When looking into claustrophobia, we see fear and anxiety playing yet another role in disrupting one’s thoughts and instilling irrational fear within them. Claustrophobia is known as an irrational fear of closed spaces. For example, when a person is in an elevator, they start feeling anxious and begin to feel as if the walls are closing in on them. As a result, they tend to avoid closed spaces in order for this anxiety to not pop up. Chances are, they could be claustrophobic, but only when this behavior has been going on for 6 months or more. Claustrophobia is often associated with panic attacks – although they are two different things. When you feel claustrophobic, you may experience these attacks or just have mild anxiety.
What Triggers Claustrophobia?
There are many things that trigger claustrophobia. You could even experience it just by thinking of a triggering space. The spaces include –
- Public toilets
- Elevators
- Tunnels
- Car washes
- Planes
- Rooms that do not have windows
- Revolving doors
Claustrophobia also actually gets triggered by a traumatic experience one had as a child. For example, if one got trapped in an elevator as a kid, they would be likely be claustrophobic. Chances increase of one getting claustrophobia if they had a parent that has claustrophobia. Additionally, if adults were abused or bullied as kids, this also increases the chances of the onset of claustrophobia.
Symptoms of Claustrophobia
Uncontrollable feelings of anxiety lead to numerous physical experiences –
- Sweating
- Shaking
- Difficulty breathing
- Feeling like you are choking
- Chills or hot flushes
- Heart is beating fast
- Feeling as though you are about to vomit
- Dizziness and headaches
- Feeling disoriented
- Feeling a need to go to the toilet
Additionally, experiencing claustrophobia could also lead to you experiencing certain psychological symptoms like fear of losing control and fainting. Additionally, you begin to have feelings of dread – anticipating something you are not looking forward to.