Claustrophobia: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment
Claustrophobia is one of the most common phobias and is the fear of closed and confined places such as elevators, undergrounds, subways and all those narrow places where the subject feels surrounded and deprived of spatial freedom around him. claustrophobic will do everything to go outside and fully enjoy that sense of freedom that only feeling "free to breathe" can allow him.
The most frequent fears, related to claustrophobia, are the fear that the ceiling and the floor will close, crushing the people in the room, the fear that the air supply will run out and die suffocated, the fear of fainting at due to lack of air and light. In its most severe forms, claustrophobia extends to situations that go beyond the enclosed space. It happens, for example, that people who suffer from it can't even bear to wear a shirt with a buttoned collar.
Although claustrophobia is a widespread problem, it is often neglected by those who suffer from it: they try not to declare it by inventing any excuse to explain the "strange" renunciations and compromise behaviors, it is thought that perhaps one day the claustrophobia will pass by itself or to the on the contrary, there is nothing to be done. And it is wrong because over time claustrophobia is structured as a habit of life, as a daily psychic balance; it must therefore be faced and treated.
Claustrophobia: the cause
Recognizing the underlying causes of claustrophobia can already be a good start to take the right path to recovery.
We can summarize the main causes in 5 key concepts:
- Danger: you are experiencing an existential, emotional or professional situation that appears to have no way out.
- Pressure: for too long we have been subjected to strong pressures, requests, expectations and judgments, which we cannot avoid or cannot react to.
- Trauma: you have recently experienced a traumatic event that has endangered your life or that of a loved one.
- Transformation: you lead a life that is no longer felt as your own, but you are unable to make changes.
- Cerebrality: vitality has been trapped by the cobweb of rationality, which wants to control everything. Action of the heart, instinct and soul is lacking.
Claustrophobia: the symptoms
Symptoms of claustrophobia usually only manifest themselves when the person is in the specific situation, for example when they are in an elevator or while having to go through a tunnel.
The most common symptoms - which tend to cease when the individual manages to get out of the enclosed space - are:
- tachycardia,
- difficulty in breathing and a feeling of suffocation,
- sweating,
- hyperventilation,
- tremor
- dizziness and nausea,
- loss of control,
- tingling in the hands and arms,
- anxiety,
- dry mouth.
Claustrophobia: how to get out of it
If the ailment is not serious, you can do it yourself, breathing slowly and deeply before entering an enclosed space: in this way you are distracted and "forget" the fear of lack of air. Massage and body techniques can also be used which, gradually, make the body perceive as a safe "home".
If the symptoms are more severe and, in the case of panic attacks, a course of psychotherapy is useful, in particular that of a cognitive-behavioral type - possibly combined with antidepressant or serotonergic drugs - which gradually exposes the feared situation and leads to overcoming fear itself.
