For thirty years Viv had barely been outside her own home in Liverpool...

Viv Critchley, has until recently, suffered from agoraphobia. Even a trip to the bottom of her garden was an ordeal for her. For 30 years, she barely left her house. Her children, Samantha 32, William 30, and Maxine 28, grew up thinking there was nothing unusual about a mum who didn't drop them at school or go to the shops. Viv knew that at some point she'd have to face her problem.

Why was it she stopped going out in the first place? "I was about eighteen when it started - it got progressively worse. No-one could put their finger on what it was I was frightened of. Most of the time I spent indoors. Nobody ever said the word 'agoraphobic'. People avoid saying it to you and you avoid listening to it."

Although Viv stayed within the safety of her own walls, she was heavily involved in several outside organisations. "I've always written letters, gabbed a lot on the phone, I ran Friends of the Earth in Liverpool, a fan club, and the Parent Teachers' Association - but everything was based from home."

A few years ago, Viv started a group called Phobic Friends, and through this learned that a drug called Seroxat was receiving positive feedback in the treatment of agoraphobia. At about the same time, Viv, a long-time fan of the group, saw that Bon Jovi were playing in Stoke. It was the trigger that helped Viv out of her house. "I just felt I had to see them for myself." With the help of her doctor she changed to Seroxat and worked out a twelve week plan to get herself out and about again. "The poor dog was walked round and round the field again - I had to learn to walk again, and get my fitness and confidence up. The first step was the hardest. The new medication made it a lot easier than I'd imagined."

The day of the concert arrived, "The atmosphere was brilliant. When Bon Jovi came on, I gave my daughter a big hug and we both burst into tears, and then I rang my other daughter on the mobile so she could hear the crowd. I knew I couldn't go back to how things used to be."

The Bon Jovi concert proved the catalyst for change. Since then, Viv's life has been full of action. "I've barely been back home!" she says.