# Tell me about Claustrophobia **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 16, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218 "2011-07-16T03:34:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/21 "2011-07-17T01:15:10Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > In addition to the total enclosure and the noises which are more overwhelming in the MRI, there is also the restraining part - my CT scan was generalized enough that you just get the normal x-ray admonition to lay still and occasionally hold your breath for a few moments (that part WAS anxiety-creating for me) but for a MRI, they’ve usually restrained the ever-loving crap out of you, so you don’t twitch or unconsciously move away from the perfect alignment that they need. I haven’t been restrained in any of my four MRIs. Three knee MRIs, one shoulder MRI. At least two different facilities. I wonder if restraining is based on what body part is being imaged..? -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/22 "2011-07-17T01:15:15Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > I have had probably 10-11 MRIs over the course of my life (most, if not all in the span since my SCI) and I never once was offered sedation. I had no idea that was even an option. Is this pretty routine or only under certain situations? Because MRIs, at least the lengthier ones (which are for larger areas of the body), are BAAAARUUUTAL! ☹ From my experience, you have to specifically ask for it and get the prescrip from your regular doctor. Sometimes your doctor will require that you get a psych eval to prove that you really need it, sometimes even with the psych eval your regular doctor will require that a psych doctor do the actual prescribing, and sometimes (even more rarely) you can use that psych eval to convince your medical insurance that they should cover all of those extra costs as part of your scanning expenses. Again, from my experience, good luck with that. Insurance companies are stingy bastards. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/23 "2011-07-17T01:19:08Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > From my experience, you have to specifically ask for it and get the prescrip from your regular doctor. Sometimes your doctor will require that you get a psych eval to prove that you really need it, sometimes even with the psych eval your regular doctor will require that a psych doctor do the actual prescribing, and sometimes (even more rarely) you can use that psych eval to convince your medical insurance that they should cover all of those extra costs as part of your scanning expenses. > > Again, from my experience, good luck with that. Insurance companies are stingy bastards. ☹ Damn. I think THAT right there is a pretty good claustrophobia test. If you’re willing to go through all that crap to get some sedatives for an MRI; it stands to reason you are claustrophobic. 😃 Either that or my laziness just beats out my claustrophobia. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/24 "2011-07-17T01:19:11Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > I haven’t been restrained in any of my four MRIs. Three knee MRIs, one shoulder MRI. At least two different facilities. > > I wonder if restraining is based on what body part is being imaged..? > > -D/a I dunno. _shrug_ I’ve only had one, it was for an accident I was in. Maybe that was just SOP for that facility? The tech made it sound like it was part of the normal process to be strapped in there to make sure people were still enough for the imaging to work, but since he let me out of it when I asked, maybe they just have it as an option, and they don’t really enforce it? I never really thought about it much. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/25 "2011-07-17T01:55:15Z")
This is the second time I’ve looked at this thread, and both times I started breathing faster and felt my heart rate increase even though I’ve never had an MRI. There’s no way in hell I could do an MRI unsedated. In fact, I would be surprised if the normal low-to-medium-dose benzodiazepine were sufficient - I’d probably ask for a higher dose AND permission to take one of my carefully hoarded Vicodin so that I would be only partly conscious. I am claustrophobic and I also get anxious with a perceived loss of control of my movements a la being restrained in an MRI machine. I am not super claustrophobic - I can ride in elevators, for example - but there’s no way you’ll find me spelunking, going into crawl spaces, etc. Even the thought of having a large cast on for weeks gives me the willies because of the restriction of movement and inability to change anything about it. I don’t think I would be a good hospital patient, either, for that matter, because I would start to feel trapped (and I am also a bit of a control freak about my own health care, so I would probably end up annoying the nurses, but that’s a different story). I’ve had multiple CT scans, which were all fine, but they are very different, as described above. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/26 "2011-07-17T02:32:05Z")
Meh, MRIs are a good time to take a nap in my case. [Barely relevant Onion article](http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-study-shows-people-with-panic-disorders-respon,20892/). ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/27 "2011-07-17T03:21:09Z")
I’ll relate a true story to you. The other day I was getting onto an elevator and there was this guy curled up into a ball in the corner. He was sweating profusely with a terrified look on his face, and he looked up at me and wailed: - “Mister! Ya gotta help me! I’m claustrophobic!!”\* So I replied: _“Hey, how 'bout that? I am too! Wow… small world, isn’t it?”_ _ **Full disclosure–this is material from a stand-up comic friend of mine.** _ ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/28 "2011-07-17T05:50:23Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > From my experience, you have to specifically ask for it and get the prescrip from your regular doctor. Sometimes your doctor will require that you get a psych eval to prove that you really need it, sometimes even with the psych eval your regular doctor will require that a psych doctor do the actual prescribing, and sometimes (even more rarely) you can use that psych eval to convince your medical insurance that they should cover all of those extra costs as part of your scanning expenses. > > Again, from my experience, good luck with that. Insurance companies are stingy bastards. ☹ That is nuts. The neuro guy who ordered my last one wrote me up a prescription himself. Why would you need a psych eval for a one-time thing? What a waste of time and effort! ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/29 "2011-07-18T02:47:38Z")
I didn’t need a psych eval to get 2 Valium for the SI Joint Injection that they did the Friday before the MRI. Not only didn’t I ask for them, the scheduling nurse offered and recommended them. I’m still waiting on insurance to decide if I can do IV sedation or if the MRI is a wash. I know there is no way I can do it otherwise. Wish me luck. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/30 "2011-07-18T03:35:48Z")
Good luck, **Ruby**. I’ve had one MRI when I was first diagnosed with epilepsy, and fortunately I was still a little out of it from the seizures I had been having. (The big one from the day before and all the little ones here and there) All I remember is having that ceiling smack up against my nose. Ugh. (And I’m not even claustrophobic) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/31 "2011-07-18T05:11:55Z")
I don’t think it would be awfully difficult to get sedation for an MRI, either. Asking for a couple of pills is not exactly drug-seeking behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/32 "2011-07-18T09:59:19Z")
Better questions would be “Imagine yourself wrapped up in a blanket like a burrito. Fun, or terrifying?” Or "What kind of feelings does [this](http://www.wareaglecavern.com/spelunker5.jpg) picture bring up? Or [this one](http://www.marengocave.com/images/cave_exploring/blowing_bat_crawl.jpg)? Or [this one](http://desertislands.org/images/2004/leviathan/Cave%20Exploring%20032.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/33 "2011-07-18T11:03:49Z")
Seeing as I am completely anti-benzo due to previous experience, is there any other way they handle that? Some NO[sub]2[/sub] wouldn’t bother me, for instance. Or an alpha blocker. Or flat out anesthesiology if they’ll leave out the benzo component. My mother’s been pressuring me to get an MRI just to make sure there’s nothing wrong causing all the headaches I get, but I’ve been reluctant–and that was just when I thought it was a like a CT. (I personally think my symptoms fit benzo withdrawal, even if I am nearly on the second standard deviation for how long it usually takes.) ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/34 "2011-07-18T12:23:45Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > Better questions would be “Imagine yourself wrapped up in a blanket like a burrito. Fun, or terrifying?” Or "What kind of feelings does [this](http://www.wareaglecavern.com/spelunker5.jpg) picture bring up? Or [this one](http://www.marengocave.com/images/cave_exploring/blowing_bat_crawl.jpg)? Or [this one](http://desertislands.org/images/2004/leviathan/Cave%20Exploring%20032.jpg)? When I visited Jewel Cave in South Dakota a few years ago, the tour-guide said there’s an area of the cave called the “Calorie Counter” – IIRC, the tunnel is 200 feet long and 7 inches high. Then there’s another area that’s 700 feet long where the ceiling is 18 inches high. Just kill me now. And consistently enough, I was fine in the cave because the areas with tours are large enough to move around freely. It’s just being in tight spaces or crowded subway cars – any situation where my movement is restricted and things or people are pressing up against me – that makes me freak the fuck out. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/35 "2011-07-18T12:57:44Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > It was more the feeling of being pinned down than the closeness of the magnet to my face. > > I was pinned in my vehicle for quite a while when I had the accident that caused the back injury but I didn’t feel any “trauma” at the time. I was in shock and it was almost a surreal experience. The emergency guys had to cut the roof off of my vehicle to get me out (I had rolled over 3/4 of a revolution) and my leg was pinned under the steering wheel during that time but I didn’t consciously feel scared about being stuck in there. hi Ruby…I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. prbly stems from being pinned in after your accident, just came out when you felt you were in a similar situation. (& I do mean FELT. emotions aren’t rational.) like Toucanna, I usually doze off…I actually feel a “little” confinement, small spaces etc. to be comforting ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/36 "2011-07-18T13:05:49Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > It was more the feeling of being pinned down than the closeness of the magnet to my face. > > I was pinned in my vehicle for quite a while when I had the accident that caused the back injury but I didn’t feel any “trauma” at the time. I was in shock and it was almost a surreal experience. The emergency guys had to cut the roof off of my vehicle to get me out (I had rolled over 3/4 of a revolution) and my leg was pinned under the steering wheel during that time but I didn’t consciously feel scared about being stuck in there. Oh! & what to do about it…please don’t let them put you to sleep unless you’ve had that done before & it worked out alright. there are things stronger than Valium that they can give you—insist on it. that & understanding where your fear is coming from should help. & most places have headphones & you can play whatever music you like…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/37 "2011-07-18T13:25:01Z")
The Womb at the End of the Universe…with sound effects by Dr Who. I’ve had three MRIs. I don’t remember the first (concussion) but suspect I panicked because I was later told it was incomplete 😉 Sod that for a game of soldiers. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218/38 "2011-07-20T04:57:49Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > \ Then there’s another area that’s 700 feet long where the ceiling is 18 inches high. \ I asked my husband if he could go through that, and he said without even considering, “Yeah, I could do that\*.” Shee-it, I can barely even THINK about that! \*He’s done some confined space work, and while it bothers him, he can still do it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-claustrophobia/589218.md?page=1)