Published on 12, July, 2020
How does your fear, trauma, of claustrophobia trigger?
I struggle with transport, even just being in a shop, my fear of being trapped in a social situation triggers.
It's so bad that I can't even meet someone in a 1-on-1 meeting without huge amount of anxiety about not being able to leave without them point it out or finding it weird
The worst part is that you get Anxious KNOWING that you will get anxious.It is horrible.Viscious circle.The only way is to do a little bit by bit until your subconcious realises that there is no threat and the fight or flight response will re-set itself. No,not easy, but you have to do it little by little. You will get there. I promide.
Thanks. I did 10 years of commuting into London and it's just got worse as time has gone on. I now can't even make myself get on a train. Really tried to this morning but just couldn't do it. Not sure why but even a 10 min journey seems to trigger my fear response
I,ve been there my Man.It is horrible.You MUST keep going out,even in little steps.Yes,it is uncomfortable but you must do it.The longer you stay indoors in your safe zone the worse it becomes.You have keep challenging that anxiety.You will get there in the end.
JT said:Not sure why but even a 10 min journey seems to trigger my fear response
It sounds like it has progressed to a phobia - have you tried treating it with the same approach as a phobia?
You can look at the info around phobias and their treatment here:
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/phobias-and-irrational-fears.htm
One nice quote is:
Therapy for phobias has a great track record. Not only does it work extremely well, but you tend to see results very quickly—sometimes in as a little as one to four sessions.
Even with your autism, I think that there is a good chance for you to get over this if you want to.