# Is this claustrophobia?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-claustrophobia/48933>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 8, 2001, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-claustrophobia/48933 "2001-01-08T02:25:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![blinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@blinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinky)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-claustrophobia/48933/1 "2001-01-08T02:25:45Z")

</div>

I suffer from claustrophobia. Is being being pinned down by another person (in fun) or say "being tied down to something that you cannot escape part of claustrophobia? I live in an apartmant and I have a small ( a very small bathroom) and I sometimes don’t close the door when I have to go (nothing gross like crapping) because I don’t like to be confined to a small space for a long time. Please let me know something or a web site in which I can visit to find out more about claustrophobia.

Thank You,

Blinky

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-claustrophobia/48933/2 "2001-01-08T04:58:07Z")

</div>

I’m not an expert on this, but I would say that yes, you’re claustrophobic. I don’t know if being anxious at being pinned down is really a sign of this phobia, but an aversion to closing the bathroom door due to the small space in the room seems like a good sign to me. Although I think this would have to generalise - do you have the same nervousness in elevators or small hallways, etc? If its the same all-around, then you might be phobic. There are a few sites online if you search for phobia to know more… or you could ask someone who actually knows for sure. I just answered cuz i felt like posting something 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wood\_Thrush](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b38774/32.png) [@Wood\_Thrush](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wood_Thrush)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-claustrophobia/48933/3 "2001-01-08T05:05:09Z")

</div>

Here’s a site from the NIMH about [phobias](http://www.nimh.nih.gov/anxiety/anxiety/phobia/index.htm). The “What are phobias?” and “Quick Facts” buttons above the text link to more information.

I don’t think you’ll find many sites about claustrophobia in and of itself, so just search for “phobia.”