out of that situation.
- I can't go outside.
- Yeah.
- I've been slipping,
getting into a really dark frame of mind.
- In terms of predictions about her agoraphobia,
it seems like it's there.
It seems like it's real.
I'm very excited to talk about the manipulation
that's shown in the film.
(laughing)
(suspenseful music)
Getting the food delivered
(suspenseful music)
and paying through the door.
Wow!
The fact that she has to put money through the door,
she can't even have a conversation,
it overwhelms me and probably most therapists
because human beings need connection.
It's so unbelievably debilitating
and it just makes the disorders worse.
- [Dr. Anna] Telling me to go outside.
- [Man] Why not make today, the day you go outside?
- To hear that from a loved one
can sometimes just feel like pressure
and as though they don't understand what you're experiencing
in that moment.
So we have to be really careful
when we're trying to set goals for people that we love
that are going through this.
- I have a review with Dr. Kenner this week.
Seeing as I've been unable to get you out the front door
for the last 10 months
she's gonna wonder about the source of my optimism.
- Of course, we have teletherapy today
but her therapist had to go to her house
in order for her to get help.
And I just think that it's important to realize
that people that struggle with agoraphobia,
they may want help and they may not actually know
that therapists would be willing to go to their house.
- I've been a shrink for 15 years.
I know a threat when I hear one.
- I like that about this film because it's showing that
she can have all of the knowledge that she has
about how the mind works and how the body works
and she can still experience mental disorders
because we're all human.
- Did you read about aliven't (indistinct)
Take a look at the side effects.
- [Man] I know you're not supposed to drink on it.
- [Dr. Anna] They always say that.
- When we take psychotropic medications,
which are medications that affect our brain,
it can release certain amounts of chemicals.
It can be hard to differentiate between what's reality
and what is a side effect of the medication.
- Oh, Halloween tonight.
How do we do it without you going outside?
You wanna get some candy?
- I'm not going to give out candy.
I'm going to turn the lights out and pretend I'm not home.
- That makes sense.
Having trick-or-treaters come and knock on your door
when you are agoraphobic,
I can imagine is so incredibly overwhelming
because you're trying to avoid the world.
And the world is literally coming and knocking on your door.
(children laughing)
(door thuds)
I bet you that's so scary for her.
- Get away from my house.
- Yeah.
(children laughing)
That's really sad.
Wow!
But she opens the door. Wow!
She started to have a panic attack.
And I can understand that
because exactly what she's afraid of is happening.
A judgment, being unable to escape,
having people come into her safe place,
such an overwhelming experience.
Wow!
- I can't go outside.
- Oh. (chuckles)
You're stuck inside this shitty house.
Oh, man.
I hate to be stuck inside a house this shitty.
- To critique the home as a shitty place to live,
is not helpful.
It's just not helpful.
And I also think that her roaming around the house
in the way that she did could be not helpful either.
And I think she caught herself with that.
But if that is the only place
that she feels safe is in that home
to have somebody else roaming around through it
can create anxiety.
She seemed to be able to compose herself though
but that may have been because of the alcohol.
That shot definitely,
to me it felt like it was showing the visceral effects
that she was having.
Because she may be feeling like things are spinning,
feeling like things are slowing down.
And so I think that that was an important way
to show what it feels like for the person inside
versus what we can see on the outside.
(suspenseful music)
Using an umbrella.
I think that that's a really smart idea
because we want to shield ourselves
when we're experiencing anxiety
and we are afraid of going outside and being seen by people.
It depends on what the feeling is
or the thought or belief is
that the person has about going outside.
But the umbrella can be helpful
so that you feel like you have a container around you
and a place to hide, essentially.
(suspenseful music)
(heavy breathing)
I was so excited to see that she grabbed the umbrella
and went outside
because she has been capable of doing that the whole time.
But I was overwhelmed with the fact that
it had to be for a negative reason.
There were definitely things in the film
that were recognizable in real life.
The way that she locked her doors,
the way she looked out of the window,
the way that the therapist came to her house,
those are all very accurate depictions of agoraphobia.
But I also think that there are people
that would take that step that she did
and say, "I'm a human being that can help someone
and I can overcome what's going on in my mind
in this moment."
And she did just that.
I wanna know so bad. I can't wait to watch it.
(laughing)
Thank you so much for watching.
My name is Dr. Courtney Tracy.
You know me on the internet as, The Truth Doctor.
And go ahead and check out
"The Woman in the Window" on Netflix.