Cleisiophobia is the fear of closed spaces or being locked in an enclosed place. People with this fear may avoid riding in things such as elevators. The origin of the word cleisio is Greek (meaning closed or shut) and phobia is Greek (meaning fear).
Symptoms of Cleisiophobia
Those who truly possess an excessive fear of having an accident will often exhibit some of the following symptoms:
- Anxiety
- Breathlessness
- Excessive sweating
- Dry mouth
- Shaking
- Being overly cautious
- Heart palpitations
- Inability to speak
- Becoming angry
- A feeling of detachment from reality
- Uncontrollable shaking
- Feelings of unsteadiness
Story of a person with Fear of Closed Spaces or being Locked
so i have cleisiophobia which is fear of being locked in a room or small space. well, i cant even go into a bathroom stall. i just hold it. my house has a occupied and decent sign, but no lock. well one day my old friend from high school and i where going to a hotel. and we where going swimming at the pool at the hotel. well, the door to the pool, which is on the roof of the hotel. was a double doors, that open to a small space to some more double doors, then out to the pool. After we where done swimming, we walked over to the double door that lead to the small space to the second pair of double doors. we put the card in the slot thingie and nothing. the doors didn’t budge. she tried agian. nothing. and agian. nothing. and again and again and again to the point when we where both about to start going insane. so we tried to go out the other set of doors back to the pool and take the elevator. but nothing. we where trapped. it took me a minute to realize it but then it hit me. we where locked. in this tiny space. with nothing but googles and towels. in our bikinis. i started to have a huge phobia attack. i started screaming and yelling. pushing at the walls. finally i was at the point that i was sweating and i was starting to lose my heart rate. my eyes rolled up into the back of my head and i fainted. i woke up 2 minutes later and my friend was pacing back and forth in space she had. i jerked but and started screaming at the top of my lungs. then some hope came. a family was coming to go swimming. they came dashing at the doors when they saw me crying sweating and screaming. they put there card in on the other side and the doors unhatched and they opened. i flew my arms out like a bird then collapsed to crowd letting the carpet soak up my tears and sweat. my friend explained to the family about my phobia and they understood and was glad they could help. we warned them about the doors and went to go tell the manager as well.