Claustrophobia

Claustrophobia is from the Latin word claustrum which means “shut in place. ” In Phobias: A Handbook of Theory, it is defined as: “It is the fear of having no escape, and being enclosed in. It is typically classified as an anxiety disorder and often results in panic attacks.” Obviously, it is an irrational thought. The mind makes a connection that small spaces equal danger, the body follows mind‟s cue. Resultantly, a person floods with physical symptoms of anxiety – leads to the irrational fear about a certain situation. As it is triggered by a certain situation, it can also be termed as „situational phobia‟. A person suffering from this condition responds in certain ways: sweating, accelerated heart beat, nausea, hyperventilation and most importantly- a fear of acute imminent physical harm. The cause for this is either rooted in bad childhood experience or, as Lisa Fretscher (2009) describes, it may be due to “warping of an evolutionary survival mechanism.