Claustrophobia

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Claustrophobia Hundreds of people go through anxiety attacks, deal with phobias, and some, a fear of enclosed spaces. Imagine dealing with one of these every single day. People do, and don't even realize that it's not just them; it is an actual problem that they can learn to cope with.

Claustrophobia is "morbid"� fear of enclosed spaces. A more accurate description might be a fear of not having an easy escape route. There still is not one actual cure for this phobia, but there are many treatments that may help you overcome your fear or improve it significantly. Any person who experiences this phobia feels a need to be able to get out or get home quickly. It is a predominating feature too. It also should be known that claustrophobia is not an illness. It is not something that you can get from being sick or any bacteria, but an idea in your head and anxiety begins to build.

Some examples of a person who experiences claustrophobia would be if you were in a small, confined area like a windowless elevator, a very enclosed room, or a crowded area. Such situations may cause anxiety or even panic in some individuals. When people are in these predicaments, their symptoms are very real, and if untreated or not helped, uncontrollable. Anxiety is a natural response to stress. In some cases, phobias like claustrophobia can become out of control. This is when it becomes a problem.

Some examples of symptoms would be feeling hot or light-headed, sweating, trembling, and breathlessness, fast paced heart, panic, and being fearful. These symptoms can be powerful, uncomfortable, embarrassing, inconvenient, and debilitating at times. Everyday, 5-12 percent of the population suffers from a phobic disorder such as claustrophobia, debilitating them from their work. These same people also wonder why they have this phobia. Many people develop the condition from being "trapped"� in an uncomfortable situation that they experienced such as a frightening airplane experience, or a stalled elevator. After, people go through periods of time where panic attacks begin to become very focused on the need to be able to get home fast so they can avoid any rough situations along the way.

Other people try to cure this burden themselves whenever they hit a situation where they're at a party and they immediately scan the room for exists. This will give them temporary relief and begin to think that's good enough. What people should really gook into is exposure therapy. Instead of avoiding the problem, confront it. Exposure therapy is a behavioral technique that seems to be the most effective, long-lasting treatment. The idea is to expose you to what you most fear. There are two types of this therapy. Systematic desensitization, which is a slower process, and flooding, which is a more rapid way to controlling your fear to you. Even something as simple as breathing exercises will help reduce your claustrophobic situations If exposure doesn't work, you could try biofeedback, or neurolinguistic programming, which is a verbal desensitization therapy to help get to the root of your problem. But, what's interesting is that experts say once you have conquered this fear, it is very unlikely that it will ever come back. So, claustrophobia is not only capable, but it can be curable.