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Originally Posted by willravel
Might I floor this one?
Can you describe in greater detail the feelings you get when you are in a closed space? Are they aprehensive? Are they fight/flight? Do you have trouble breathing? Also, do you remember the very first time you felt this?
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The best way "the person I know" can describe this is irrational panic. To the point that if locked in a small room (like a bathroom, or elevator--a large room wouldn't be a problem), and it wasn't necessary to conceal the situation from others, an attempt to bash through the door or wall would soon be underway. No breathing problem. The feeling has pretty much always been there.
Believe it or not, when I had a broken arm (from a poorly executed kick block in a martial arts class) I even got feeling of claustrophobia regarding the cast! Had to do strenuous exercise to make it go away. The orthopedist told me it wasn't uncommon.
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I also used to be claustrophobic. I had an irrational view of closed spaces from when I was young and trapped in something (still can't remember what). In order to overcome my problem, I allowed myself to be put in a situation where I was made to be EXTREMLY uncomfortable in an inclosed space. I first tried this by going into caves with a friend of mine who is experienced in cave walks and such. It didn't work. So my anual cardiologist check up came around and it was suggested that I get a CAT scan. I did. I got into a machine that requires perfect stillness for extended periods of time that is a very tight loction (I could barely move my arms if I wanted to). The person working the machine was either exhausted or new, because it took over 7 hours to finish. At first I was absolutely freaking out. I had to force myself to control my breathing. After my heart rate went down and my breathing became normal, I started to meditate (concentrated on a small red dot at the front of my mind and manipulated the dot very slowly). After about 20 minutes I was back to normal calm. Then I opened my eyes. After 20 minutes I was calm again. This went on for the first 2-3 hours. After a while, I realized that I was not trapped, and I was able to relax so much I almost fell asleep.
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I had kind of thought something like "familiarizaton" might help, but I assumed there were good and bad ways to do it. Would love to hear what the shrink thinks.
Congrats on overcoming it.
