How do I overcome Cleithrophia?
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I was recently trapped in the toilet, and i had a panic attack. But I managed to overcome it and got myself out. It didnāt affect me after, I felt happy that I could bring back my rational thoughts and I was fine.
A few days ago however I was in the train, and it suddenly jerked and stopped just for a min at a ātunnelā. I suddenly felt a blood rush and had a full fledged panic attack. I tried telling myself I am not stuck and itās just stopping a while so I tried to regain myself back but it was really bad. (Iāve not actually had panic attacks before this)
After this, I was afraid to get back into the train as I still needed to, to get home. I just distracted myself and was just going through the experience in my head how and why I felt this way.
After this, I had trouble sleeping at night, feeling very anxious. There was nothing bothering me but I think the panic attack kind of made me off balance. Itās been a few days since and whenever I am in the train or elevator or just realising I am indoors and might get stuck I have been feeling way too anxious and have a sudden blood rush when I realise I am indoors. Really would like help how to combat this.
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To add on:
This is completely new. I have been claustrophobic but when this happened I started searching online and realised my signs and symptoms is related to Cleithrophobia.
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Oh man 
@Prizzy it must have felt really awful during the panic attacks 
Iām not sure how to help you but I would recommend since this is new to get some for of professional to assess you ?
You can find the nearest one to you here: Service providers
Perhaps this may give you higher clarity on how to improve on this situation.
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Hi @Prizzy,
Thanks for coming on and sharing about your fear of being trapped, confined or locked in a situation. I canāt imagine how debilitating this must feel although what youāre thinking and feeling is valid given your circumstances. 
You mentioned this being new although have been experiencing claustrophobia. Could you pinpoint when this sorta began for you? Did something happen prior to this experience? I wanna commend you on your self-awareness regarding your bodily responses and thoughts, although this could be a double-edged sword as you are more prone to feel yourself being āon edgeā or anxious.
Also, the overwhelming anxiety might lead to avoidance behaviours (avoiding those locations, worrying to the point of being unable to engage in daily activities) so Iām glad you pushed yourself through the difficult situation (using distraction). However, the next time you find yourself having a panic attack, perhaps can consider grounding yourself to the present moment especially when your mind is racing and body losing control. And when your calmer and in a safe space, can practice with this grounding exercise.
In terms of treatment, it will be best to get support from mental health professionals where they can work on your beliefs about the feared situation and its consequences to be more adaptive; help you understand how phobias work; and work on developing the behaviours to go through the feared situation in a gradual manner to manage and regulate anxiety levels. You can consider getting a referral from polyclinic or seek out:
- Family Service Centres
- James Cook University Clinic
- NIE Wellness Centre
- NUS Clinical & Health Psychology Centre
Hopefully, you donāt need to feel like life needs to be paused so you can live to do whatās important and valuable for you. Remember that you deserve and can get the necessary support you need. Until then, take care! 
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Hi all.
Apologies for my delayed response.
Thank you both for taking the time to respond to me and reaching out. I truly appreciate it.
I had tried a few techniques and it seemed to work like distracting myself.
However just few days ago the train stopped for a bit and i had a panic attack as well. Although I sort of managed myself it really does throw me off balance after and just creates a fear after.
Hence I decided to seek therapy eventually, as per your advices as well.
To answer your question if anything prior has happened, weird enough no. Nothing that I know or can think of. Right now I am overwhelmed with a few things going on in my life hence that could be the possibility of this? I am not sure.
Thank you both again for trying to understand me, I truly appreciate it!
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Nice to hear from you again @Prizzy 
Hope things get better for you and meanwhile you can come back whenever you wish heh 
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