What causes claustrophobia?

What causes claustrophobia?

What causes claustrophobia isn’t fully understood. Researchers believe causes might include:

• A traumatic event as a child: Some adults with claustrophobia report one or more events where they were trapped or confined to a tight space as a child.
• A triggering event after childhood: You may have had a triggering event such as you got stuck in an elevator or experienced severe turbulence on an airplane.
• Childhood exposure to a parent’s claustrophobia: You may develop claustrophobia if you felt the anxieties of one of your parent’s reaction to confined spaces.

Technically, scientists believe neurochemicals overstimulate an area of your brain — your amygdala — in the presence of fear. There’s also thought that a single genetic mutation can increase your risk of claustrophobia if you have that gene defect.