Claustrophobia is an anxiety disorder that involves the fear of enclosed or confined spaces. Claustrophobes may suffer from panic attacks, or fear of having a panic attack, in situations such as being in elevators, trains, boxes or aircraft. To some, it may also be a phobia of Santa Claus. The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (most commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) provides codes to classify diseases and a wide variety of signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances and external causes of injury or disease. ... The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-10) is a coding of diseases and signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances and external causes of injury or diseases, as classified by the World Health Organization (WHO). ... The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (most commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) provides codes to classify diseases and a wide variety of signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances and external causes of injury or disease. ... The following is a list of codes for International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Panic attacks are sudden, discrete periods of intense anxiety, fear and discomfort that are associated with a variety of somatic and cognitive symptoms[1]. The onset of these episodes is typically abrupt, and may have no obvious trigger. ... For other uses, see Elevator (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Train (disambiguation). ... Flying machine redirects here. ...

Conversely, people who are prone to having panic attacks will often develop claustrophobia. If a panic attack occurs while they are in a confined space, then the claustrophobe fears not being able to escape the situation. Those suffering from claustrophobia might find it difficult to breathe in closed auditoriums, theatres, and elevators. Like many other disorders, claustrophobia can sometimes develop due to a traumatic incident in childhood.

Claustrophobia can be treated in similar ways to other anxiety disorders, with a range of treatments including cognitive behavior therapy and the use of anti-anxiety medication. Hypnosis is an alternative treatment for claustrophobia. Cognitive therapy or cognitive behavior therapy is a kind of psychotherapy used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, phobias, and other forms of psychological disorder. ...

The name claustrophobia comes from the Latin word claustrum which means "a bolt, a place shut in" and the Greek word phobos meaning "fear".

Frequency

It was found that 5-10.6% of people screened before an MRI scan had claustrophobia. Furthermore, it was found that 7% of patients had unidentified claustrophobia, and had to terminate the scanning procedure prematurely. 30% reported milder distress due to the necessity to lie in a confined space for a long time. For specific phobias in general, there is a lifetime prevalence rate of 7.2%-11.3%. MRI Image Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a method of creating images of the inside of opaque organs in living organisms as well as detecting the amount of bound water in geological structures. ...

Treatment

There are a few kinds of psychotherapy to cure the phobia: Psychotherapy is an interpersonal, relational intervention used by trained psychotherapists to aid clients in problems of living. ...

• Flooding - This is a form of exposure treatment, where the patient is exposed to confined spaces. The realisation that they have encountered their most dreaded object or situation, and come to no actual harm, can be a powerful form of therapy.
• Counter-conditioning - This is a method of systematic desensitization, whereby the patient is taught to use specific relaxation and visualisation techniques when experiencing phobia-related anxiety. The phobic trigger is slowly introduced, step-by-step, while the person concentrates on attaining physical and mental relaxation. Eventually, they can confront the source of their fear without feeling anxious.
• Modeling - Similarly, this is where a patient is shown people flooding, and are encouraged to mimic the confidence.
• Cognitive behaviour therapy - the person is encouraged to confront and change the specific thoughts and attitudes that lead to feelings of fear.
• Medications - Drugs such as tranquilizers and anti-depressants. Drugs known as beta blockers may be used to treat the physical symptoms of anxiety, such as a pounding heart.
• Hypnosis - Uses calm surroundings and relaxation techniques to abolish fears and habits.

Systematic desensitization is a type of behavioral therapy used in the field of psychology to help effectively overcome phobias and other anxiety disorders. ... Look up relaxation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Visualization can refer to: Visualization as in any technique for creating images, diagrams, or animations to communicate any message. ... Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a term for certain severe psychological consequences of exposure to, or confrontation with, stressful events that the person experiences as highly traumatic. ... A sedative is a drug that depresses the central nervous system (CNS), which causes calmness, relaxation, reduction of anxiety, sleepiness, slowed breathing, slurred speech, staggering gait, poor judgment, and slow, uncertain reflexes. ... An antidepressant is a medication used primarily in the treatment of clinical depression. ... Beta blockers or beta-adrenergic blocking agents are a class of drugs used to treat a variety of cardiovascular conditions and some other diseases. ... what up?? Anxiety is a physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components (Seligman, Walker & Rosenhan, 2001). ... The heart and lungs, from an older edition of Grays Anatomy. ...

Colloquial usage

The term "claustrophobic" usually describes claustrophobic people or feelings of claustrophobia. However, in informal conversation, the term has also been used to describe enclosed spaces or situations that may induce feelings of claustrophobia. For example, one could say, "Crowded elevators are claustrophobic."^[1]

See also

• Buried alive
• Caving, a sport in which practitioners frequently enter enclosed spaces voluntarily

“Buried Alive” redirects here. ... Caving frequently involves a lot of mud. ...

References

External links

• Government of Victoria's article on claustrophobia