References

Two Views of Open MRIs. "Top 5 Ways to Relieve MRI Claustrophobia." Top 5 Ways to Relieve MRI Claustrophobia. 2009-2011 P. Griffith Creative, n.d. Web. 09 May 2014.
Healthwise Staff. "Helping Someone During a Panic Attack-Topic Overview." WebMD. WebMD, 03 Jan. 0000. Web. 09 May 2014.
Fritscher, Lisa. "Cleithrophobia - Understanding the Fear of Being Trapped." About.com Phobias. 2014 About.com, 07 Jan. 2013. Web. 09 May 2014.
Wilcox, Christie. "Scientists Discover Why Suffocation Causes Fear." Scientists Discover Why Suffocation Causes Fear. 2014 ION Publications LLC, 25 Nov. 2009. Web. 09 May 2014

Divide and Conquer

            My mom has been talking about that doctor again. She said that he could help me get rid of my phobia once and for all. I’m not really sure I believe that but maybe it’s time to give it a shot. So we went to the doctor’s office. There we talked to the doctor about how severe my case was and what were some things that caused my phobia to flare up. He told me that what we will be doing is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. He said that we would slowly work through my fears. I didn’t like the way he was saying these things. It sounded like he was going to test me! He talked about how it was the number one treatment for claustrophobia but that it would take along time to finish. He also said that this was the one treatment that could actually take away my phobia instead of just treating the side effects. But I was right to do this they are going to slowly put me in situations I don’t like and they are going to talk me through it so I can learn to be more normal. I am scared but I also think that it would be nice to ride in a car with my friends. (Two Views of Open MRIs. "Top 5 Ways to Relieve MRI Claustrophobia.")

Classroom Adventures

            I think it is getting worse. Maybe it is not and I’m just getting paranoid but today I was sitting in my classroom. IN MY CLASSROOM! And I started to panic. I felt like the walls were coming in and then I thought I felt my throat close up! I didn’t think I could breathe. But my teacher helped me. She started to talk to me while the other kids were working and she was asking what was wrong. I started talking to her about how I felt and she was very reassuring to me. She let me talk and didn’t overwhelm me with a bunch of questions. She asked if I wanted to go work out in the hallway so that I didn’t have to feel so trapped. It was good knowing that I could leave when I wanted to. (Healthwise Staff. "Helping Someone During a Panic Attack-Topic Overview.")

            After that little episode when I got home from school my mother started talking about getting me some help. She said that there are treatments out there that could help me get over my claustrophobia. She said that we would go to a doctor that would talk to me about what is happening and how we can fix it. I was just hoping that the doctor’s office wasn’t small. But then that got me thinking and I didn’t want to go to the doctor because I will have to sit in a small room and I can’t do that. So my mom put it off for a while and asked if there was anything that we could do that might help. I said that maybe if I could spend more time outside it would be nice. So my mom told to school that I was to be let outside for at least one class per day! This made me very excited and after a month of this my grades actually started to improve!

Friends? What friends?

Life is rough for me. Constantly watching out of where I am going and trying to get to places I need to be without freaking out. People do not like to hang out with me because sometimes I get scared at stupid things. Like the other day when my friends and I were going to go to the movies I freaked out in the car because it was so tight! I started having a panic attack and they had to stop the car and ended up missing the movie. (Fritscher, Lisa. "Cleithrophobia - Understanding the Fear of Being Trapped.") I felt so bad and now they won’t take me anywhere. They said if I want to hang out with them somewhere then I needed to get myself there. But how am I going to do that?

            Another day my family surprised us with a trip to Disneyland! I was so excited to go until I heard we would be flying there. Flying? Who could do such a thing? The seats are inches, you can hit your head on the ceiling, and you might even have to sit next to some complete stranger! What if that stranger is really fat and he takes up so much room that you are squished against the window and can’t get out! (Fritscher, Lisa. "Cleithrophobia - Understanding the Fear of Being Trapped.") Not to mention that if even one tiny hole is punctured through the plane all the breathable air goes out and you have to wear a mask. What if my mask doesn’t work? Then I am going to die from suffocation. I am going to be stuck up against a fat person with a mask that doesn’t work slowly dying. Flying? I don’t think so. (Wilcox, Christie. "Scientists Discover Why Suffocation Causes Fear.")