Why do people think angoraphobia is a choice?

[Kirk]

My mother I believe had some form of undiagnosed agoraphobia, as she rarely if ever left her house. My sister had agoraphobia for a time and did not leave my parents house for one year. She is
now 55 and this happened to her when she was around 19 or 20, if I recall. I am the opposite. I get ants in my pants and can't stay at home unless I am sick. Many people generally don't understand
mental illness. A friend of mind used to say my mother had hermitism.

[Kixxi]

My mother I believe had some form of undiagnosed agoraphobia, as she rarely if ever left her house. My sister had agoraphobia for a time and did not leave my parents house for one year. She is
now 55 and this happened to her when she was around 19 or 20, if I recall. I am the opposite. I get ants in my pants and can't stay at home unless I am sick. Many people generally don't understand
mental illness. A friend of mind used to say my mother had hermitism.

It's certainly not a choice. All I can say is that a combination of medication and therapy has helped me quite a bit. Even though I still get some anxiety from time to time, mainly when I leave the home, I can cope with it a lot better than I used to.