Claustrophobia comes from the Greek word, ‘phobos’ which means fear and Latin word ‘Claustrum’ which means, a closed-in place. If you have a fear of tight or small spaces, a fear of elevators, a fear of being trapped, the fear of being closed in, you’re dealing with claustrophobia.
How Claustrophobia is Related
Claustrophobia is an anxiety-related disorder that stems from stress and heightened fear responses. It may be linked to dysfunction in the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for processing fear. For some, claustrophobia can trigger a panic attack, making everyday situations overwhelming. I'm not sure why I'm feeling it, but it's there. I remember mum say she had it.
Claustrophobia Symptoms
It’s more common than you might think – research suggests that around 10% of the population will experience claustrophobia at some point in their lives. Symptoms can vary but often include an intense fear of confined or crowded spaces, along with nausea, confusion, and disorientation. Understanding the root cause of this fear is the first step toward managing it. Also, a rapid heartbeat, dry mouth, tightness in the chest and chest pain, feeling panicked, fainting and feeling dizzy, feeling lightheaded are all symptoms of feeling claustrophobic. We don’t all have the ideal childhood.
The Hereditary Link
Claustrophobia is often caused by a traumatic event continually experienced in early childhood. If a child has a parent with claustrophobia, as the adult they may also get to deal with the condition. If a child is bullied or abused, they may go on to develop it, or a child who is kept in a confined space. Claustrophobia is easily treatable. The first step is to acknowledge that you deal with the condition. Don’t feel embarrassed that you have it. (Source: psycom.net)
Of course, this is just one of the many phobias that I have to deal with on a regular basis, seeing as I was bullied and abused as a child.
This is exactly why I don't like that feeling of being backed into a corner so to speak, as in being in a crowded room and not really having any way out.
I also have an intense fear of being put into something like a jail cell, seeing as they put me into a cage crib at the hospital, when I almost died from pneumonia.
It wouldn't have been quite so bad, except that I clearly remember screaming and crying in the middle of the night because I was scared, but nobody ever came to check on me.
It is no wonder I have so many issues considering the amount of chaos and insanity I was subjected to.
Thanks Randy. I believe in you and know you can and will come through this. I understand being claustrophobic. I remember my mum telling me the same thing, although I didn't really connect with her words at the time.
In the time that I have known you, I feel you have come a very long way. You understand your life and that helps, even though it's something you still must work through. We all must.
Any type of abuse manifests itself in how we live our lives, but we owe it to us to give ourselves the time to work our issues through.
It helps if others can see and know what they have done and come forward and apologise, but without that it wouldn't be right and I wouldn't want others to have the satisfaction.
Where we don't have an apology and I also fall into that camp, it is important we rectify things for ourselves and make our lives better.