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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?
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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This is actually a therapuetic technique... Forcing yourself into an uncomfortable situation rapidly is called "flooding." This can be dangerous if not controlled carefully. Luckily, you were able to overcome your anxiety by meditation. Also, in the worst case scenario, you were always able to get out of the machine. If you totally freaked out, they would have pulled you out of the machine.
Another therapeutic technique is called "systematic desensitization." This is where you are gradually presented to more stressful situations in a controlled manner. For example, you might go to Wal-Mart and see that there's not much stress in such a large environment. Then maybe K-mart, which is a smaller store and again see not much stress. Then you would step your way down to, say, a closet. When you got to a situation that was very anxiety producing, you would practice with that situation a number of times until it became comfortable to you. Then you would move on to the next smaller space, etc, until you were able to function normally.