Fear of being trapped.

[Saltlick]

I have a fear of being someplace i cant get out of.

Elevators
Planes
Cars
Jail (cant think of anything worse)
Trains

Anyplace where i dont feel like i could just up and
Leave when i want.

When im in control of driving in my car no fear, put
Someone else at the wheel and if its a long drive ( couple hours) the anxiety starts to rise. The other day though, i got stuck in traffic for 2hrs not moving
There was an accident that completely shut down the highway. I was stuck for hours. Nowhere to pull the car over, and the accident was so far ahead no word as to when it would be cleared. Man, talk about feeling trapped. I started having the worst panick attacks ever. I wound up getting out of my car, pacing back and forth. I seriously considered walking away except where would i go? I was in the middle of downtown and my car im sure would be towed. Slowly after about an hour and half the cars started to inch foreWard and i got free. Idk why i hate being trapped, is it fear of??? What? Why do so many anxiety sufferors fear being trapped?

[SLA]

A fear of being trapped is quite normal.

I had a full blown panic attack on the London Eye a few years ago. It was the first one in years.

When you struggle with anxiety, the brain perceives all "threats" as greater than they are.

So even though being trapped is a perfectly normal thing to fear, the brain finds that fear in places where it shouldn't. Like a giant ferris wheel.

[babywhale]

A fear of being trapped is quite normal.

I had a full blown panic attack on the London Eye a few years ago. It was the first one in years.

When you struggle with anxiety, the brain perceives all "threats" as greater than they are.

So even though being trapped is a perfectly normal thing to fear, the brain finds that fear in places where it shouldn't. Like a giant ferris wheel.

Interestingly for many years I linked a past bad experience on a ferries wheel to vertigo, but I've come to realize it is agoraphobia that I suffer from. When I was about 15 we were on a large open Ferris wheel and when our open pod reached the top, there seemed to be delay in letting some people off and some people on. We were at the top for about 10 minutes and it was breezy. I can visualize and sense it as I type now: the pod was rocking slightly and the cables creaking

Like I say, I've always attributed this to vertigo but over the years I've found that my own experiences are more agoraphobic e.g. I haven't been to a hairdressers in more than 20 years because I don't like being in the chair with a gown wrapped around my neck for an unknown period, I avoided the dentists for 10 years because I don't like lying back and having someone working so close to my face and with equipment in my mouth, I can't sleep in pyjamas because they get twisted around my body and neck, I prefer to sleep alone and need a lightweight duvet, I can handle trains with windows that actually open but not the ones with sealed windows, I can handle driving but don't like being a passenger on a long journey.....

I also have some other life-limiting/strong phobias:

• Wasps
• Thunder and Lightning
• Social situations (meetings, public speaking, parties, dinners, family gatherings, receiving/opening presents at xmas/birthdays

I have had GAD for a long time, along with bouts of depression. I was given antipsychotic meds last year for the first time, along with sleeping tablets. I'm off the former, but finding it hard to withdraw from the sleeping tablets because my anxiety is linked to chronic insomnia (as well as IBS)....

I'm currently on an 8 week mindfulness course through the NHS. Half way through. It's been a bit helpful so far, but not radically, and in some ways it's aggravating issues e.g. Awareness of breathing and hyperventilating....

Anyway your post about the London Eye resonated with me, because that's my earliest experience of phobia and panic attack, some 25 years ago. The wasp issue and thunder and lightning fear were not so strong in childhood as they are now, at age 41. They were just a bit scary when a child, but now they are life-altering I.e. Checking the lightning app regularly, keeping windows and doors closed in my bedroom, not driving with the window open, covering up when walking in the summer, avoiding litter bins in the summer etc.

[Jull]

me too! When I get in a elevator, I always think about the situation that it can't open and I'm stuck in it and then the oxygen is running out..

[steve_p]

I think the root of the issues is feeling out of control. When you can't escape you feel stuck and out of control, and if you're already anxious this can set off panic attacks.

It took me 5 years to get past my panic attacks and slowly exposing myself to situations where I was stuck to rebuild my confidence was key to my recovery. The more you do anything, the less scary it becomes and you can eventually tell those scary thoughts to just shut up ;-)