Claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces) - causes, symptoms, treatment. How to deal with claustrophobia

Claustrophobia is one of the most unpleasant nervous disorders, as it is the fear of closed spaces. Today, enclosed spaces accompany a person constantly, these are vehicles, and elevators, and showers, and solariums. In difficult situations, even clothes that are tight around the neck can provoke panic, so a tie or scarf for people with claustrophobia is potentially dangerous.

Claustrophobia is one of the spatial phobias, which include the fear of heights, depths, darkness and open spaces. Being in an unpleasant environment can provoke an unreasonable feeling of anxiety or even a panic attack, which is usually accompanied by somatic symptoms, such as a feeling of suffocation, palpitations, dizziness, fainting, and some others.

Why claustrophobia occurs

Claustrophobia is nothing more than fear, and usually all our fears come from childhood and are nurtured in our families. You can't be born with claustrophobia, but you can be born with it. Further education is superimposed on the inclination. If one of the parents is claustrophobic, then most likely the child will adopt his behavior and his fears, and over time will also become wary of enclosed spaces. Patients with claustrophobia often look for changes and something new, they always try to move, they are very afraid of the restriction of their rights and freedoms.

Very often, the fear of closed space begins when a child predisposed to this phobia gets into a position that is unpleasant for him for a long time. If parents force the baby to stand in a corner or lock it in a closet as punishment, this can permanently form closed spaces in him. Also, such fear can be provoked by accidental entry into a closet, a closed pool, a locked car, etc. Even difficult births can trigger the development of claustrophobia, when the baby is delayed in the birth canal. In addition, various physical injuries of the head, as well as diseases of the brain, can become the cause of the development of claustrophobia.

There is a curious theory that claims that the human tonsils are involved in the formation of claustrophobia. In people prone to panic disorders, the right amygdala is usually smaller than the left. At the same time, it is the upper part of the tonsils that is responsible for generating impulses that affect nervous excitement and other signs of fright, such as adrenaline levels, heart rate, etc.

How to recognize claustrophobia?

Claustrophobia is a mental disorder, but it is accompanied by quite tangible somatic problems. That is why patients often begin to be suspected of having diseases of the internal organs. This is not surprising, during a panic attack, the heartbeat quickens, pressure rises, a feeling of suffocation and lack of air develops. But you need to understand that these are absolutely normal symptoms of a panic attack that are not associated with somatic diseases.

To understand that this is precisely claustrophobia, it is necessary to remember that it is always accompanied by a fear of restriction of freedom and a fear of suffocation. Although these fears can sometimes fade into the background when pronounced somatic problems appear. Such problems are choking, dry throat, accompanied by perspiration, as well. During an attack of claustrophobia, a person usually wants to rip off their clothes to make it easier for air to get in. Also often there is increased sweating, hot flashes or chills, tremors, numbness of the limbs and nausea, headaches and dizziness, ringing in the ears.

Typically, an attack of claustrophobia begins in certain conditions and certain places. For example, many people start to panic in an elevator or in a dark closet, there are people who panic even in a barber's chair, as this limits their freedom of action. After several severe attacks, even the memory of being in uncomfortable conditions can provoke panic.

Features of the course of an attack of claustrophobia

An attack of claustrophobia can begin almost instantly. At the same time, there is no rational explicable fear, first anxiety arises “out of nowhere”, followed by somatic disorders. A person may not even be aware of what caused the onset of an attack, and suspect some kind of physical illness. But, as soon as the cause of fear is eliminated, most of the negative feelings will disappear immediately. Excitation and increased anxiety can be felt for several more days after the attack.

If a person clearly knows the cause of his attacks, he may feel anxiety at the possibility of meeting her and, in fact, provoke panic attacks on his own. If a person is afraid of the elevator, but tomorrow he will need to climb into a multi-storey building, then the expectation of this will increase his anxiety and may begin even before entering the elevator. This fear of fear makes the attacks even more powerful, and their negative consequences also increase.

But we must remember that claustrophobia is not always the cause of discomfort, sometimes it is the result of more serious diseases. The causes of claustrophobia attacks can be problems with the cardiovascular system, some mental illnesses, problems in the functioning of the pancreas or adrenal glands, and diabetes mellitus. Depression and prolonged stress, exhaustion of the body, both physical and mental, and some hormonal disorders can also provoke the development of claustrophobia.

Women are more susceptible to this disease, as their emotionality is traditionally higher. If attacks occur often enough, they completely destroy the rhythm of a person's life, since a person spends most of the time in anticipation of fear or in fear. Gradually, this can lead to reluctance to leave the apartment and a complete rejection of society.

Treatment for claustrophobia

Treatment for claustrophobia depends on the severity of the condition. Sometimes a simple conversation with a psychologist helps to solve the problem, which will help you understand the essence of the problem and teach you how to cope with your fears. But there are also situations in which therapy is indispensable. In such a situation, beta-blockers and antidepressants are most often used, which reduce excessive anxiety, normalize the heartbeat and make it easier to endure fears.

Besides, some psychotherapeutic techniques are used, for example, cognitive therapy. Such therapy suggests experiencing an unpleasant situation again and again, and entering a state of fear, but under the guidance of a specialist who will teach you how to get out of this state correctly. This technique successfully allows you to win other phobias.

Also sometimes the desensitization method brings great success. It consists in the fact that a person periodically has to experience situations that cause fear in him. At first, such situations last for a few seconds, but gradually their duration increases until the person gets used to them and forgets about his discomfort.

Besides, all patients are taught relaxation and breathing exercises without fail. In difficult situations, these skills help to cope with the problem and get out of a state of panic. There are also techniques that allow you to stop a panic attack at its very beginning.

How to deal with claustrophobia on your own? (Video)

It is extremely difficult to completely solve the problems of claustrophobia without the help of specialists, professional psychologists, but everyone needs to learn how to help themselves during an attack. At the very beginning of the attack, you need to relax, it will help to think more soberly and calmly. But remember, you should not analyze your fear or convince yourself of its irrationality, in any case it is causeless and irrational. To cope with fear with the help of reasonable arguments does not work for most panic-prone people.

At the very beginning of the panic, you should not try to breathe deeper, most of the unpleasant symptoms are caused just by hyperventilation. You need to clearly understand that you are healthy, and all unpleasant sensations are only signs of fear. No need to try to overcome your fear, it is better to make an effort to forget about it. It can be very useful to switch your attention to something else, take out your phone, turn on the music or play a game, the main thing is not to think about your own and not analyze your feelings. You can remember something pleasant or even sing, the main thing is not to think about fear and it will disappear.

Claustrophobia: how to overcome the fear of closed spaces

Despite the numerous "army" of human fears, there are "selected" objects of panic fear of people. The top five phobias include an irrational, obsessive, uncontrollable intense fear of closed and cramped spaces. The fear of enclosed spaces is called claustrophobia.
According to data published by the World Health Organization, the symptoms of this disorder of varying severity are recorded in 5-15% of the male population of the planet. Signs of claustrophobia of varying severity are determined in 10-20% of women.

Panic attacks can occur in an individual in any area that is limited in size or where there is potential for difficulty in leaving the premises. For example, a crisis of claustrophobia can develop if a person is in an elevator, in a subway car, in a solarium, in a shower. Often an attack of intense fear occurs if a person remains in a locked room that cannot be left through an “emergency” exit - a window.

This type of anxiety-phobic disorders can develop in people regardless of their gender and age, social status and financial situation, level of education and IQ. However, claustrophobia also has its “favorite” victims. It has been established that the symptoms of panic fear of spaces very often develop in miners working in mines, who, from personal experience, have experienced the pangs of confinement underground due to landslides. It is not uncommon to find claustrophobia among sailors serving on submarines, especially those who have experienced intense fear when a submarine breaks down. Panic fear of tight spaces often develops in people who find themselves under the ruins of structures as a result of earthquakes or after the destruction of buildings during military operations. The manifestation of claustrophobia very often occurs during periods when a person, due to circumstances, is forced to remain in social isolation. These are situations where the subject is serving a sentence in correctional colonies, or "while away the term" in the four walls of a prison cell.

It should be emphasized that the above examples illustrate only those cases of claustrophobia that have developed due to real-life psychotraumatic situations. However, many episodes of this disorder have been recorded, when it was not possible to establish the true provocateur of the phobia. Expressed and hidden from conscious comprehension and understanding of the reasons will be discussed later in this publication.

Claustrophobia: the causes of the emergence of fear of closed spaces
Currently, neither doctors nor scientists can accurately explain why the fear of enclosed spaces arises and develops. However, academic minds have put forward many versions about the reasons for the formation of claustrophobia. We describe the most tested hypotheses in more detail.

Reason 1
According to many experts, the obsessive fear of cramped spaces is the result of a person’s negative personal experience. The provocateur of claustrophobia is often the intense fright that a person felt in childhood. Such experiences can be associated with a single feeling of fear when a child collides with a really dangerous object or when critical events suddenly occur. An example of such experiences is the fright associated with the fact that a small person witnessed a fire that broke out in his home.

Also, the culprit of claustrophobia can be a long-acting stressful situation, associated with a sense of insecurity and danger. For example, a child lives in an asocial family, watching the eternal quarrels of parents and seeing the beating of the mother by the father. In this position, he does not have a sense of security, there is a desire to leave the limited space of the apartment. Over time, the reluctance to be in such an environment is transformed into a panic fear of closed spaces.

The stimulus for the development of claustrophobia can be regular mental trauma in childhood. For example, these are situations when, as a punishment, parents lock the baby in a cramped room, while turning off the light. "Serving" the punishment alone, the young person experiences a lot of unpleasant emotions. As a result, such educational activities lead to the fact that the very anticipation of being in a cramped and dark space causes panic fear. Over time, a conditioned reflex is fixed: being in a confined space is bad and scary.

A similar reason for the formation of claustrophobia in people who have experienced a catastrophic event that occurred in a confined space. For example, a person becomes a victim of a robbery or violence while in an elevator. In the future, movement in this way becomes impossible for the subject, since his subconscious mind has firmly fixed the fright experienced in this place.

Reason 2
Studies show that claustrophobia can be a consequence or a companion of various somatic diseases and neurological pathologies. Acute bacterial infections that affect brain structures often lead to the development of anxiety disorders. Let us give an example: as a result of the epidemic of lethargic encephalitis, which swept the entire globe in the period from 1915 to 1926, severe affective disorders were recorded in patients. One of the symptoms was the fear of closed spaces.

Often, claustrophobia manifests itself after a person undergoes surgical operations and a subsequent long stay in a hospital. However, it is not possible to determine whether the disorder is the result of medical intervention under anesthesia or is the result of a forced stay in the limited conditions of the hospital, it is not possible, since both factors have a strong psycho-traumatic effect.

There is a category of female patients in whom claustrophobia debuted after pregnancy and childbirth during the care of a newborn. This situation can be explained by the fact that in this period of life a woman undergoes a cascade of intense hormonal changes, which negatively affects the psycho-emotional state of the individual. In addition, the newly-made mother is forced to spend most of her time within four walls, caring for the baby. Regular lack of sleep, frequent awakenings at night, lack of proper rest, monotony and lack of positive emotions provoke the development of neurotic and psychotic disorders. At the same time, the subconscious "chooses" its own interpretation of what is happening, "believing" that psychological discomfort is associated precisely with a limited space, which must be "feared and avoided."

Reason 3
According to most scientists, the leading cause of the development of claustrophobia is a specific characterological portrait of a person. Attacks of affective fear are most often determined in suspicious, anxious and impressionable people who see danger in everything. Their distinguishing feature is excessive attention and a distorted interpretation of any unpleasant symptoms. For example, they interpret a rapid heartbeat as evidence of an impending heart attack. Headache for such hypochondriacal persons is a symptom of oncological pathology. Appeared shortness of breath and cough - a sign of irreversible lung disease. It can be said that they deliberately and purposefully look for some defects in their body, and then inflate an elephant out of a fly.

Most patients with claustrophobia are indecisive, dependent and spineless people. They are not able to make decisions on their own and are content with a dependent position. Instead of adequately confronting difficulties and constructively solving emerging problems, such subjects prefer to go with the flow.

Interesting research results on the causes of claustrophobia have been published by British scientists. As the study of the anamnesis of patients showed, most patients in childhood were surrounded by excessive parental care. Dust particles were blown off them, all difficulties were removed from their path, decisions were made for them and their destiny was built. At the same time, their parents were distinguished by a high level of anxiety and showed expressed concern about the health of their offspring. The child adopted from his ancestors the habit of worrying over trifles and paying attention to insignificant details. On a subconscious level, he had an imitative habit of being afraid. As he grew older, the destructive program that existed in the unconscious sphere also intensified, while due to a combination of circumstances, the subconscious chose precisely being in cramped quarters as an object of fear.

Another "characterological" cause of claustrophobia is the presence of an inferiority complex in a person. An insecure person who doubts his abilities and is afraid to appear before the public because of the conviction that he will be criticized, deliberately tries to pick up arguments in order to limit himself from contact with the community. At the same time, the subconscious enters into a logical “fight” in order to improve the quality of a person’s life, trying to help him unleash his potential. To do this, the psyche chooses a rather strange method: in order for a person to be in public more often and be able to demonstrate his abilities, it is necessary to create conditions for him so that he feels discomfort when staying in his own abode. To do this, the subconscious has a universal tool - fear, in this situation, aimed at the fear of tight spaces.

Claustrophobia: symptoms of the disorder
Like other anxiety-phobic disorders, claustrophobia manifests itself as painful symptoms when anticipating, waiting, or staying in specific conditions. In this case, such circumstances are any limited in size and enclosed spaces. It should be pointed out that claustrophobia can occur with varying degrees of severity of symptoms.
Some patients with this disorder experience minor anxiety and feel minor unpleasant symptoms only when they are in close quarters. At other times, they live a full life and are not preoccupied with the obsession with the catastrophe that is inevitable in confined spaces.

In another group of patients, panic fear completely seizes their consciousness, forces them not to live, but to exist in constant anticipation of an attack of panic attacks. Such subjects do their best to avoid frightening situations. Their imagination draws terrible pictures of being in cramped quarters, often the ending of which is an imaginary fatal outcome. Another symptom of claustrophobia is the unconditional acceptance of the belief that the patient will definitely become ill in cramped spaces. No amount of logical reasoning or sound reasoning can eradicate such an obsession.

An individual with claustrophobia, finding himself in small rooms, experiences panic attacks: his legs may give way and he freezes in place, or, conversely, he takes illogical chaotic actions to leave such a place. Particularly threatening for claustrophobics are rooms where there are few or no windows. If he still needs to visit some cramped room, he will settle down closer to the exit and be sure to leave the door open. Moving in public transport, such a subject will never take a seat in the back of the cabin, but will stand near the exit. Claustrophobe never uses elevators, climbing stairs to high floors. He will not agree to therapeutic manipulations carried out in a pressure chamber or on other similar units. Such a person does not visit saunas and solariums. The claustrophobic also avoids visiting busy public places such as supermarkets or concert halls, as he is convinced that he will not be able to quickly leave them if necessary due to the large number of people.

Once in a frightening place, the individual is overwhelmed by a wave of symptoms of panic attacks. He has shortness of breath, even if there is no physical activity. He feels short of breath. There is an increase in heart rate. Decreases in blood pressure. The person feels very dizzy and is unable to maintain balance. Increased sweating is determined.
Another symptom of panic attacks is the appearance of internal trembling, which is replaced by hot flashes. Fixed tremor of the limbs. A person complains that goosebumps crawl over his skin. There may be discomfort and pain in the chest area. Common symptoms of an attack of claustrophobia are nausea, the urge to vomit, a feeling of heaviness in the stomach.

In a severe course of an attack of claustrophobia, fainting with a short-term loss of consciousness can be observed. There are phenomena of derealization and depersonalization. The person may feel like he is going crazy. An obsessive fear of death may join.
A constant stay in an anxious state cannot but affect the image and quality of a person's life. As claustrophobia aggravates, the range of human interests narrows, the number of social contacts decreases, and performance indicators deteriorate. Over time, he becomes apathetic, passive, often sinking into a deep depression. The sad outcome of claustrophobia is the loneliness of a person, because, being in the grip of fear, he is not able to create and maintain a family, he cannot maintain normal friendly relations.

Another consequence of claustrophobia, which, unfortunately, is often forgotten to be mentioned, is the deterioration in the health of the individual. Anxiety disorders, as a rule, aggravate the course of a somatic disease, primarily due to the fact that a person is always in a depressed mood, does not count on a favorable outcome and is not ready to fight for his recovery. Against the background of claustrophobia, diseases of the cardiovascular system are aggravated, the course of hypertension is aggravated, and disorders of the digestive function appear. The sexual sphere of life also suffers significantly, since obsessive fear does not allow the subject to relax and enjoy intimate meetings.

Claustrophobia: how to get rid of the fear of closed spaces
Before proceeding with the treatment of claustrophobia, it is necessary to differentiate the disorder from other pathological mental states. First of all, the doctor's task is to exclude schizophrenic personality disorder, since this disease is characterized by fear of closed rooms under the influence of persecutory delusions. The main difference between these anomalous states is that with claustrophobia, the patient retains healthy criticism of himself, he understands that his obsessive fear is groundless and illogical. It is also necessary to disprove the presence of a paranoid disorder in the patient, in which the individual is afraid to stay in limited crowded places due to delusions of persecution.

Treatment of claustrophobia is selected on an individual basis, depending on the severity of the symptoms of the disorder, the general health of the patient, the presence of concomitant somatic pathologies. Typically, a treatment program for the fear of enclosed spaces includes three components:

drug therapy;

psychotherapeutic impact;

working with the subconscious through hypnosis.

Medical treatment
Treatment with pharmacological drugs is aimed at reducing the severity of panic attacks and eliminating the patient's anxiety. The gold standard of medical treatment for anxiety disorders is the use of benzodiazepam tranquilizers. However, it should be borne in mind that long-term use of this class of drugs causes the development of drug dependence and aggravates the severity of the disease. Therefore, the optimal duration of treatment with tranquilizers is two weeks.

When attaching delusional inclusions, antipsychotics are used. However, taking antipsychotics in the wrong dosage is fraught with the development of severe side effects. To eliminate depressive moods, it is advisable to prescribe modern antidepressants from the class of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors to a patient with claustrophobia. Long-term use of these medications - up to six months - stabilizes the patient's psycho-emotional status and eliminates ideas of one's own inferiority.

As an adjunctive therapy, vitamin complexes containing B vitamins are used. It will also be appropriate to regularly take sedatives of plant origin, which can eliminate anxiety, irritability and give a person a state of peace.

Treatment with psychotherapy methods
Psychotherapeutic treatment is aimed at eliminating the irrational components of the fear of closed spaces. The doctor explains to the patient the features of his condition, indicates the possible causes of the development of painful symptoms, convinces that the fear of cramped quarters is inherent in many contemporaries. During sessions of psychotherapeutic treatment, the patient acquires skills in which way he can resist unpleasant sensations and prevent the development of panic attacks.

Treatment through psychotherapy also involves teaching the client relaxation techniques, ways to block and transform the destructive elements of thinking. Psychotherapy also includes relaxation therapies, such as: a variety of breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation according to the Jacobson method, and meditation practice.

Hypnosis treatment
In the treatment of claustrophobia, it is advisable to include hypnosis sessions. This is necessary to detect the true culprits of the disorder, which can only be achieved in a state of altered consciousness - with a hypnotic trance. Being between sleep and wakefulness, the protective barrier built by the consciousness is eliminated, and unhindered access to the deep sections of the psyche - the subconscious - opens up. It is in the unconscious sphere that all information about a person's personal history is stored, which often cannot be extracted from memory by the efforts of the will.

After establishing the true cause of claustrophobia, work is underway to change the patient's attitude to psycho-traumatic factors. Another element of hypnosis treatment is suggestion. With the help of a verbal attitude, a constructive thinking program is firmly fixed in a person, in which there is no place for fears and anxieties.

In conclusion, it should be noted that claustrophobia is an insidious disease that cannot be overcome by alternative therapy methods. Using homeopathy, taking herbal preparations, visiting healers and healers will not help in overcoming the fear of enclosed spaces. It should also be pointed out that attempts to get rid of obsessive fear on their own in most patients bring the opposite effect: instead of liberation from irrational anxiety, they acquire only more difficult experiences and painful sensations. Therefore, we conclude: the treatment of claustrophobia involves the joint work of the patient and an experienced qualified doctor who can choose the right tactics to overcome the disease.

Fear infects like a runny nose, and every time it makes the singular plural (Goethe)

One of the most common types of phobias in modern times is fears of space, manifested in various forms. Among these types of pathological disorders, the most well-known fear of closed spaces is claustrophobia.

Distribution in the population

This is a fairly common disease among miners who have experienced personal experience of “imprisonment” as a result of landslides, among submariners who have witnessed submarine accidents, in people who find themselves under the ruins of buildings due to earthquakes, military operations or terrorist acts, the military who have been in captivity. Often, claustrophobia is present in ordinary citizens who experience panic attacks in confined spaces or cramped spaces, for example: elevators, subways. This psychopathological fear is a common condition among persons serving or having undergone sentences in correctional institutions, in which the zone of available movement is limited to the prison cell.

According to studies conducted using the criteria DSM-IIIR, in the adult population, the incidence of claustrophobia is approximately 5 to 15% in men and 10 to 25% in women ( Robinsetal).

Manifestation of claustrophobia

Phobic anxiety disorders present with similar symptoms to generalized anxiety disorders, but their symptoms are triggered by being in, or anticipating, special circumstances. Persons suffering from a mild degree of phobia do not feel anxiety and anxiety for most of their lives; in severe cases, the existing fear completely takes possession of the patient, forcing him to live in anticipation of painful attacks.

The presence of a phobic disorder confirms two main features: the individual tries to avoid situations that provoke an attack of fear, he experiences inexplicable anxiety, anticipating, imagining or expecting a possible encounter with frightening circumstances. Circumstances that provoke claustrophobia include the situation of being in a place where the individual may experience the fear of enclosed spaces.

With this disorder, a person experiences a state of inexplicable and inadequate fear when being in certain places. A claustrophobic sufferer experiences intense anxiety when in a small space, especially when there are few or no windows. The claustrophobic, having entered the room, will always try to leave the door open and will be as close as possible to the exit. The patient's sense of fear is greatly aggravated when there is no possibility, if necessary or desire, to leave the given place instantly, for example, when staying in an elevator, a train car, or on an airplane.

When staying in such objects, the patient may experience a number of unpleasant vegetative symptoms. Claustrophobia takes possession of a strong desire to avoid these stimuli, and almost always the patient really avoids them. So the patient would certainly choose to go up the stairs to the fifteenth floor rather than take the elevator. Such a person will avoid mass events where a large number of people gather, when it is quite difficult to get out of the crowd instantly. A claustrophobic person is a rare visitor to supermarkets, stadiums, exhibition halls, where there are many visitors. The prospect of being in a closed, limited space causes a fear of anticipation, which may be accompanied by somatic manifestations. In cases where patients are forced to find themselves in "uncomfortable" places, their thoughts are focused on one thing: they will definitely become unwell, they will not have time to leave the room before the attack begins. A claustrophobic quickly develops a panic fear, his behavior changes dramatically, and for self-soothing, a person will try to leave the room as soon as possible.

In cases where a person with claustrophobia does not turn to specialists in a timely manner and does not undergo the necessary treatment, his disorder turns into a chronic disease. In the chronic form, the patient's life becomes completely dependent on fear: the circle of his interests narrows, social contacts decrease, he becomes withdrawn, passive and often in a state of depression.

Against the background of a severe form of this mental disorder, diseases of the internal organs often develop, because the individual deprives himself of what makes life life: hobbies and hobbies, healthy excitement, passionate feelings, and most importantly, movement.

Research on the course of oncological disease in conjunction with intense fears

Sad data about the consequences of "launched" claustrophobia lead American scientists. They found a direct link between a feeling of constant, intense fear and the occurrence of cancer. During the experiments, specialists from the University of Chicago under the guidance of Dr. M. McClintock found that the fear of enclosed spaces is directly related to such an ailment as cancer. The study involved 81 people, both female and male, with diagnoses of "breast neoplasms" and "pituitary cancer." The results of long-term observations have proven a direct relationship between the level of anxiety and the course of treatment of the disease. Oncology was more difficult to treat, and tumors rapidly degenerated into malignant neoplasms in 80% of patients who, to one degree or another, suffered from claustrophobia, which, against the background of a severe illness, was supplemented by a fear of death. 20% of the patients who participated in the study had a favorable psychological background, "bravely" fought their anxiety, tried to stay in a cheerful mood, and fought the disease in every possible way.

Claustrophobia: symptoms of the disorder

The initial phase of claustrophobia can proceed with little or no symptoms., while the person experiences a slight fear when he is in a closed room. In the clinical picture of a severe form of claustrophobia, the patient has most of the somatic symptoms of anxiety-phobic disorders. During a panic attack, the patient exhibits the following symptoms:

shortness of breath in the absence of physical activity, a feeling of lack of air;
palpitations, arrhythmia, tachycardia;
lowering blood pressure, dizziness, fainting;
increased sweating;
trembling, tremor of the limbs;
sensation of numbness and "tingling" in the limbs;
discomfort or pain in the heart area;
chills or a feeling that throws "in a fever";
abdominal discomfort: nausea, discomfort in the stomach.

It is worth emphasizing that claustrophobia, which occurs in a mild form, may not manifest itself in any way for a certain period after experienced bouts of fear. However, without proper therapy, with the exception of isolated cases, after a short lull, the disease returns with more intense attacks. To prevent the return of symptoms of claustrophobia, even if the frequency decreases or there are no signs of illness, it is necessary to continue the treatment prescribed by the doctor.

The attack, reaching the height of affect, is manifested by the symptoms of panic attacks:

unstable "shaky" gait;
fainting, short-term loss of consciousness;
derealization or depersonalization;
fear of death;
fear of going crazy
fear of committing an uncontrollable, antisocial act.

The diagnosis should exclude the possibility of a depressive disorder in an individual through a mental status examination and schizophrenia. In schizophrenia, patients may avoid being in confined spaces due to persecutory delusions; claustrophobic patients know that their pursued fears are baseless, unfounded and do not correspond to the true picture of being indoors.

Distinguish claustrophobia from other disorders or insecurities

This phobia should be distinguished from accentuated personality traits: for some, the fear of being in a cramped room in the presence of other people is a sign of self-doubt, shyness, and an inferiority complex. A distinction must be made between claustrophobia and socially inappropriate behavior, which is present in various personality disorders in individuals with low intelligence.

Detailed testing of the patient, a study of the dynamics of the development of claustrophobia helps to get out of the difficulty in making the correct diagnosis. It is very important not to overlook the presence of depressive disorders that have arisen with a long-term fear of closed spaces.

Sometimes patients with a paranoid disorder avoid going to crowded places and traveling in public transport with other passengers. Indeed, at first glance, there is a superficial resemblance to claustrophobia, but if the presence of delusions of persecution or delusions of attitude is found on examination of mental status, then avoidance behavior is not at all a symptom of fear of enclosed spaces.

Claustrophobia: causes

To date, doctors and scientists do not have a unified theory regarding the causes of claustrophobia. There are several hypotheses in this regard. Here are the main versions.

Reason 1.

Claustrophobia is a consequence of a strong fright experienced in childhood, a long stay with a sense of danger, defenselessness. The stimulus for the development of a fear of enclosed spaces can be a psychological trauma suffered in childhood when being in a dangerous situation (for example, when a child witnesses a fire in an apartment).

Reason 2.

Panic fear can arise after a person has suffered some kind of terrible event that happened in a confined space. A sudden severe attack of anxiety becomes an irritant for further phobic fears. It is logical to assume that the subsequent development of signs of a disorder occurs when two factors merge: a developed and fixed conditioned reflex and pathologies in the characteristics of thinking.

Reason 3.

Claustrophobia can be a secondary disorder and be one of the signs of other mental illnesses. Occasionally, when examining a patient, it can be found that claustrophobia arose as a result of neurosis that appeared shortly after suffering a protracted infectious disease, surgical (surgical) interventions, after childbirth. The clinical signs of this disease allow us to put forward a hypothesis about the cause of the appearance of a phobia due to an organic disease of the brain. One of the proofs of the organic cause of claustrophobia was the frequency of cases of patients with symptoms of an anxiety-phobic disorder, recorded in the 20s of the last century after the epidemic of lethargic encephalitis.

Reason 4.

According to the psychoanalytic hypothesis, intense anxiety occurs when an individual has an unconscious mental conflict associated with aggressive impulses from others that are unacceptable to him ( Mathewseta).

Reason 5.

Cognitive theory suggests that attacks of strong inexplicable fear develop in suspicious and impressionable persons who pay excessive attention and are afraid of minor autonomic symptoms, interpreting them as evidence of severe, life-threatening diseases. Although somatic symptoms are present in patients with claustrophobia, it has not yet been established whether they arose before the onset of fear of enclosed spaces or is a consequence of it.

Reason 6.

Proponents of the "biological" theory of the origin of fears adhere to the hypothesis that panic attacks are the result of insufficiency, failure or lack of sufficient inhibitory mechanisms in the areas of the brain that control anxiety.

Reason 7.

Personal characteristics of the patient play an important role in the development of claustrophobia. Such patients are quite often indecisive, dependent and dependent individuals who tend to shy away from solving problems rather than taking concrete actions and confronting difficulties. The results of clinical studies confirm that the majority of claustrophobes in childhood were surrounded by parents with overprotectiveness (hyperprotective attitude). There is an assumption that from parents suffering from panic attacks, the child adopts the corresponding symptoms as a result of imitative assimilation. Claustrophobia often begins during adolescence, when boys and girls make new social contacts and are very worried about what impression they get from others.

Reason 8.

genetic factor. Fear of enclosed spaces is found in approximately 10% of parents of claustrophobic patients (Rudin; Brown). Although this figure is low, it is significantly higher among other factors that cause disorders. Conducted studies of the presence of similar fears in twins helped to identify a hereditary component in the development of phobias. However, to date, not enough cases have been studied and registered to draw an unambiguous conclusion about the genetic predisposition to anxiety disorders.

Claustrophobia: treatment

The key to achieving a stable long-term effect in the treatment of claustrophobia is the timely appeal of a person to a medical institution. Treatment of the disorder becomes much more difficult when the disease takes on a severe chronic form.

Treatments for claustrophobia are similar to those used for other phobic anxiety disorders. As a rule, treatment consists of several stages.

Stage 1. Explanation of a specialist.

The patient with claustrophobia is explained the nature of the symptoms that arise and, if necessary, a conversation is held in order to dissuade the person from the conviction that the symptoms he exhibits are “symptoms of severe somatic illness or a manifestation of insanity”. Patients benefit from regular supportive communication with a psychologist for recovery.

Stage 2. Drug therapy.

To date, there are no specific drugs intended solely for the treatment of fear of enclosed spaces. And each psychiatrist develops an individual treatment plan for the patient, depending on the severity of the disorder.

As a rule, treatment begins with the appointment of anxiolytic drugs, benzodiazepam tranquilizers. They give significant relief of autonomic symptoms and reduce the frequency of attacks. However, it is unacceptable to take them for more than 2-3 weeks. If the disease proceeds with the manifestation of delirium, antipsychotic drugs are used in the treatment. The leading role in the treatment of claustrophobia is played by patients taking antidepressants for a long time (from 3 to 6 months).

Stage 3. Psychotherapy.

The best choice in the treatment of claustrophobia is a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy, when the patient is gradually exposed to disturbing situations, taught how to properly and quickly cope with attacks (exposure method).

Within the framework of behaviorism, psychologists use the following methodology: the patient is taught relaxation skills, ways to control their physical symptoms, methods of blocking and "transforming" negative thinking.

Another way to treat the disorder is hypnotherapy, in which the patient gets rid of the fear of enclosed spaces during hypnosis sessions. This technique in many cases is effective, but it does not give a 100% guarantee of complete healing.

Space-related phobias:

- fear of being at height;
- fear of moving and staying in open space;
- fear of being in public modes of transport.

Other phobias related to different situations:

- fear of the dentist;
- fear of darkness.

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What is the fear of closed spaces called?

Many people who experience panic attacks know what the fear of enclosed spaces is called. Its official designation term in psychiatric practice comes from two Latin and Greek roots. It is the root "claustro" meaning closed, withdrawn, and "phobia" meaning fear, horror.

There is another unofficial name. This is domophobia. However, in its purest form, the translation of this word may mean something completely different from what the fear of an enclosed space implies.

Symptoms of claustrophobia

Among the symptoms of claustrophobia, there are two groups of signs:

warning psychological signals that cause a person to avoid those situations in which an attack can occur;
situational, which include all the typical signs of a panic attack at the time of the attack.

Warning signals arise in those individuals who have already experienced panic during their conscious life when they are inside certain enclosed spaces. Subsequently, there is a desire to avoid taking the subway, flying on airplanes, entering the elevator, and more.

An attack of claustrophobia: symptoms and signs

A person feels an approaching attack of claustrophobia in the form of unaccountable excitement and anxiety. Then the hormonal system comes into play, which in large quantities releases into the bloodstream the so-called stress hormones - adrenaline and norepinephrine.

Under the influence of these substances, a response occurs from the autonomic nervous system:

first, the peripheral blood vessels expand and then narrow, this is manifested in redness and subsequent pallor of the skin;
blood pressure rises, anxiety arises;
pupils dilate;
there is a stupor or motor disinhibition;
then there is an expansion of internal blood vessels, arterial pressure falls;
a person experiences a fainting state with the appearance of large drops of sweat, severe dizziness and nausea;
some patients faint.

The incoming trigger signal from the cerebral cortex is not felt by a person, so there is no opportunity to influence the reaction of the autonomic nervous system.

Treatment for claustrophobia

Before treating claustrophobia, a person needs to learn how to independently cope with situations in which he feels the approach of another attack. Since it is impossible to prevent an uncontrolled release of adrenaline and the subsequent reaction of the nervous system, it is important to be able to properly "survive" this panic attack without causing injury to yourself and others and physical harm.

This can be done with the help of special techniques of physical relaxation. The simplest is breathing exercises with the concentration of all attention on the process of passing air through the nasal passages, larynx, bronchi. Inhalation should be through the nose, exhalation through the mouth. You should only think about how the air passes. All other thoughts should be ignored.

How to deal with claustrophobia on your own?

With a slight degree of mental disorder, it is quite possible to deal with claustrophobia on your own. To do this, you need to learn how to timely and quickly switch your attention from a negative image to a positive object. A psychotherapist can provide some assistance in developing this skill.

If you feel that an attack of claustrophobia is approaching, immediately turn on your imagination and imagine the picture that brings you to a peaceful state. If this technique does not work, then urgently find with your eyes something that will attract your attention, and begin to study this thing to the smallest detail.

How to cure claustrophobia?

On your own, you can try to deal with bouts of claustrophobia. You must not allow this disorder to crowd out various forms of transport, entertainment associated with the fear of confined spaces from your life.

An experienced specialist will help you cure claustrophobia. Currently, many progressive techniques have been developed that allow the treatment of claustrophobia with maximum efficiency. At the initial stage, antidepressants and psychotropic pharmacological agents are used to eliminate the syndrome of psychogenic tension. After partial restoration of the reserves of the nervous system and the cerebral cortex, neurolinguistic programming techniques, hypnosis, self-hypnosis, desensitization of the nerve impulse of excitation to a specific trigger for the development of a panic attack are used to treat claustrophobia.

In order to completely cure claustrophobia for some patients, 3 sessions of work with a specialist are enough, for others it may take months and even years of hard work on self-improvement. But in any case, it is necessary to treat claustrophobia, since panic attacks of fear deplete the nervous system and lead to the development of concomitant mental pathology.

What is claustrophobia

Most of you probably know what claustrophobia . This is one of the most common phobias associated with the fear of closed spaces. Those who suffer from it exhibit symptoms such as panic attacks, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, sweating, and panic attacks. They can occur not only while in confined spaces (including during medical procedures such as MRI), but also from the very thought of being in them. Therefore, if left untreated, claustrophobia can complicate a person's daily life - he will not be able to be in an elevator, ride the subway, or do an MRI.

Causes of claustrophobia

It is believed that claustrophobia is one of the few fears that can be transmitted genetically. Those. there is hereditary claustrophobia and acquired claustrophobia, although the consequences will be the same - constant attacks of acute panic in the elevator, in the subway, during medical procedures (for example, MRI). In order for this phobia to manifest itself and become fixed, some reasons are needed that induce the fear of enclosed spaces. For example: a person in childhood was locked up as a punishment in a cramped pantry, after which any stay in such premises serves as a signal for him to stress. Another reason may be the child's stay in the hospital ward. It is the separation from relatives (especially from the mother) and the inability to leave the ward on their own - these are the reasons for the possible development of a persistent phobia.

But you can get a similar phobia in adulthood. Claustrophobia is recorded in all submariners who survived the accident or breakdown of their submarine, it can develop in people who were on board a malfunctioning passenger aircraft, in those who were victims of domestic violence or were held hostage. It is almost guaranteed to develop in someone who was temporarily squeezed between two objects so heavy and voluminous that it was not possible to free himself from their captivity. As a result, a person in an elevator, in the subway, with an MRI, suddenly begins to have attacks of acute panic.

However, in Finnish scientists, we find a completely incredible, but perhaps able to please many of you, explanation of the cause of classic claustrophobia: it is characteristic of people who can no longer put up with the monotony of their daily lives, and wholeheartedly yearn for change.

How to tell if you're claustrophobic

Diagnosing yourself with claustrophobia is pretty easy. To do this, you should follow the discomfort that you experience while being in a particular enclosed space (for example, in an elevator or on an MRI). At the same time, you should immediately weed out objective fears, which may indicate that at the moment you feel a real danger threatening you. This is a fear: the fall of the elevator car in which you are, or the fall of the plane in which you are flying (the fear of being in a compartment, minibus cabin, etc. is similar to them). Also, fear of a doctor's office or medical equipment (for example, MRI) can be considered a completely normal fear.

But if you are afraid that now the ceiling will fall on you, the walls will move, crush you or you will suffocate while you are having an MRI, then you can be sure that you have claustrophobia in its purest form. Its other symptoms are lack of light and air, fear that the door will not open and you will stay in the room forever, and so on.

But if it seems to you that some “otherworldly” beings, viciously disposed against you, are hiding behind the walls of the room, or this particular room is filled with “bugs” that have been installed to monitor you, then, unfortunately, you have to state that you have a much more serious mental diseases than claustrophobia. Fear that the room will now fill with water and you will drown, that the floor will turn into wet cardboard and you will fall, or that furniture or carpet will attack you are also symptoms of severe psychiatric illness.

It is believed that one-time or rare (not more than once or twice a year) bouts of claustrophobia happen to everyone. But if you have such fears more often, you should consult a doctor. Just remember - claustrophobia reacts poorly to drug treatment, and today there are no effective drugs that treat this particular phobia. And so you have to complex treatment. As a rule, it consists of various therapeutic sessions and conversations, hypnotic effects and medications that reduce the feeling of fear and anxiety.

Treatment for claustrophobia

How to get rid of claustrophobia? There are several ways in which treatment is carried out. Today, various antipsychotics are considered the best medications that can extinguish even severe attacks of claustrophobia. But their reception should take place under the close and constant supervision of the doctor who prescribed these drugs. If we are talking about hypnosis, then you need to understand that during one session you will not be able to recover from attacks of acute panic in an elevator, in the subway, during medical procedures (for example, MRI). It will likely take five to ten visits to a hypnotherapist.

Interestingly, unlike many other phobias, sometimes, even if not treated, claustrophobia can spontaneously or spontaneously pass. In addition, psychotherapists from around the world have long noticed that the older the patient suffering from this disease, the faster and easier the treatment of claustrophobia. Moreover, for people after forty, one or two visits to a psychologist or psychotherapist are enough for them to understand all the far-fetchedness of their fears and get rid of claustrophobia forever. Or, at the very least, no longer feel acute discomfort while in cramped and unfamiliar spaces, such as an elevator or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).