Thanks Maven. The cinema is in a large mall, so I don't imagine I would ever be able to get in there when things are closed. I don't think that would help anyway. I don't have trouble with stairs. If the steps on that escalator weren't moving, I would have no problem walking down it. So, I'm going to have to face taking those steps TO the escalator and putting one foot and then the other on the top step. I think I would be fine after that. It's just getting TO and ON the escalator that terrifies me. I think I'll attempt it in flat heels with my ex-boyfriend when he has time to go with me. Then, there's another even BIGGER escalator at a mall near where I live. I would like to be able to tackle that one of these days.

I had Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo for 3 years, so I think that's why this phobia is so stubborn. My problem with down escalators started before I got agoraphobia or panic attacks. Stepping on an escalator just wasn't safe when I had BPPV because my vertigo was so bad and I was so unsteady on my feet. There was a serious risk of falling because I would often fall when just walking on a flat surface. So, I have a terrible fear of falling when I get near the top of an escalator. My head starts spinning and my knees get weak, etc. and I feel like I can't look down to find the top step.

I also had a weird episode years ago when I was on Zyban to try to quit smoking. I got very dizzy and my vision went blurry while I was on an escalator, so I avoided them for a while after that. Escalators have been a recurring fear since I was a little girl.