If you check the psychology manuals and look for the section detailing anxiety disorders, you’ll find they are formally cataloged in seven categories: generalized anxiety, social phobia, panic disorder, agoraphobia, specificity phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. In practical terms though, that is just a frame of reference, and most patients experience experience a mixture of different categories. For example, you could have generalized anxiety disorder and still have problems with claustrophobia. The good news is that you can drop all your anxiety issues and their ramifications by dealing with the root of the problem: anxiety.
If there is a trick to overcoming anxiety, that’s learning how to stop feeding anxiety. People probably tell you that you can do so by confronting your problems for once, but I don’t personally believe it’s a good option. Desensitization strategies can be used to good effect in overcoming anxiousness, but only in a later stage of your treatment, when you’re ready to grab the bull by the horns, so to speak. To begin with, I believe the best strategy is actually accepting the fact have anxiety issues and seeking activities that help you relax. In other words, you have to learn how to keep yourself from feeding your anxiety, and by doing so, your claustrophobia and other symptoms will gradually subside.
So you have anxiety and claustrophobia; now what? If you want to find relief quickly, there’s no point in berating yourself. You will find much better results if you’re supportive towards yourself. Don’t chastise yourself for having those claustrophobic feelings, that will only make it worse. Instead, why not take stock of your fear of closed spaces, and try doing more activities in the outdoors? Try getting more physical exercise while you’re doing so, since that will also help you reduce your inner turmoil.
Here’s what I want you to do, as soon as you have a chance. Go out on a camping trip; all by yourself, if you have to. While you’re out there communing with nature, try to look deep into yourself and understand what may be causing your claustrophobia. Gaze at the open sky and let yourself heal while you’re standing there, just breathing. Does it sound impossible? Preposterous, maybe? Well, if you just try it, I’m quite confident you’ll change your mind. And if you supposed you had tried everything and nothing seems to have worked… now you have something entirely different that you should try.
Just remember, you won’t recover from an anxiety disorder overnight, there are no such miracles. You recovery will be gradual, and possibly slow. But each step in the right direction will help reinforce your peace of mind, and further undermine your anxiousness.
