Fear is a normal emotional reaction with an adaptive nature because, in case of threats, it mobilizes us to take certain measures to save our lives. This gives us the will to protect ourselves. However, fear is normal up to a certain point. Irrational fears or concerns arise when the subject is feeling or behaving as if subjected to a major threat, though the situation that presents a danger is minimal or nonexistent. For example, a person with dog phobia can be paralyzed with fear at the sight of a harmless puppy. That person realizes that his fear is ridiculous, meaningless, he fight against it, but can not overcome it.
The phobia is a persistent fear of an object, thought or situation that normally does not justify the fear (the term comes from Greek “Phobos”, which means running).
The Anxiety Attacks
Usually, the anxiety attacks a person suffering from claustrophobia has characterize by the pressure on the chest, which makes breathing difficult and the subject is afraid that he will suffocate or faint. The patient’s reaction is characterized by dizziness, feeling of fall, and the feeling of unreality.
Although some claustrophobic people sometimes lose their composure, rarely it happens that they suffocate or pass out for real. It is important to note that the claustrophobic people behave normally, when they don’t face the object of their fears.
Possible Causes
Possible causes that could activate this deep fear varies from one individual to another. The classic situation is when a bad event occurs in specific situations. Thus, the person develops a conditioned response which will occur even in the absence of stimulus, in the form of a phobic reaction. Another cause could be mimicking the reaction of a parent or the warning of the danger of certain situations from person.
Treating Claustrophobia
It is imperative that the claustrophobic person follows a program of behavioral and cognitive-behavioral therapy, consisting especially in techniques of desensitization. In other words, the affected person should change his/her lifestyle by learning to live with fear was until it looses it completely. The claustrophobic person should be aware that fear needs to be learned; he needs to learn how it works, what physiological reactions it produces and how it influences the individual’s life and what makes him preserve it.
The therapeutic effort begins in imagination or directly in anxious situations (elevators, small rooms, tunnels or areas without windows) in the presence of the therapist, a group of patients suffering from the same disorder or in individual counseling.
Resisting to therapy
Phobic patients often produce models of anxiety produced by anticipatory thinking: “Not only will I remain locked in an elevator, but there will be no one to get me out of there.” This pattern affects the evolution of cognitive therapy “treatment will not only be difficult, but neither will it help me!”
The disruptive factor needs to be identified, formulated in terms understood by patient and be de-structured through a behavioral testing area.
People with such problems need to realize that they’re not the only ones in this situation, that no matter their age, they can be treated and can get better and their disease can be cured even if they got used to living with it even from childhood.
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