| Author |
Message |
Pat
| | Posted on Friday, March 02, 2001 - 11:21 am: | |
Dear Ingrid,
First let me tell you what a blessing it was to discover you through astrologer Dave Walters.
I am here to ask for a serious help. Im 35 and since very young suffer from some panic attacks and claustrophobia. I love life so dearly and do so much, besides working with abandoned kids and flower essences. I've been doing pretty well with my flower essences and study of astrology, but for the last two weeks the crises have been getting stronger and almost unbearable. My doctor wants to put me under antidepressants but I want to transform whatever has been bothering my whole life, and not have antidepressants if my lung resists the pressure and when I heard about medical astrology I thought about a chance before numbing my awareness. Can you help me somehow..I am from Brazil born in January 4 1966 8.35am.and tks got very healthy physically. I hope this is the right place to ask this question. If not, I am sorry. In love and life,
Patricia |
Ingrid
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 07, 2001 - 5:34 pm: | |
Patricia,
Normally, I don't answer such complex questions on the bulletin board because anyone with ongoing issues usually needs exactly the right therapy from a skilled practitioner before healing will take place.
However, I just happened to be curious enough to run your chart even though I didn't have the exact place. It would appear that your own birth was difficult and painful, perhaps due to being trapped in the birth canal. Ergo, my best bet is that the claustrophobia, fear of being trapped, has to do with your own birth experience rather than anything, shall we say, more intentional such as being locked in closets or some such incident, which surely is why some people are claustrophic, but I do not think so in your case.
I think you can bring your own psychic energies into this picture, relive your birth to see if this scenario fits the facts and then use your imagination to see this as past and now as now.
Best wishes,
Ingrid |
Patricia
| | Posted on Thursday, March 08, 2001 - 1:54 pm: | |
Thank you dear Ingrid. I will try to search about it. Do you know doctors that use astrology here in São Paulo, Brazil? I am asking you this because of your practitioner course offered, so maybe there could be one from my homeland.Thank you again,
Love
Patricia |
Ingrid
| | Posted on Friday, March 09, 2001 - 11:42 am: | |
Dear Patricia,
Unfortunately, I do not have any students in Brazil. A few of my metaphysical articles were translated into Portuguese some years ago, and some of my herbs were imported by a doctor but there is no one in the whole of South America trained in my system . . . not yet anyway.
Best wishes,
Ingrid |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Monday, March 12, 2001 - 1:01 pm: | |
Patricia, have you thought about rebirthing to deal with this trauma and with birth trauma? It is very effective and very fast and you can go to site www.petrene.com to find out more. Look under "consulations" and under "articles" to find info on rebirthing... |
Ingrid
| | Posted on Monday, March 12, 2001 - 2:11 pm: | |
Rebirthing is certainly one possibility but creative imagination often works. One can also have a massage in which there is much gentle movement of the head while imagining that you are trying to emerge into life in this world. |
CuteMonkey108
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2002 - 6:05 pm: | |
Dear Patricia,
I am 12 years old and absolutley scared to death of tight spaces. I'm still getting over my fear but my frineds helped me to begin to rise above my problem. Start out by doing something small, like throwing a blanket over your head. Picture something that makes you happy. Do this till you're not afraid. Keep doing this but make the situation get tighter and tighter. |
Ingrid
| | Posted on Sunday, February 10, 2002 - 9:35 pm: | |
Dear Patricia,
You seem to have very nice and helpful friends. It would still be wise to ask what it is about tight spaces that triggers you. Perhaps when you initiate the closure yourself, it is not as frightening as when someone else causes this. For instance, being locked in a closet may be frightening but riding in an elevator with a lot of friends may not be as frightening. Being is a space without much air may be worse than the same size space in which there is lots of air. You might look for the keys and build your margins of safety by developing more insight into the what is most disturbing and what you cope with better.
Good luck! |
Henry
| | Posted on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 11:56 am: | |
I have a similar problem.
My issue is also a fear of enclosed places such as elevators and planes, which was triggered years ago in my early 20s when I was stuck on a subway car for an unusually long delay and later when I was very briefly stuck on an elevator.
It suddenly dawned on me that I was trapped and unable to exit and this became a frightening ordeal.
As a child, I am also aware of a related event when I was zipped up in a blanket cover and I panicked until I was let out, but my phobia only started after the former incidents as an adult.
I am told that prenatal experiences are a common source of claustrophobia, and it was also suggested to me that the phobia emanated from a specific past-life experience that was mentioned.
I tried hypnotic regression therapy, but I did not get anywhere with it.
EFT and TFT (accupressure/energy therapy)are of some help to dissipate the anxiety.
I tried a few sessions of holotropic breathing (type of birthing?) but I did not get to any feelings or realizations related to this phobia.
The core issue, the fear of being stuck or trapped when I am unable to escape is one that I have been unable to really contact or focus on in therapy or on my own.
Yet once I am in a situation where I perceive that I am vulnerable or in danger I may have a very severe and terrifying reaction to escape.
It seems like it is hard-wired, which is why it is so difficult to contact outside of the phobic situation.
I would appreciate thoughts or suggestions of resources for myself. |
Ingrid
| | Posted on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 1:12 pm: | |
What jumped out at me in this account is the reference to pre-natal experiences, suggesting that being trapped in the womb may be the origin of the phobia. If a mother is ingesting substances that are harmful to the child (drugs, medications, foods that she likes but the child does not, etc.), it is possible that the desire to escape is powerful and the inability to do so creates panic. I know a number of people whose mothers were so toxic that they died shortly after giving birth. This must be very difficult for both mother and child since nearly everyone seems to believe that survival of the child is more important than survival of the mother.
I would think that being trapped could be associated with a lot of experiences and the psyche, which works through the power of association, adds fuel to fire every time a new experience reinfects an old one.
Therefore, the creative approach would be to trigger the intervention of the conscious mind when the panic attack first starts. This rational being would be able to dialogue with the phobic subconscious by reminding the unconscious that getting out of a tight situation is the job of the person in charge, not the victim. So, you remind the subconscious that you can unzip the sleeping bag or blanket, get out of the elevator or subway, or whatever jam in which you happen to find yourself. Given that the survival instinct is unfurled in these moments, it is also probable that any change in air quality could exacerbate the reaction. Carrying a small vial of aromatic oil in a medicine pouch around your neck or waist is not a bad idea. By inhaling something soothing, you are reminding yourself (your unconscious) that you have the means to deal with the situation and you can pacify the turbulent adrenaline with some eucalyptus or other aromatic substance until things are back to normal.
Hope this helps and let us know if you try this. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 - 8:10 pm: | |
I really need to know the difference between 'acute' and 'chronic' claustrophbia. If someone could help me, I would be quite grateful. Thank you. |
Shawn Santana
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 1:58 pm: | |
I have a mild case of claustrophobia that triggers when I am locked in a small confined area with no way of escaping without outside assistance. I am also not afraid of being trapped on an elevator as long as there are others on it with me. I find that my imagination creates a fear of being trapped forever. Does anyone have any advice on how not to panic when in this situation? |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Monday, April 19, 2004 - 10:45 pm: | |
whenever im under a heavy blanket i feel like im suffacting or when im being hug to tight or long period of minutes i feel like i can't breath is that considered claustrophobia? |
Ingrid
| | Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2004 - 12:18 am: | |
All intense feelings have a basis in emotional experience. If you deny your feelings on the basis that they seem abnormal, exaggerated, irrational, or groundless, you are simply blocking the flow of information from your own unconscious, like refusing to pay attention to dreams.
The best way to handle reactions that you feel are impairing your ability to function is to go into the feelings until you find the images that are associated with the emotions. Remember, the unconscious does not use vocabulary--well, a know some people with Gemini Moons whose unconscious energies are vocal--but rather pictures. Therefore, you have to give some credence to the images and not banish them as "coming out of nowhere." The more you stay with the pictures, the more you will be shown because memory works through the power of association. If you have lots of trauma, you can expect glitches in your ability to form associations. It's almost like scar tissue has formed over the experiences so as to protect you from feelings that are too painful to remember.
The best way to stay with a feeling is to get help from someone you really trust. Ask a good friend, usually a friend of the same gender (easier for most people but not crucial to everyone), to be with you while you search for answers. For instance, if you are afraid of tight spaces or blankets or being held too tight, you need to create a parallel experience that is virtually guaranteed to be safe. You have to assume that this will not only work but it will constitute a new experience for the unconscious. Naturally, it will feel good so the unconscious will want to repeat the experience. If the experience can be repeated, you will gradually reprogram your subconscious to have a different expectation. For instance, being held might be wonderful instead of the cause for panic.
There are nearly always memories that explain everything. For instance, what if in a past life, one's lover suffocated you under the blankets and he held you very tightly when he did this. It would be no wonder then if just when you are trying to slip into the unconscious, your unconscious panics.
I believe it's important to honor all emotions as having a basis in reality and an importance equal to that of thoughts and beliefs. You can learn from feelings, but you don't want to be rendered dysfunctional by fears that can be managed. This is basically the difference between acute and chronic, but it's deeper than this.
Eventually, you create a separation between what is historic and what is reasonable for the present. For instance, at the time you first became afraid of small places, you were young and alone, like locked in a closet or small bedroom, without parents or support. Now, you are big enough to leave the room if you choose. You have options that weren't there before so you can manage the fear when it arises.
There is always a creative way to sort out these feelings.
Good luck! |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2005 - 1:50 pm: | |
Hey everyone I am doing a paper on claustrophobia and was trying to find pictures that show kind of what it feels like if anyone could help me that would be great. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2005 - 4:47 pm: | |
I became claustrophobic at a young age. Fear of hights, elevators, planes, low ceilings, the dark, narrow places and be hold too tight. I have improve in some of this areas, but a few years ago I have problems staying for a month in one place. I feel trapped and have to go away. I feel desperate, anxious, depress & wish to live in the street, homeless. Is this part of claustrophobia. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Monday, July 04, 2005 - 11:46 am: | |
This is a very informative site.
I have a severe case of claustrophobia. I have seeked professional help, but to no avail. I will walk up several flights of stairs on vacation, and cannot step foot in an elevator. I can get on a plane, but panic when we are sitting on the runway. Once we land, I am real anxious to leave the plane. I would travel, go on elevators as recent as ten years ago, but cannot do so today.
Is there a treatment for claustrophobia? |
Steve
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 - 1:02 am: | |
I share the same feelings as Anon. However, recently I flew from Boston to Las Vegas and plug into the new audio/video console on SONG and I was fine. The music soothed my abherrant thoughts and calmed me down. Maybe I need to carry an ipod with me all the time. |
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page