Claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces)

waiting of the punchline...and here it is:

Your question is not entirely clear; do you mean to ask if there is a term for the fear that a black woman feels about little people, or do you mean to ask if there is a term for being afraid of a black woman who is herself afraid of little people? We should probably not try to combine these elements anyway, it is too complicated. Fear of black people would be a form of xenophobia, fear of women is gynophobia, and fear of little people could be described as miniphobia. Fear of blackness could be melanophobia. Combine them at your own risk.

Information found at: http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=weblog&id=530&wlid=5&cn=1

Social Phobia and Self Concept and the Brain

Posted by Allan N. Schwartz, LCSW, PhD on Mon, Oct 20th 2008

Karen Blair, of the National Institutes of Mental Health reported on the findings of an important research project in which fMRI's were used to study brain responses for those subjects who suffer from Generalized Social Phobia. Social Phobia is the fear and wish to avoid a specific type of social situation, perhaps private parties. A Generalized Social Phobia is the fear of and wish to avoid all social situations. The subject who suffers from GSP experiences constant fear of being judged badly and, as a result, experiences major inability to function at work or in all types social situations. In other words, the subject perceives a threat of such magnitude that they expect humiliation and embarrassment because of other people not liking them.

Brain Parts Involved:

Previously, it was thought that the part of the brain that controlled phobic reactions was the Amygdala. This part of the brain, right and left hemispheres, is responsible for storing memories of emotional reactions. For example, if a person experiences being stuck in an elevator and becomes frightened, the Amygdala will store not only the memory of the event but the frightened reaction as well. Then, a "potential" is established for the individual to become frightened again, in a similar situation such as going into an elevator of any type and anywhere.

The study discussed in this posting confirmed that the Amygdala does become "lit up" on the fMRI's, meaning that the machine traces blood rushing to that brain part when the phobic inducing situation is present. However, what the study also revealed is that the all important Pre Frontal Cortex is also lit up. The pre frontal cortex is responsible for such things as making judgments as to what is good and bad, right and wrong and self concept and self esteem.

When phobic subjects read negative comments about themselves, as individuals, not only did blood rush to the Amygdala but to the pre frontal cortex as well. It is important to mention that non phobic subjects were also used in the study as a control or comparison group. This comparison group did not show any changes in their pre frontal cortex when they read negative or critical comments about themselves.

Implications:

These findings were received by the medical and psychiatric communities very enthusiastically. It means that new medications can be devised to help people overcome their social phobias.

The article does make mention, at the very end, of the fact that psychologists can use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to enhance their treatment people with GSP.

In My Opinion:

It is not a new idea, it seems to me, that those with social phobias of all types, would experience low self esteem. I welcome my readers to send their comments about this issue because it has always seemed to me that the very nature of social anxiety and social avoidance is that there is a readiness to anticipate rejection. Countless numbers of people with this phobia have told me how they suffer, in all situations, with the dread that others will think badly of them.

While I am not anti medication I am pro psychotherapy. In my humble opinion, and please correct me or argue with me if I am wrong or if you believe I am wrong, but medication will not increase feelings of self esteem. For the phobic, positive social experiences along with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy set the stage for improvements in functioning and self esteem.

I look forward to your comments.

Allan N. Schwartz, PhD

I found this article very interesting and informative..I answer your question on how phobia's affect the brain.

The word agora is Greek, meaning market place. Agoraphobia, literally fear of the market place, means fear of open spaces, of outdoors. People with severe agoraphobia will refuse to leave their homes. Other types of phobia can be about virtually anything. Many people have some degree of acrophobia, fear of heights. Many people have xenophobia, fear of strangers. But there are endless types of phobias.

Claustrophobia is the fear of small spaces. It can lead to people panicing

I am not clinically diagnosed with either, but I would classify myself as marginally both. The idea of being on a submarine is terrifying for me because of the claustrophobia aspect, but on the opposite end of the spectrum, I hate the idea of standing in an open field because it feels too exposed.

Claustrophobia

Using different shades or tints of a single color in an artwork

The fear of small dots, or other patterns with lots of small, contrasting detail, is known as trypophobia. It can generally be considered as a fear of certain shapes.

It depends on the personality/life of the person/people it affects

Claustrophobia (from claustrum "a shut in place")

No... he has a serious clown phobia though

He was playing hide and seek with his cousin when he was 7, and his cousin locked him in a toy box. He has been claustrophobic ever since.

Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

Note: The word above is correct and means a fear of long words!

midgetphobia

No, but Squidward appears to be.

He might be going back to his mother as he migt feel safe there, (linking back to childhood) he needs his mother to feel safe.

You shoud take him to he doctors, to see if he is suffering with depression or a disorder.

I really do hope for the bes. And good luck.

The "phobia" part is the suffix. The adjectival form replaces the final 'a' with 'c': '~phobic'.

'

A sufferer from a phobia is a '~phobe'; so in our example, a 'claustrophobe'.

You are asking for the opposite of claustrophobia which people mistakenly think is agoraphobia which translates, "fear of the marketplace" but it really means that the person is afraid of having a panic attack or being trapped in an embarrassing situation without any escape. I don't believe there is an actual word to describe what the opposite of claustrophobia is. (I googled it and came up with chasmophila which supposedly ment the love of small places but ended up being a fake word)

Answer

Fear of confined spaces.

An easy way to remember this is to associate the word "closet" with "Claustrophobia.

A bomb shelter.

This could be claustrophobia or it can also be anxiety. If you know you are not claustrophobic then most likely it is anxiety.

It's complicated. Part of the brain can cause fear, the adrenal gland (a rush that doesn't stop like in a normal person) and some medications. Phobias are usually fear of crowded places, flying, heights, repetitive behavior (like closing and opening the door twice before your leave your home or car.) Some people are terrified of spiders (I am) rodents, snakes, etc. Some of these are common fears and I do believe sometimes we can be thrown back into primal instincts of survival modes. Fear of spiders or bugs of any sort is no big deal, but conquering flying if you know you have to fly is a must and there are therapists that can help. Fear of heights (unless you are in a job where you are required to work from heights) is another thing that isn't all that big a deal. Anything that controls your life and takes the quality away IS a big deal. Cognitive Behavior Therapy by a therapist are great tools to help you cope with anxiety, stress, Agoraphobia, out-bursts of anger, anti-social behavior or the lack of confidence.