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Claustrophobia is an extreme or irrational fear of confined places. It has affected approximately 5-7 % of the world's total population. Claustrophobia is different for everyone.
The word claustrophobia comes from the Latin word claustrum which means "a closed-in place," and the Greek word, phobos meaning "fear." People with claustrophobia will go to great lengths to avoid small spaces and situations that trigger their panic and anxiety.
The symptoms vary, but can include excessive fear, sweating, flushing or chills, nausea, trembling, heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, feeling faint or dizzy, headaches, or a tightness in the chest. "Severe claustrophobia can also cause people to dread activities that may be confined.
Claustrophobia is a situational phobia triggered by an irrational and intense fear of tight or crowded spaces. Claustrophobia can be triggered by things like: being locked in a windowless room. being stuck in a crowded elevator. driving on a congested highway.
The anxiety can range from mild nervousness to a full-blown panic attack. For doctors to diagnose the anxiety as a phobia, it has to be serious enough to affect your ability to live a normal life. But small panic attacks are also very dangerous.
Claustrophobia can run in families. A single gene encoding a stress-regulated neuronal protein, GPm6a, can cause claustrophobia.
When you tell people that you are claustrophobic, some who don't know how extreme it can get, make fun of claustrophobics.
I'm gonna share my experience as a claustrophobic. It feels like I'm trapped in a box. There's no light. I just can't breathe. It feels like something I can't feel is pulling me. I can bang my head on a table and still not feel it at that time. I'm covered in sweat and there's no escape. You really need someone to calm you down at that time. It feels like the end of the world. My heart just beats at such a fast pace. I can't control anything. I don't even want my worst enemy to experience it.
Some ways to cope:
1. Breathe slowly and deeply while counting to three with each breath. 2. Focus on something safe, like time passing on your watch. 3. Remind yourself repeatedly that your fear and anxiety will pass.
This is a poem on the said topic written by me, titled: This Claustrophobic heart of mine.
When spaces are small, I feel the fear crawl. It's like a nightmare. I feel despair.
Breath is gone. Anxiety on. This claustrophobic heart of mine, Doesn't know how to stop.
Panic attacks, sweat, apprehension. My whole self faces hypertension. Everything's black, there's no escape. Short of breath, like sinking on pacific's depth.
It's like a storm, Everything's warm. Being trapped in a box, Ticking of clocks.
But this claustrophobic heart of mine, Doesn't know how to stop.
If you feel claustrophobic, please talk to someone. My PM's are always open. And there's nothing wrong with you for being claustrophobic. Remember that you can always cope.
