TRAVELING IN STYLE : Side Trips : Outside Agitation

The idea of escaping to the wide open spaces, far from city lights and bustle, appeals to most frazzled urbanites. But once past the city limits, some people become anxious, even panicky. Try as they might, they just can’t relax on that deserted beach or in that uncrowded campground. These people suffer from agoraphobia--the fear of open spaces.

Agoraphobics (about a million of them in the United States, according to current estimates) are overwhelmed with the hugeness of the great outdoors and the smallness of themselves, says Reid Wilson, a Chapel Hill, N.C., psychologist and author of “Don’t Panic: Taking Control of Anxiety Attacks.” “They don’t feel grounded,” he explains.

Los Angeles psychologist Gary Emery puts it differently: People who fear open spaces fear they will fly out of control if not contained, he says, the opposite feeling of those who are claustrophobic.

The remedies?

“At a campground, move to the fire,” Wilson suggests. “Strike up a conversation. Focus on your breathing, being sure you are not hyperventilating. Acknowledge your symptoms for what they are. For instance, you might say to yourself, ‘It feels as though my heart is going to burst. But it is not.’ ”

Emery teaches what he calls his AWARE approach: A-Accept the anxiety. W-Watch it so that it won’t escalate. A-Actively involve yourself in something (such as burying your toes in the sand). R-Repeat the steps. E-Expect the feelings if a similar situation has produced panic in the past. And, he tells clients, “be realistic. This is only anxiety, not going crazy.”