Olowkow
25th March 2008, 03:51 PM
The irrational fear of being in an enclosed space.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claustrophobia
I found out that I am claustrophobic when I was repairing a MRI which is primarily used for dogs and other small animals. I told the operator, who was a friend, that I have a shoulder problem and would like to see if he could spot the problem.
"Sure, climb in!", he says.
I lay down on the slide in tray. He placed the coil on my shoulder and he wheeled me into the tunnel, roughly 3 foot diameter or so, not really that tight. After about one minute, I started to sweat and my heart began to race. I closed my eyes, thinking I can outsmart this panic attack. No way! I could sense the phase difference of sounds entering my ears, knowing I was enclosed even with my eyes closed. I almost passed out.
"I think I need to get out of here right now!", I said.
"Are you kidding?"
"No, I can't deal with this," I told him.
I got out, and felt pretty foolish, but I discovered that I am claustrophobic, and I don't understand why.
Anyone else have this problem? Apparently 10% of us do. I have no problem in elevators or crowds, but this silly MRI really did it to me. I am tempted to ask WTF is going on here? No one ever locked me in a closet when I was a kid. I have never experienced this before.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claustrophobia
I found out that I am claustrophobic when I was repairing a MRI which is primarily used for dogs and other small animals. I told the operator, who was a friend, that I have a shoulder problem and would like to see if he could spot the problem.
"Sure, climb in!", he says.
I lay down on the slide in tray. He placed the coil on my shoulder and he wheeled me into the tunnel, roughly 3 foot diameter or so, not really that tight. After about one minute, I started to sweat and my heart began to race. I closed my eyes, thinking I can outsmart this panic attack. No way! I could sense the phase difference of sounds entering my ears, knowing I was enclosed even with my eyes closed. I almost passed out.
"I think I need to get out of here right now!", I said.
"Are you kidding?"
"No, I can't deal with this," I told him.
I got out, and felt pretty foolish, but I discovered that I am claustrophobic, and I don't understand why.
Anyone else have this problem? Apparently 10% of us do. I have no problem in elevators or crowds, but this silly MRI really did it to me. I am tempted to ask WTF is going on here? No one ever locked me in a closet when I was a kid. I have never experienced this before.