Hypnosis Treatment of claustrophobia

 https://philahypnosis.com/treatment-of-claustrophobia/

Treatment of claustrophobia could be a challenge since modern medicine doesn’t have any good solution for this psychiatric condition.

Claustrophobia is one of the most common psychiatric conditions which medical providers see in about 3=5 percent of patients. Most children are afraid of the dark. When the boogeyman comes to get them at night, they usually hide in closets or under the bed. This is probably because they believe theboogeyman cannot find them there. However, for some people, the boogeyman is in the closet. The boogeyman is just lurking under the bed and in all enclosed places. They cannot stand being in tight corners. These people are claustrophobic. A claustrophobic person cannot stand tight spaces. They may experience a crushing feeling – as if the walls are going to close in on them at any point and crush them to death. Perhaps claustrophobia may go unnoticed in ancient times but nowadays were getting into tight spaces like elevators and most restrooms are small spaces, it could be quite difficult to hide. Claustrophobia can hinder daily activities and is an irrational type of fear. For many people, not being able to use the elevator, most bathrooms, or even their cars because they are scared of being in small enclosed spaces can be a major drawback. People suffering from claustrophobia will do almost anything to avoid the feeling of “being trapped” in small spaces. For example, they may prefer to climb the stairs of a 324-story skyscraper because they are afraid of using the elevator.

What is claustrophobia?

Claustrophobia as said earlier is the abnormal fear of crowded or tight spaces. A claustrophobic person is not actually afraid of the enclosed spaces itself, but of what may happen to them in enclosed spaces. Everyone needs some space – physically or emotionally. But, a claustrophobic person needs more space than others. It is possible for a normal person to be afraid of crowded places in some situations. For example, not everyone would fancy getting into an overcrowded elevator where crowding and exceeding the weight limits of the elevator is a serious safety concern. However, when the fear of tight spaces becomes abnormal, it is claustrophobia. There are some criteria for detecting phobias in general. If you have some of these elements, you may be claustrophobic (always see a doctor for proper diagnosis).

• You are afraid of tight spaces like elevators, bathrooms, cars etc… in an exaggerated, unreasonable and irrational manner. You think something bad might happen to you if you use such space
• You have a panic attack anytime you find yourself in enclosed spaces
• You know that your anxiety is unreasonable
• You will do anything to avoid closed spaces or crowded places.
• Because you know that your fear is irrational, you are always afraid or concerned about having a panic attack
• This has been going on for at least 6 months.

Claustrophobia is a type of situational phobia, the situations usually involved are tight and crowded places. As much as 11% of Americans may be struggling with claustrophobia.

What are the best options for the treatment of claustrophobia?

There are many ways how to cure claustrophobia, but like most anxiety disorders, some of the methods used in treating it include cognitive behavioral therapy, medications or hypnosis for Claustrophobia. We are going to focus more on hypnosis for Claustrophobia in this article.

Hypnosis for claustrophobia:

Hypnosis for Claustrophobia works by making suggestions to the subconscious mind. Although it is not as commonly used as cognitive-behavioral therapies and medications in the treatment of claustrophobia, it is quite common. Not just any hypnosis method is used in the treatment of claustrophobia. The type of hypnosis for claustrophobia is neuro-linguistic programming. The basis of this is that people suffering from claustrophobia may have had some terrible past experiences or events (maybe a traumatic event or so on). When these people are exposed to small spaces, they trigger traumatic memories or thoughts which causes their fearful reactions. These memories haunt a person in the subconscious for a long time. The sight of an enclosed space is a visual input that links them to their phobias. Visual inputs whether positive or negative are called anchors The neurolinguistics programming is the type of hypnosis for claustrophobia that dissociates a person from these traumatic memories or experiences. They do this by the use of suggestions. There are three steps to neurolinguistics programming. The first step is to create a safe anchor which is basically a mental image that is perceived by the claustrophobic patient as safe. This could be a wide space such as a quiet park. They then try to make the patients dissociate themselves from the traumatic events by imagining themselves just before the events and then seeing themselves floating away from the event gradually (just like you see in the movies). The problem with the neurolinguistics programming method of hypnosis is that some people are resistant to it especially if they are skeptics. To make the method better, the Ericksonian method of hypnosis can be used for suggestions. Instead of saying something direct like “you would feel better”, indirect suggestions that use stories and metaphors are used. This has increased the effectiveness of hypnosis.

As to whether hypnosis works or not is still under debate. Although good results have been observed in studies and participants (some of the participants even thanked the hypnotists after the sessions), the results still seem inconclusive by some scientific parameters. You can’t blame science anyway as science has a reputation for doubting things and always questioning things – even if people say it works. Science sees anecdotes and testimonials as subjective and wants something “more objective”. Though this makes sure procedures are rigorously tested before they are approved, it would mean that some methods that actually work, may take some time (even decades) before they are widely accepted. So this does not mean hypnosis does not work, it just means it has not been proven – yet. Some advantages of hypnosis over cognitive behavioral therapy are that it is more cost-effective and it takes less time and sessions. Usually, most people with anxiety require only a one-hour session to be treated for their anxiety problems. If you have not yet had any luck with your claustrophobia treatment, then try hypnosis.

Hypnotherapy treatment of claustrophobia in Philadelphia

At the Philadelphia Hypnotherapy Clinic treatment of Claustrophobia provided by the team of medical practitioners under the supervision of internationally recognized specialist Victor Tsan, CHP.

Make an appointment for a holistic evaluation and discuss with Dr. Tsan your best options for the cure for claustrophobia syndrome