Abstract

The abnormal fear of crossing streets or roads is a type of specific phobia. It is sometimes called dromophobia from Greek "dromos", 'running', 'racetrack'. or agyrophobia

Causes of dromophobia

Dromophobia may result from experiencing a road accident and thus may be classified as a subtype of panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA). As such, dromophobia, especially fear of crossing streets alone may be a component of accident-related posttraumatic stress disorder, as a reaction to a situation reminding the past traumatic event. Sometimes this behavior may be misinterpreted during PTSD symptom assessment as a caution (i.e., a normal learning behavior) rather than fear (which is an abnormal avoidant behavior).

Fear of crossing streets may also result from an anticipatory anxiety related to person's limited mobility due to stiff person syndrome (SPS). In fact a person with SPS crossing a street may develop attacks of increasing stiffness or spasms.

Dromophobia may be present in people, especially children, with autism, since crossing a road involves complex skills, such as judging the speed of an approaching car.