OT - Claustrophobia
I have severe claustrophobia - so bad that I cannot tolerate being in a crowded venue, unable to move around without touching people (nightmare for a Finn!). It's due to something my oldest brother did to me when I was 5yo. My entire family knows, but most are now of the opinion that I need to "just get over it".
I have tried everything. Meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnosis, medication, etc. Virtual reality therapy was laughable because I knew I wasn't physically there. During exposure therapy, I ended up breaking a bone in my hand during a panic attack.
It's obvious to me that I'm simply not going to "just get over it". While I have zero problems telling a fair number of people to suck rocks, do you have any suggestions for tactful things to say when this is brought up for the umpteenth time?
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You don't owe them any
You don't owe them any explanation. I have arachnophobia due (i think?) to something a babysitter did when i was about 5. I live in a swampy part of the deep south, so sometimes there are huge spiders in places people go. I just tell them i don't do spiders, it's a phobia, sorry. If they press me my answer is a simple "Nope."
I'm a bit of an arachnophobe,
I'm a bit of an arachnophobe, too, Rumple. Smash first, ask questions later!
You don't just "get over it".
You don't just "get over it". I'm sorry you had to deal with this, Aniki, and sorry that the people around you have,so little empathy. Ther are things that you don't and can't " just get over". All I can suggest is to ignore these people and hold your head high ( and I have no doubt you are already doing that). Wipe them out of your life. Haven't you put up with enough already? Kick the buggers to the kerb. You don't need them, even if they're family.
I'd kick most to the kerb,
I'd kick most to the kerb, Winterglow, but am very close to some.
Then they should be more
Then they should be more understanding.
They should be... *unknw*
They should be... *unknw*
I'm so sorry you have to deal with this, especially when your
I'm so sorry you have to deal with this, especially when you family is so non supportive. I have some claustrophobic tendencies, especially when it comes to not being able to physically move - like during medical procedures. It can be so scary! I wouldn't worry about being tactful - just tell them you are not going to discuss the issue ever again and change the subject.
I can totally relate to that
I can totally relate to that and have honestly been concerned that my uncontrollable shaking would affect the outcome of the procedure!
Years ago, I was having a lower MRI and had NO idea my lower body would be enclosed. The tech was being a major twunt to me and I lost it. Screeched that she'd better get me out of this <insert expletives> machine NOW. Which was overheard by the head of the department who came in and told Twunt to "you release her IMMEDIATELY". 20mg of Valium later, I was able to get back in (while shaking like a leaf in a whirlwind) and the department head ran the test.
I should strike "I'm claustrophobic" from conversations with them.
I can sympathise, because I
I can sympathise, because I have a several phobias, plus OCD, and it's no joke. I would suggest asking the people who keep bringing it up to please stop doing so, as it's not helping, and it's something you just have to live with as best you can.
Kes, I also have OCD (and
Kes, I also have OCD (and others) and it's a pain. I guess I'll have to start with that complete sentence of "No", followed by "this is not open for discussion", and change the subject.
That sounds like a pretty
That sounds like a pretty good idea to me.
You must search out someone
That can help. Think. It's the person. Not just a bunch of medical technology names thrown at you.
'I'M sorry you are going through this. We all want to be happy. Hope you find help.
Harry, are you kidding me
Harry, are you kidding me with that "You must search out someone"?
Go back and read what I posted. I have spent YEARS and tried MANY types of treatment.
Let me help you out... I have tried everything. Meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnosis, medication, etc. Virtual reality therapy was laughable because I knew I wasn't physically there. During exposure therapy, I ended up breaking a bone in my hand during a panic attack.
It's quite obvious that I have "searched out" many someones in an effort to overcome claustrophobia. *dash1*
Wow Harry you need help
Wow Harry you need help reading.
Aniki I'm sorry you're
Aniki I'm sorry you're dealing with that. I was spelunking on a science class field trip alot of years ago and got stuck. It was terrifying. Claustrophobic ever since then. Hugs.
Spelunking?! ~shudder~
Spelunking?! ~shudder~
Hugs right back!
In my sveldt slender fit teens and early 20s I was a climber....
In my svelte slender fit teens and early 20s I was a climber and a spelunker. I have tons of memories of bouldering in the Garden of the Gods, technical climbing in Eldorado Canyon, and searching for new passages in caves in the Rockies. The last spelunking trip I did my instructor and others on that intercession trip had confirmed the map of a cave near Canon City. The teacher had been through that cave a number of times and had never found one section of the cave that was on the map. A friend of mine and I started in the main chamber at the point the lost section was supposed to start. It was not there. All that was there was a huge pile of boulders. We crawled over under around and through that boulder pile for most of the day ultimately finding a small passage opening where the pile was up against the cave wall. That opened up a series of 6 tiered rooms. That day was cave rescue training day. We were part of the victim team that was to be rescued. They never found us.
We then reversed our path and crawled all over the cave to find the instructor and the rest of the group who were spread out looking for us. The instructor gave us an event award for finding that section that he had never seen. It was on the map, apparently not many had found it though. He did say that we scared the crap out of him as he had led the rescue team through the entire cave and clearly we were not in it. The next day was the last day where each person would partner up and go anywhere in the cave to find flag stations. Whoever found the most won. Instead of that activity the instructor asked us to lead the whole group through the section we had rediscovered.
In my current geometry, there isn't any climbing of spelunking happening.
I recently read a spelunking
I recently read a spelunking horror story: the man went down the wrong passage and was headfirst down in a hole with no exit. They were not able to extract him so he's still there... *shok*
I read that. The Nutty Putty
I read that. The Nutty Putty cave i think. Crawling through such a narrow passage has zero appeal for me. That story gave me nightmares!
I will never understand the
I will never understand the appeal. *sorry2*
Yes, Nutty Putty...
On November 24, 2009, 26-year-old John Edward Jones became stuck and died in the cave after being trapped inside for 27–28 hours.
Jones and three others had left their party in search of "The Birth Canal", a tight but navigable passageway with a turnaround at the end. Jones entered an unmapped passageway which he wrongly believed to be the Canal and found himself at a dead end, with nowhere to go besides a narrow vertical downward fissure. Believing this to be the turnaround, he entered head-first then became wedged upside-down. The fissure measured 10 by 18 inches (25 by 46 cm) and was located 400 feet (120 m) from the entrance of the cave. A large team of rescue workers came to his assistance. The workers set up a sophisticated rope-and-pulley system in an attempt to extricate him, but the system failed when put under strain, plunging Jones back into the hole. Jones ultimately suffered cardiac arrest due to the strain placed upon his body over many hours by his inverted, compressed position.
Rescuers concluded that it would be too dangerous to attempt to retrieve his body; the landowner and Jones' family came to an agreement that the cave would be permanently closed, with his body sealed inside as his final resting place, and as a memorial to Jones. Explosives were used to collapse the ceiling in the Ed's Push passageway of the cave close to Jones' body, and the entry points to the cave were permanently sealed by filling them with concrete to prevent any future access.
"Bless your heart, you are an
"Bless your heart, you are an absolute angel... being so concerned with my welfare... however.... it's a *process* annnnd while I'm working it, everybody overcomes it at their own pace"
or... a bit more snark...
"Thanks for the advice, but I’m pretty sure ‘getting over it’ isn’t listed as a therapy option."
AlmostGone, I laughed so hard
AlmostGone, I laughed so hard at your last sentence that coffee came out of my nose! *ROFL*
I would not explain. I would
I would not explain. I would tell. "I'm not interested. Thanks." If they push, put it back on them "I told you I am not interested. Why are you pushing this?"
Those that matter will drop it. Those that don't. Don't matter.
Take care of you.
I'm not a fan of spiders myself. Not to the arachnophobia level. My spider twitchiness goes to a fort we built in our backyard as kids. It became infested with black widow spiders. I went in and had one drop onto my face. It scared the crap out of me. Fortunately I did not get bit. I'm okay with spiders in the environment. I'm not okay with being the environment they are on.
I'm okay with spiders when
I'm okay with spiders when they're outside (with the exception of the time when one kept spinning the web over the top of the mailbox across to the hanging plant pole). *stop* But in my house? They must have a death wish. ~splat~
Yikes, Ani!
Yikes, Ani!
Like you, I suffer from claustrophobia, as well as acrophobia. The cherry on my cognitive sundae is my life-long insomnia. I watched a movie in 1993 called ‘The Vanishing’ where a young woman (Sandra Bullock) is buried alive and I had screaming nightmares for months afterwards.
At a horribly crowded viewing of the Impressionist artists at The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, some years ago, barely able to move with the press of bodies around me, I suffered a panic attack and howled like a madwoman until my DH was able to get me out of the scrum. I feel breathless just thinking about it!
I can completely relate to your aversion to folks who suggest that you, ‘Get over it’. Like you’d hang on to the terror that these phobias entail if ‘getting over it’ was achievable. However, my family is aware of my fears and accept the fact that, at my age, it’s unlikely that I’ll escape them any time soon.
The next time some numbnut proposes that it’s time to overcome your phobia(s), tell them that they need to consult a therapist and learn how to engage in polite social intercourse.
One of those numbnuts is
One of those numbnuts is someone for whom I have great respect. He has zero Phobias and has always been able to overcome every challenge he's faced, so this is basically an unfathomable concept for him. *unknw*