Classical descriptions of the anxiety phenomenons by C. Westphal and E. Cordes, their importance for the conceptual history and the current discussions of anxiety disorders

We discuss the history of ,,agoraphobia" and related descriptions as the ,, Platzangst" from M. Benedikt and the artide of E. Cordes, who used the same titel ,,agoraphobia" as Westpals original paper. It is remarkable that Wes tphal and Cordes recognized the pychological character of the phemomen, whe reas Benedikt in 1870 suspected a neuroophthalmogical origin for his ,,Plat zschwindel". Regarding the details of these first three descriptions one ca n show that the primary authorities set up a discussion, which is still goi ng on: The relation between agoraphobia, dizziness, fear and panic is until now object of many controversies, as shown in the final chapter.