Claustrophobia is the fear of closed rooms (e.g. elevators), but not only - the symptoms of claustrophobia can also be experienced when you find yourself in a crowd or while driving a small car. But where does this phobia come from? Some claustrophobic situations can be avoided, others definitely not - can claustrophobia be treated somehow? Learn the causes and symptoms of claustrophobia and learn how to deal with fear of confined spaces!

Claustrophobiais classified as one of the most common phobias - according to statistics, up to 7% of the human population may suffer from claustrophobia to a varying degree. The name of this disorder is derived from two words: "claustrum" (derived from Latin and understood as "being locked in some place") and "phobos" (derived from Greek and meaning "fear").

Classically claustrophobia, associated with the fact that a patient suffering from it experiences anxiety when confined in a cramped room (especially one with no windows) - examples include an elevator, a city toilet or an imaging chamber ( e.g. for magnetic resonance imaging). In reality, however, a claustrophobic attack can be provoked by many other situations - it happens that patients experience anxiety related to this phobia if they find themselves in:

  • crowds (fear can occur especially when leaving such a place would be very difficult);
  • small car;
  • plane;
  • car wash;
  • tunnel;
  • shop fitting room.

In general, the list of situations that may trigger claustrophobia anxiety could be extended and lengthened - there are even examples of patients who experience anxiety while standing in a long line in a store or while staying in a dentist's chair. Basically, the symptoms of claustrophobia appear when the patient is in a place from which it would be difficult to get out - each of us, however, may consider it a completely different place.

Claustrophobia can develop at any age, but typically, the fear of being indoors appears at any ageteenage.

Claustrophobia: symptoms

A claustrophobic patient may experience a variety of disorders when he finds himself in a situation that provokes anxiety. The most common symptoms of claustrophobia include:

  • hot flashes,
  • strong increase in sweating,
  • shaking hands,
  • increased heart rate,
  • breathing rate acceleration,
  • feeling short of breath,
  • feeling of heaviness or pain in the chest or abdomen
  • dizziness,
  • nausea.

Above are the somatic symptoms of claustrophobia-related anxiety. However, the patient may also struggle with confusion during such an attack, and it may also feel that he will die soon. In extreme situations, a panic attack may even occur.

Claustrophobia: causes

There are at least several different theories about the potential causes of claustrophobia. As in the case of many other organic diseases and mental disorders, the genes we inherit are suspected of having an influence on the development of claustrophobia. We can also become infected with claustrophobia. We are talking about the phenomenon of conditioning. The related possibility is that if our parents are claustrophobic, we ourselves are at an increased risk that this problem will also appear in us. In the case of such a cause of claustrophobia, a child observing his guardian, struggling with this phobia, would somehow take over his behavior, learn them and after some time, it would become claustrophobic. patients experience their lives. Events that - experienced later - lead to the occurrence of claustrophobia symptoms may lead to the development of claustrophobia. As an example, you can give a situation where a person (especially a child) was locked in a cramped room for punishment, or an event where a person blocked the toilet and could not get out of it for a long time.

It is also possible that claustrophobia is organic. Such a conclusion was made on the basis of the observation that in some people suffering from this phobia their amygdala - the structure of the brain related to e.g. with feeling of fear and involved in fight-and-flight reactions - smaller than in people without claustrophobia.

Worth knowing

Claustrophobia: recognition

It is possible to state that the patient is claustrophobicafter collecting a detailed interview with him about the situations in which he develops anxiety and how this fear manifests itself (i.e. whether he develops the symptoms of claustrophobia described above). Other aspects are also important, such as whether the patient tries to avoid situations that cause anxiety in him as much as possible (e.g. he refrains from using the elevator even when he has to walk to the tenth floor). It is also important whether the patient feels anxious not only when he experiences an unpleasant situation, but also when he imagines it, but before any patient is diagnosed with claustrophobia, it is necessary to exclude other potential causes that may arise in the patient. him ailments. The differential diagnosis of claustrophobia primarily takes into account post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

How to cure claustrophobia?

It sometimes happens that the claustrophobia disappears completely by itself and the patient's functioning completely returns to normal. For some people, however, this does not happen - such people can definitely be recommended to use one of the treatment options for claustrophobia. There is probably no need to convince anyone that the therapy can improve functioning - after all, a claustrophobic patient can actually avoid some situations (e.g. using an elevator), but others (e.g. driving a car or being in a crowd) are more difficult to avoid.

Psychotherapy plays the most important role in the treatment of claustrophobia. Various types of psychotherapy can be used in people with this phobia, one of the most commonly used is cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. Another therapeutic method, sometimes recommended for patients with claustrophobia, is exposure therapy. It consists in the fact that - under controlled conditions - the patient is exposed to a situation that causes him anxiety. The person conducting the therapy then indicates to the patient that he or she is completely safe in a given situation - exposure therapy aims to "unlearn" the patient from experiencing anxiety.

Incidentally, but in fact rarely, pharmacological treatment is sometimes recommended for people suffering from claustrophobia. In this case, mainly antidepressants and anxiolytics are used, but if they are recommended for people with claustrophobia, then only for those with the strongest symptoms of anxiety. It should be emphasized that pharmacotherapy can only be an addition in the treatment of claustrophobia - psychotherapy is the basis.

Worth knowing

How to deal with claustrophobia?

No.all patients benefit from the option of treating claustrophobia, and those who undertake therapy may still experience anxiety attacks before its completion. For both of these groups of patients, some tips on what to do when they experience an anxiety attack can be given. You can recommend techniques such as:

  • deep breathing : it is worth trying to breathe deeply and very slowly during a seizure - this can help you calm down,
  • focusing on something : distracting attention from a fearful situation can help restore balance (you can shift your attention to very simple things, such as the moving hands of a watch),
  • thinking about some pleasant phenomenon : similar to the activity described above, this is to distract the patient,
  • repeating to yourself that fear is unfoundedand there is really no real danger in a given situation.
About the authorBow. Tomasz NęckiA graduate of medicine at the Medical University of Poznań. An admirer of the Polish sea (most willingly strolling along its shores with headphones in his ears), cats and books. In working with patients, he focuses on always listening to them and spending as much time as they need.

Category:

Psychiatry