With the emergence of technology and social media, people are now more connected and more aware. Lately, there have been many different conversations striking on social media with the ever-evolving mental health. After Robin William’s suicide, people are shocked that how such a person can commit suicide. And maybe that’s the thing about mental illness, it’s never visible and people bearing with such illness always fear that they would be misunderstood.
Such a thing happened with this girl in India, her experiences with claustrophobia was so traumatizing that she’s couldn’t help but break down!
“It happened to me for the first time on 27th March this year. On that day, my nanaji passed away and I saw two of the strongest women in my life break down – my mom and my nani. Honestly I don’t know what happened, I wasn’t even in an enclosed space – but I had my first claustrophobic attack.
It was the worst two minutes of my life. I had this sinking feeling in my body. And I couldn’t do anything – I couldn’t even tell anyone because my entire family was grieving. But I also knew that no one would understand. I just never wanted it to happen again.
But it did and it was much worse. I was travelling in a metro and I was fine, when suddenly I could feel how cramped it really was. I tried distracting myself by listening to music, but the panic set in – I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was stuck and would never be able to escape. That’s when I called my father and broke down. And he freaked out because I’m not someone who cries!
I realized that this was more than just claustrophobia – it was my body that I was trapped in. And the constant fear of ‘will this happen again?’ just made it that much worse. I’ve lost count of the number of times it has happened this year. And I still don’t know what triggered it, but I have learnt to cope with it.
I’ve found peace through meditation. And I’ve stopped overthinking it – because if I stop fearing it, it can’t control me anymore. And today, it doesn’t. You know, this is the first time I’m even talking about it. I just want those who are experiencing the same things to know that they aren’t alone. And they never will be.”
A person who never cries could be shattered in tears in a public a place, that’s what such an illness does to you. That’s why you should talk!
Claustrophobia is a state of being afraid of closed spaces. It could be triggered by being in suffocating places and the sometimes certain situation can trigger it as well. By suffocating places it means, cars, tunnels, back seat of buses and even tight necks as well.
It’s high time that we talk about it, talk what’s in your mind, talk about what’s happening with you. Cheers.
