Mar 29 2009
My MOST Claustrophobic Event
Claustrophobia is pretty common, and I don’t know whether mine has become better or worse over time.
I think that I avoid potential situations more than I did as a youth, so I am not exposed to such moments as often.
Elevators have been bad experiences at times; the fear of being “stuck” in an elevator is not helped by television and movies where this happens.
Airplanes have been a source of claustrophobia for me, but I haven’t flown since 1995, so I haven’t experienced that for a long time. The size of the aircraft had something to do with it, but the worst part for me was always being in a window seat and blocked from getting out into the aisle. Following a HORRIBLE experience in 1965 when I was trapped in a window seat, in an aircraft with faulty air conditioning so I couldn’t breathe, I had to insist on aisle seats thereafter. I had to fly many times as part of my Navy career, including two 17-hour flights to the island of Guam, so when I left the service in 1995 I was more than happy to leave flying behind as well.
But…my MOST claustrophobic experience occurred when I was a young boy, about 8 years old, when older cousins rolled me up inside a big rug on the floor. It was a big rug, and my claustrophobia, or at least my knowledge of it, my fear of it, began on that day. I was screaming, I could not move, my arms were pinned at my side, and because of the screaming I could not get my breath, and I thought I was going to DIE! I was powerless. 
I think that is at the root of claustrophobia, at least for me: that powerless feeling of having no control at all. That fits with both the airplanes and the elevators as well.
