What is Claustrophobia?

Claustrophobia is probably one of the best known phobias, coming up in dozens of TV shows, book, movies and all throughout pop culture. For once, pop culture got it pretty much right. Claustrophobia is the fear of being trapped in a closed in space, of having no escape.
A fear of being trapped is a very natural fear, common to every human and most animals. It is just plain scary to be trapped and not be able to get away. What sets people with claustrophobia apart is that they feel ‘trapped’ in situations that most people do not. While it isn’t universal, if someone with claustrophobia cannot see an immediate way out where they are, they begin to feel trapped.
For instance, most people won’t feel trapped on an elevator, because they know that the door will open in a few moments and they can get out when it gets to the next floor. Someone with claustrophobia knows that the doors will open when it gets to the next floor, but because there is no exit until the elevator reaches the next floor, they feel trapped.
Someone with mild claustrophobia will feel uncomfortable and anxious in an elevator. Someone with severe claustrophobia may not even be able to enter the elevator without having a panic attack.
There is little help available to people with claustrophobia. Anti-anxiety medications may help them cope with the anxiety the phobia brings, but do little to stop the actual phobia. The one therapeutic treatment that has had success in treating claustrophobia is called cognitive behavioral therapy. CBT can help people with claustrophobia through a program of gradually confronting their fears. Depending on how severe the claustrophobia is the therapy will start with becoming comfortable talking about being closed in, and then gradually introduce real life situations. Some cognitive behavioral therapists will use VR equipment to help a person with claustrophobia become familiar with the look and feel of closed in places while in a place that they know they are safe and leave the closed in space just by turning off the VR goggles.