Does anyone have the same phobia as me?

Or am I just a freak? I am TERRIFIED of elevators, the idea of them getting stuck scares the s--- outta me. Anyone else like that?

My mom was scared to death of elevators. We were on a ferry boat one time and she had a broken toe so instead of the stairs wanted to use the elevator even though she hated them. There was like a power surge and it got stuck. Only for like two minutes, but I thought she was going to have a heart attack.

Elevators are a big fear for me. I don't get in them much, but if my mom goes to the hospital (she's not in the best health), I usually have to get on the elevator to get to her room. I tense up and pray till those doors open again and let me out. However, I also have a fear of being up high, so sometimes I want to be close to the elevators (or a staircase is great) so I can get down if I need to.

For the record, I also freak about bridges and tunnels. You're not alone, and I completely understand.

Elevators don't bother me, but then, I've rarely used them.
Of course, I'm not completely sure what does scare me, so you can just ignore me.

The first time my great grandmother got into a elevator it got stuck and she freaked out and she felt so clostrophobic she stripped completely naked! Lol! It was quite a site when those doors opened.

I am an overweight smoker with copd & I will walk up 5 flights of stairs before I'll step one foot inside an elevator. Not enough air in there, and no escape route. My worst nightmare. Of course the list of things that don't frighten me is significantly shorter than the countless things that terrify me. Just because some can't relate, our fears are reality to us & most are far from unreasonable or odd.

I'm not even sure what the fear is about. I mean, yeah, the idea of being stuck in an elevator freaks me out. But why? You're not likely to die. It might take a while, but eventually, they'll get you out. Why the panicked reaction?

The same with bridges. I'll cross a few bridges to get into another state, but I get panicky as we're approaching. Then we're on it, and I'm like, here we go! My heart starts palpitating, I get hot, the world seems as if it's ending, I slide in my seat, try to touch something--even my boyfriend, which isn't good when he's driving!--try to focus on something (like the other cars around us), etc. I used to enjoy going over bridges and through tunnels when I was a kid! I still enjoy the view when the panic is a little more under control, but why do I have to tense up before every bridge and feel this way? I know the odds of an earthquake or the bridge collapsing is very small, but I always feel like, if it were to happen, I'm on a bridge NOW and there's no way I can get off to save myself. I don't even know/remember how and when this started.

I really hate that you can't turn around on a bridge. I get the safety reasons, but what if I go into full panic? I might literally run out of the car, down the bridge, and what if I got too close to the edge in my panic? What if I fell into the water? I can't swim! You can't really practice going over bridges. You can't go a little further each time, then turn around until you get used to going over the whole thing.

And I don't get used to it. You know how they tell you to do a little at a time, baby steps, and you'll stop having anxiety about it once you see it's okay? That's not happening for me. I feel the same way every time I go over a bridge, or get in an elevator, and I haven't gone in a tunnel (I REFUSE to go in a tunnel) in years. Why does my body become overwhelmed with fear?

I was terrified of being inside elevators I feel spaced in, worse feeling when it's going down I feel like falling and get dizzy afterwards. I take them mostly in hospitals so I'm always in a rush my mind is somewhere else I guess. I think of final destination type scenes doesn't help

Yeah, I know the Final Destination scene you're talking about. That pops into my mind when it comes to elevators, too.

If you don't find being on a trapped elevator at least slightly terrify you *might* be a freak.

I recall going to a hotel when my family went on vacation for a few days and the doors would take forever to open when you reached the destination floor. I was seven years old at the time and I had ridden elevators before then. They didn't bother me. I can not say for sure this is the cause but I was never the same afterwords. I would always take the stairs if possible.

Between the ages of 12 and 14 I would go once a week for allergy shots. After each shot I was told to wait an additional 20 minutes in the hospital in case of a bad reaction. I guess my fear of boredom was much more than my fear of riding the elevator, since I would often leave the lobby and play with them (riding them, racing them up and down the stairs, etc). It didn't eliminate the fear but it possibly helped. I don't recall the fear being anywhere as bad after that. And now today decades later elevators don't bother me much.

i used to hate elevators. still do

have you ever used thought challenging as a way to combat your fear? asking yourself what the probability is of something happening?

Yep.....when standing at the top of Rendevous Bowl in Jackson Hole Wyo Ski area.....I knew there was no way I was going to get down that ski slope in one piece......so I did the traverse one way across the bowl....then the other......I had already had many major crashed on the lower more advanced slopes & one that my ski instructor even tried to brace himself against to slow my slide down the slope.

Having my daughter boping down the slope & standing there yelling "come on mom" didn't help....but I still took my own time & I got down in one piece even though the ski run wasn't that of a model advanced skier......thank you....I will NEVER be talked into doing something that is that far beyond my capability again...but at least I survived & had to take myself down every inch of the way.

I can survive even if I don't do it in a very graceful way.

As a kid, they used to absolutely terrify me!
I still don't care for them, but use them, and it seems to everyone else like I'm fine with it, but still thoughts like "What if the cable breaks, or it gets stuck, exc.?", but that's followed by logic - like, they HAVE to have been inspected, especally in a public building, but even private buildings, if you have an elevator, it needs to be inspected from time to time., Also, IF something happens anyway, there are all sorts of safety devices in place to prevent you from being injured, or trapped.
But I surely do understand it well...
Oh, just to let you know:
It's only two floors, but I take one to go see my PCP - AND that one is ALL GLASS, and goes up OUTSIDE the building!
(I REALLY DO NOT like that at all!)

For me it would be the trapped feeling, not being able to escape...no help...but this all stems from my abusive upbringing and military stuff...so yeh, I don't like elevators, bridges, tall buildings, on and on...<shudders> yuck....

I get a little nervous--but more so if there are other people on it that I don't know--especially if its a man. If I do know the other people, I still get tense if it's crowded. If its just me, I get a little nervouse but not as bad.

Yes yes yes. Elevators make me beyond anxious.

Am scared of Elevators too i worry i might get stuck in them
there was a time when i was at collage i had to use the Elevators because i was in a wheelchair at the time i was terrified it would get stuck
now a days i rarely go in them as i no longer use a wheelchair and i take stairs everywhere

Oh my gosh this one time we were at our grandparents condo and we had a whole trunk full of stuff and we brought it all up in the elevator. 7 people, a car trunk full of stuff, inside an elevator that hasn't been inspected in MONTHS. Talk about terrifying. And claustrophobic.