Any nurses with severe clausterphobia?

allnurses Guide · Apr 11, 2017

I have pretty severe claustrophobia. I can tolerate elevators, but get pretty jittery if it is packed. My current hospital is very old and I found myself on an old back elevator that was literally the size of a box. I had trouble breathing and was genuinely fearful. I will never take that one again. I am known to have recurring elevator themed nightmares during times of stress in my life, where the elevator doesn't just go up and down, but spins, twists, turns, goes upside down and won't let me off. Ugh.

Why do you ask?

quazar · Apr 11, 2017

I have moderate claustrophobia, but elevators don't bother me. Things on my face do (masks), but at work my adrenaline is usually pumping pretty hard if I'm having to go to the OR (the only place I wear a mask usually) so my claustrophobia doesn't bother me. Helmets, goggles, MRIs....those are all nightmare contraptions for me.

Daron73m · Apr 11, 2017

Believe it or not I been a hospital Rn for 18 years. The only it elevator I have been in was my my first hospital job interview. The fear is intense to the point I almost pass out if I try and step foot in one. Done multiple shrinks but just can't get through it. Working in Er and ICU over the years it was never as stressful as me thinking when I woke up, how many elevators will I have to avoid today and how many nurses do I have to inconvience. As a traveler it's even more intense when going somewhere new and not knowing if they will accept it. So far Iv been extremely lucky and fellow nurses have been empathetic or they have float nurses and transports. Er to ICU transfers Iv always been able to get another nurse just to do the elevator as I run steps. I also try and work at small 2-4 story places vs huge 1000 bed trauma centers. Coming up on a new assignment and get to work at a dream job 2 story beach hospital but found out they will occasionally float me to a downtown 1000 bed trauma center and find myself not being able to sleep the week before worrying about it so much. I always wondered if anyone else out there had it as bad as me.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Apr 11, 2017

I can handle elevators as long as they're not very full and everybody isn't taller than me. TB mask testing is pure hell though, and I'd have to be very well sedated to get me in an MRI machine. In fact, I'm so claustrophobic that if you put me in a football stadium and I couldn't get out, I'd freak. (Which is funny in a way---I was in a locked psych unit a couple of years ago and did just fine, maybe because I perceived it as a sanctuary from my life on the outside.) I don't know why I'm claustrophobic, I don't recall any traumatizing experiences that would have made me this way. But it is what it is, and as long as I don't push my limits I'm OK.

quazar · Apr 11, 2017

You poor thing. My claustrophobia has morphed into a fear of water as well, because water on my face or around my head = trapped = suffocation. You can imagine how this makes life uncomfortable (understatement). I finally have reached the point where I have decided to seek treatment via CBT. I'll let you know how it's going, but at the initial evaluation they said I was a promising candidate for recovery. Maybe look into CBT options in your area?

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Apr 11, 2017

I'm actually doing CBT with my therapist. I never thought about it in relation to my claustrophobia because I've had much more serious concerns to deal with in therapy. Sounds like something worth pursuing though. Thank you for your suggestion!

3ringnursing, BSN · Apr 18, 2017

I hate elevators - I can force myself on, but the higher up I have to go the more frightened I get. Shudder â€¦

I was locked in a shipping trunk as kid after being tricked into getting inside - then the person who tricked me sat on it. I had the sensation of being buried alive.

I panicked watching that movie Descent (the cave horror movie where the spelunkers are trapped miles underground and chased by cannibalistic humanoids trying to find a way out). And I mean I freaked: tachycardia, tachypnea, diaphoresis, feeling of doom enough to keep leaving the room (especially in one scene when one of the actresses is trapped with people in front and behind trying to squeeze through a tight twisty tunnel wearing a large backpack while minor tremors were occurring with the threat of the whole tunnel collapsing around them. I mean, I know it's fake but tell my fight or flight response that.

Every October an old west town local attraction in our city is transformed into a ghost town for the whole month and they have various exhibits that play on various fear/scare aspects. One year they had a walk thru exhibit that mostly consisted of skinny trailers end to end for about 500 ft or so - what was scary was the fact that heavy kick boxing bags hung from the low ceiling in the middle and you had to walk through it in the dark in a line of people and they pumped in smoke/fog. To a normal person: scary, but for me? I freaked out - smack in the middle I reached my tolerance level and devolved into an animal right then and there. I started screaming, crying and pushed to get the hell out if there! I didn't realize that would happen else I never would have set foot inside it.

It took me well over 30 minutes to calm down, balling my eyes out like a huge baby. It sure didn't help when Old Tucson staff (who interact with the crowd) walked by in black & white striped Hyde's Assylum clothing and giant butterfly nets! I was ready to go home. :cry: :dead:

I find with each brush of claustrophobia it gets a bit worse.