[LadyShadow]

Just wondering if this feeling has happened to anyone?

This has just started happening to me recently, especially at nighttime. I feel the walls closing in with shortness of breath.

What's funny is I thought there was a ghost in my room! But that's just silly, isn't it?

[~Christina]

I have had this problem my whole life.

[bluewave7]

I think claustrophobia may be linked with generalized anxiety disorder.

[middlepath]

Doesn't happen to me at night, but it does, unfortunately, in odd places like lines at universal studios or if someone hugs me too tight. I get panicky big time.

[bluemountains]

My problem is actually the opposite, I don't like wide open spaces, such as fields without trees, the sky, empty warehouses, emptiness in general, etc.
The only claustrophobia I experience is when I have to be in a crowd of people.
Bluemountains

[wildflowerchild25]

I have been claustrophobic forever. Since I was seven and suddenly became scared of elevators. I still can't ride one alone and will take the stairs every time.

[BipolaRNurse]

I'm horribly claustrophobic, have been ever since I was 3 and accidentally locked myself in the bathroom. I could be in a place as big as the old Houston Astrodome, but if I couldn't get out, I'd panic. I've had panic attacks in larger crowds, especially where everyone is taller than me (which isn't hard to avoid, I'm only 5'3").

[LadyShadow]

Thanks for all of your responses! I didn't realize the bipolar could be linked to claustrophobia. Interesting to know. I think I will talk to my psychiatrist about it.

[Miss Laura]

Hey there,

Ye I seem to be getting this a lot recently it's definitely no fun. Sometimes relaxation music helps but not all the time and not at the moment

[ultramar]

I can't deal with crowds -at. all. But that's my PTSD-related anxiety. It sucks when other things pile up onto the bipolar; a lot of us have lots of stuff going on.

[A Red Panda]

I get claustrophobic in a few instances: primarily, situations where there's a lot of people and I feel like I can't move. So... sitting in lecture halls, concerts, the movie theatre, etc. I'm getting better with it, but I'll be on edge. It helps if I'm against the wall or aisle, because then I've got one side "free".

[LadyShadow]

Thanks again for more responses! I think my real test of claustrophobia will be the trip on the plane I am taking next week. Yikes! I think I can handle it though. I have never really experienced claustrophobia my whole life, mainly because I live in NYC and it is crowded everywhere!

I just had these experiences lately, when it was late at night and I was alone in my room. Thats the only real time I have experienced it.

[LoveLoveS]

Yes. I can't be in small spaces or under water aquariums. I can't even go in an automatic car wash D:

[FireBird]

In a way I do have claustrophobia. Mainly of crowds and crowded elevators. In a crowded elevator I start having a panic attack saying, " the elevator is going to fall! OMG its over the weight limit and we are all going to die!" The reason why I don't take the stairs is because to be honest I need to exercise more and I am out of shape. Also this was in the hospital and was on the 10th floor. If its a non crowded place then I don't mind the elevator at all. But at these places its just one floor up and then I sometimes do go up the stairs. Its not 10 floors up then! When its crowded I do have a full blown panic attack and can't breathe. I start feeling dizzy as well. that is also when the thoughts of death come right in. So, since its just sometimes and just when there are crowds I don't know if this counts.

[LadyShadow]

Originally Posted by FireBird

In a way I do have claustrophobia. Mainly of crowds and crowded elevators. In a crowded elevator I start having a panic attack saying, " the elevator is going to fall! OMG its over the weight limit and we are all going to die!" The reason why I don't take the stairs is because to be honest I need to exercise more and I am out of shape. Also this was in the hospital and was on the 10th floor. If its a non crowded place then I don't mind the elevator at all. But at these places its just one floor up and then I sometimes do go up the stairs. Its not 10 floors up then! When its crowded I do have a full blown panic attack and can't breathe. I start feeling dizzy as well. that is also when the thoughts of death come right in. So, since its just sometimes and just when there are crowds I don't know if this counts.

Yes it most certainly does count! I get the same feeling about elevators. When I used to visit my boyfriend. I went up just 5 floors and I was panicking thinking it would fall. Funny I didn't think about this till now.