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Posted (edited)

After viewing many posts on the holy shit thread from many who suffer from claustrophobia I thought an entire thread for it may be necessary.

My symptoms:

Can't stand to be strapped to anything unless it's a rollercoaster or a car seatbelt.

I can't wear any watches or jewelry either. Anything that's tied onto my person which I feel I can't remove in an instant.

Planes? Lol fuck all that. It takes a serious dose of Xanax. Before I was aware of what was actually happening I'd just get drunk as fuck before flying.

Movie theaters. I always have to sit on the aisle closest to an exit. With assigned seating I'll buy the seat next to me so no one is sitting there.

I'm good at open air stadiums as mentioned before. 

My brain goes into overdrive if I'm in a situation I can't escape from.

Hopefully this becomes a support forum for us.

I do expect the oncoming surly ridicule.

Edited by MissingInAction
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Posted

Funny thing, when I was a little kid, I suffered from allergy and exercise induced asthma, particularly in the cold.

I also really hated being dogpiled playing playground football or any other activity where people piled on you.  It wasn't because it hurt, I couldn't really explain why, but I hated it.

I could hold my breath underwater fairly well, but when the oxygen started to deplete,  I would get irrationally panicky, even if the surface was just a foot or two away.

As I aged, the asthma diminished, and so did the panickiness when out of breath, but not completely.

At some point as an adult, a doctor asked me/pointed out that asthmatics often suffer from claustrophobia.

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Posted

I never thought I was claustrophobic until I had a MRI. Before I went in, the tech warned me to just keep my eyes closed and relax. After a couple of minutes of being in the tube, I opened my eyes. Fuck that shit. I closed them back tight and spent the next 30 minutes fighting off the urge rip out the IV from my arm and bang my way out of there.

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Posted (edited)
10 minutes ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

I never thought I was claustrophobic until I had a MRI. Before I went in, the tech warned me to just keep my eyes closed and relax. After a couple of minutes of being in the tube, I opened my eyes. Fuck that shit. I closed them back tight and spent the next 30 minutes fighting off the urge rip out the IV from my arm and bang my way out of there.

During my last one without sedation I was given a couple of Valium. My mind was good but my body broke out into cold sweats, and M

My eyes went wide with terror, but I didn't feel it. There's something deep within in the reptilian part of our brains we just just don't have any control over.

Edited by MissingInAction
Posted

I completely relate MIA. 
 

Which is why I used to marvel at the reaction of our oldest when she was a youngster. Wrestling with dad is fun, but she liked nothing more than when I would wrap her in my arms so that she couldn’t move. She’d laugh, and laugh, and wait for me to tell her that I was never letting her go. That was the ultimate giggle trigger. Me? When I was that age, those moments were the worst.

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Posted

Damn MIA, you're actually worse than I am.

I can handle enclosed spaces somewhat but only if I conceivably (in my mind at least) have a way to get out.  I could hide in a closet (insert nttawwt here) indefinitely but if you lock it I'm going ballistic.  But for some reason I can handle planes- don't love being stuck in a big metal tube with dozens of people but for some reason I tolerate it. 

I've never had a cast but I imagine that would trigger it too.  I suspect that I would also freak out at getting cuffed or thrown in a jail cell.  Ok, I know that last one for a fact.

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Posted
19 minutes ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

I never thought I was claustrophobic until I had a MRI. Before I went in, the tech warned me to just keep my eyes closed and relax. After a couple of minutes of being in the tube, I opened my eyes. Fuck that shit. I closed them back tight and spent the next 30 minutes fighting off the urge rip out the IV from my arm and bang my way out of there.

I had to do MRI a few years ago and told them you're either going to have to give me general anesthesia, or find an open donut MRI.  Fortunately found the latter.

Posted
3 minutes ago, Willfully Horn said:

I completely relate MIA. 
 

Which is why I used to marvel at the reaction of our oldest when she was a youngster. Wrestling with dad is fun, but she liked nothing more than when I would wrap her in my arms so that she couldn’t move. She’d laugh, and laugh, and wait for me to tell her that I was never letting her go. That was the ultimate giggle trigger. Me? When I was that age, those moments were the worst.

My asshole biological father would do the same to me with different results. Then when he knew it drove me crazy that only encouraged that cunt to do it again and again.

I think I'm onto something here.

Posted
6 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

How about I tie you up and put you in my sex dungeon for a month.

Damn, look at Mr. Moneybags here.  Most of us can't afford to excavate a basement because of all the fucking Central Texas rock, and instead we are stuck with a sex crawlspace.

 

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Posted
7 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

How about I tie you up and put you in my sex dungeon for a month.

Friend of mine wants to inquire about your rates for that?

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Posted

I had severe claustrophobia when I had asthma like symptoms with Covid. Even after my lungs cleared. So bad I was scared to lay in bed, if the room was too small that wouldn’t work, but even the blankets in bed were suffocating. I ended up sleeping on the bare floor in the living room a lot. 
 

even now though in normal times I can’t wear a watch or my wedding ring or necklace to sleep. No restrictions otherwise I feel trapped.

as I get older I hate crowds.  I can’t sit the inside seat of a plane, and I don’t care for the back seat of a car on a longer trip. I’m sure there’s more.

my mom is claustrophobic too.

Posted

I can’t sleep in a zipped up sleeping bag. I’ve camped in some really cold places and slept on top of snow. But the bag stays unzipped.  Even a camping quilt with an enclosed toe box is a no-go, I’ll keep one leg out. At home the top sheet and  blankets must be untucked on all sides.  I just need to be able to move my legs and not feel the constriction. 

MRI machines, small rooms, etc.. no problem at all. 

Posted
15 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

I'm good at open air stadiums as mentioned before. 

My brain goes into overdrive if I'm in a situation I can't escape from

I always get a little anxious at big stadium events even though I know in theory there is fire code and everything and have seen videos of how quick they can be emptied when needed, but just have a nagging fear in the back of my mind that if I was ever at a full stadium and some sort of emergency happened, it would be pure chaos trying to get out...

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Posted

I can't stand small rooms with lots of people, full elevators, or general admission concerts.  On the other hand, last time I had an MRI, in a fully enclosed MRI machine, I dozed off.  Turns out I'm not claustrophobic, I just don't like people.

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Posted

I can’t stand crowds or crowded situations. I’ll wait for an elevator if the one in front of me is full. At concerts, I have to be at the very back where I have some room. I’m ok at sporting events until the crowds all try to leave. I’m always looking for a way through to a clear space.

Posted

Zero % clastrophobic.  Can smell cigarette smoke from someone in a parked car like 5-6 cars down or around the corner at a building.

 

Not ranting against smokes, but because of this sense of smell, it's a dire affliction for me when people don't fucking bathe.  That shit is infinitely worse than close spaces.  I want to heave and then do whatever I have to do to get away from it.  Airplanes are pure torture sometimes.  It's beyond me how people know they are getting onto a (public) plane and can't wash their filthy ass.

Same goes for out at stores or whatever.  People will walk by just reeking, and I'm like, "What the fuck is wrong with you that you don't care for others enough to take a fucking bath?"

It's gross.  It's everywhere...and I'm not germophobe dude.  I just don't want to smell it.

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Posted
1 hour ago, Iceman said:

Zero % clastrophobic.  Can smell cigarette smoke from someone in a parked car like 5-6 cars down or around the corner at a building.

 

Not ranting against smokes, but because of this sense of smell, it's a dire affliction for me when people don't fucking bathe.  That shit is infinitely worse than close spaces.  I want to heave and then do whatever I have to do to get away from it.  Airplanes are pure torture sometimes.  It's beyond me how people know they are getting onto a (public) plane and can't wash their filthy ass.

Same goes for out at stores or whatever.  People will walk by just reeking, and I'm like, "What the fuck is wrong with you that you don't care for others enough to take a fucking bath?"

It's gross.  It's everywhere...and I'm not germophobe dude.  I just don't want to smell it.

Thank you for making me feel better about being smell blind.

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Posted

I am all those things. It's a combination of claustrophobia and control issues.  I am the type that can be in an small, enclosed place but if I can get out when I want, I am fine.  I can be a large, open space but if I am trapped, I start to lose it.  That happened when I was called to jury duty and had to sit in the middle of row, knowing that I could not get up and leave.

I went to therapy for this a few years ago because it was become a hindrance to every day living.  This included exposure therapy.  She actually handcuffed me (in not a good way) and put me in the back seat of a two door car.  It was awful.  But I learned that all of this is really a false triggering of a flight or fight reflex that is inside of us.   So, my mantra when it starts became: "where is the tiger?".  All of that plus Lorazepam that I rarely take, but keep as a crutch just in case really helped.  I can handle most things now and am fine on plane, but have to sit in the aisle.  I still can't be in the far back row of an SUV without access to a door.  I have not fixed that.

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Posted
10 minutes ago, DFWTexEx said:

So, my mantra when it starts became: "where is the tiger?"

I had two things that stuck with me from therapy that I use to stop the mental spiral when it starts:

1.  The first is very similar to the "where is the tiger?" question.  My therapist told me to ask myself "what is the evidence?"  I find that really helps me to reassess what is happening around me and realize that for the most part, there is no real threat.  When you start to take inventory and make a list, the rational side of the brain kicks back in.

2. Remember that you've been here before and made it through just fine.  It might have sucked a bit, but you did just fine before.  The visualization tool for this is imagining that I'm wearing an earpiece and my future self is talking me through the situation.

 

My claustrophobia/panic response is really weird and shows up in strange places, and is completely absent from places it would be expected.

  • I'm 100% fine scuba diving.  I have hundreds of dives under my belt and never once felt a tickle of panic.
  • I've done short training cruises on submarines and wasn't bothered at all.
  • I used to spend extended periods of time below decks in the engineering spaces of ships, many times not realizing that I hadn't been above the main deck and outside the skin of the ship for a week or more. 

Weird places it shows up:

  • I can start to have a panic attack in the drive through line if it is taking too long and there is no way to easily pull out of line.
  • I once started to have a panic attack in the Majestic before Phantom of the Opera because we had seats in the very center of the theater for a sold out Saturday night performance.
  • Last year, before I went to therapy, I nearly shaved off my beard because I had an itch that wouldn't go away and it triggered a panic response.

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By far, my worst panic attacks occurred on airplanes when there were unscheduled delays.  As long as the plane is moving or on schedule, I'm perfectly fine.  But once there is a delay or we have to wait on the tarmac for any period of time, that panic response kicks in. 

This stems from an experience in 2006 when I detached from Guantanamo Bay.  My departing flight was a commercial charter from GTMO to Jacksonville, a very quick flight.  We began our takeoff and were picking up speed when the crew had to abort the takeoff due do some engine parameter being out of specs. 

So we turned around and didn't deplane, because they thought that they could get a waiver from maintenance and we would be on our way in about a half hour or so.  It actually took about an hour and a half to get the waiver, but by then the winds had shifted and we couldn't takeoff in the normal direction.  The problem with GTMO is that you can only takeoff in one direction, otherwise you are flying into Cuban airspace.  The weather guessers kept saying that the wind would shift back within the next 20 minutes.  So we sat there... waiting... on the tarmac... in the afternoon... in June.

I was fine for quite a while.  I had a book to read and music to listen to.  But remember, this was a flight full of military passengers.  I wasn't a smoker, but A LOT of military folks were.  After three hours had passed waiting for the wind, a lot of folks with nicotine withdrawal were getting very vocal about their displeasure.  So the enclosed space, the lack of control, and unpredictable, irritable people finally triggered my claustrophobia.  We sat on that tarmac for six and a half hours, and I was white-knuckling through a panic attack for the last two.  As soon as we got into the air, I was fine.

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Last year, post-therapy, I was on a flight back from the Big Island via Seattle.  We did not have gate boarding for our flight from Seattle to Tulsa and had to take a shuttle from the terminal to the plane.  After we had boarded our standing-room-only shuttle bus and started towards the plane, we got word that there was a minor maintenance issue on the plane and that boarding would be delayed.  Rather than take us back to the terminal, they just parked the bus out of the way of traffic until we got the all clear.  Before therapy I would have panicked BIG TIME being stuck shoulder to shoulder on a stationary bus not knowing how long I would be there.  With those tools from therapy, I spent less than minute with my brain spiraling into panic before getting back to calm.  This is not something that I have "beaten", but therapy has given me the tools I need to be able to continue to do the things I enjoy, like seeing a show in a crowded theater and travelling on an airplane. 

Posted
19 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

How about I tie you up and put you in my sex dungeon for a month.

Got room for one more? Asking for a friend, of course. 

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Posted
I never thought I was claustrophobic until I had a MRI. Before I went in, the tech warned me to just keep my eyes closed and relax. After a couple of minutes of being in the tube, I opened my eyes. Fuck that shit. I closed them back tight and spent the next 30 minutes fighting off the urge rip out the IV from my arm and bang my way out of there.

I was flirting with the nurse during my first one. Was getting checked for seizure stuff.
Posted

I grew up working in attics and under houses doing electrical and stuff. Only been remotely claustrophobic once in my life. I was momentarily stuck under a house. Crawled over some old rock/concrete and got hung up. Nearly had a panic attack. Managed to exhale enough to squirm out.

For those of you that don’t like small spaces or being confined, you ever let a chick handcuff you to the bed? I mean, it’s open. Like the aforementioned sex dungeon.

Posted

I don't have a problem with enclosed places. I served on a ships and they're almost nothing but enclosed spaces. I have a problem being underground where I could easily be buried alive. Also have a severe dislike for high ledges. Height doesn't bother me, but the distinct possibility of uncontrolled descent does.

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