Jerilyn Ross | 'Phobia lady,' 63

Jerilyn Ross, 63, a therapist who helped hundreds of people overcome their worst anxieties and who became one of the country's most visible and effective advocates for those with mental-health problems, died Jan. 7 in Washington. She lived in Potomac, Md.

The cause was cancer, said her husband, Ronald Cohen.

Ms. Ross was a 25-year-old teacher on vacation in Salzburg, Austria, when she was struck by a sudden fear of heights - a fear that would, in time, make her a public figure. In 1978, after learning to manage this dread, she joined the practice of Robert DuPont, a prominent psychiatrist in the Washington area, to help others with phobias.

A skilled therapist and exuberant optimist, she soon had her own radio show, in the 1980s, where she became known as the "phobia lady."

In countless newspaper and magazine articles, she explained persistent anxiety and how to live with and manage it.

In 1980, with DuPont, she founded the organization that would become the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, which was integral in raising public awareness of, and research money for, problems like post-traumatic stress and obsessive-compulsive disorder. She was the director of the association until her death.

- N.Y. Times News Service