Napoleon Bonaparte: The General Who Was Afraid of Open Doors

**The idea that Napoleon Bonaparte was afraid of open doors is actually more of a quirky historical anecdote than a well-documented psychological condition.
The term often used for this supposed fear is "agoraphobia" (which literally means "fear of open spaces"), but in this case, it's usually mentioned in a more humorous or exaggerated sense - not as a clinical diagnosis.

**The origin of the story likely comes from Napoleon's strict preferences for privacy, control, and order. He was known to be very particular about how things were done around him, including how people behaved in his presence and how his environment was arranged. An open door might have symbolized a lack of control or an opening for chaos, which didn't sit well with someone obsessed with power and precision.

**So, was he truly afraid of open doors?
Probably not in the phobic sense - it's more likely that he just strongly disliked them being left open, possibly due to privacy concerns, drafts, or just personal quirkiness. The tale has been blown up into a fun historical tidbit over time.

Sources:
Napoleon photo 1-By Horace Vernet - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Napoleon photo 2-By Édouard Detaille - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...