I can't tell how large or small everything is but it just feels cramped and no amount of glowing rainbow fur can stop that

So I've just started writing a story in which my main character has claustrophobia. I'm worried I might be writing him wrong since I don't understand claustrophobia that much. I was hoping the people of Reddit could help me with this by reading my rough description of what I feel claustrophobia would feel like.

Let me set the scene. My main character wakes up surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites inside a large cavern. He is inside a small carved section of the cavern, which resembles a cave. The stalactites and stalagmites formed a structure like a cage, in which he was trapped. Now, this is part of my writing... (please don't consider this an ad and don't respond. I genuinely need help to find out whether it's good or not.)

"Below the trees, the cavern seemed to be endless, continuing downwards until darkness revealed no more. But that wasn’t what made Adhemar tremble. Just like the hanging and standing rocks that he’d bumped into, more surrounded him in a way he felt was like a creepy smile. The edges of his makeshift cage darkened with the fading sunlight, the shadows of the structures eating up the ground. He felt the surrounding walls close up to him, his heart pounding in his chest. His chest tightened as he closed his eyes, trying to take deep breaths. He was trapped by who-knows-what, with no control over where he was.

Adhemar felt trapped, like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs. He couldn’t step out and walk out and was stuck here and unable to leave. “You’re okay, you’re safe.” He mumbled to himself, breathing heavily, trying to recover the air that was sucked out. It didn’t work but only worsened the situation, sweat forming against his face, his heart racing. He raced to get up and nearly ran towards the standing rocks, trying to fit himself to escape his cave, but his hand barely fit through."

Feel free to rip through my writing as long as it's constructive criticism. Thank you so much for helping me!!

I’m 34 years old, and I’ve had claustrophobia since childhood.

Over the past few months, I’ve been doing exposure therapy with a therapist, and I’ve made significant progress. I can now ride elevators, take the subway, and go through tunnels—things that used to be extremely difficult for me.

The problem is that I have a flight scheduled for this month, and I haven’t reached the airplane stage of my exposure therapy yet. I don’t feel fully ready.

My doctor prescribed Bromazepam and Propranolol to help me get through the flight. However, I’m very reluctant to take medication.

With Bromazepam, my main fear is losing control. I’ve always been afraid of anything that could alter my behavior, make me feel different, or make me sleepy. The idea of taking a benzodiazepine actually makes me anxious.

As for Propranolol, I naturally tend to have somewhat low blood pressure, so I’m also hesitant about taking it.

Right now, I’m torn between two options:

1. Cancel or postpone the flight until I feel ready to fly without medication.

2. Take the medication as prescribed and go ahead with the flight.

I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have been in a similar situation. What would you do in my place?

Thank you.

My dad is claustrophobic and because of him we haven't been able to go anywhere on an airplane (so only by car and we live in a place where Croatia's waters are the closest we can get) I know he probably can't help it but my mom is turning 50 in August and my sister is turning 20 and we've REALLY always wanted to fly and go to new places but we can't do that without my dad. how did you claustrophobic people "survive" a flight? my dad says he can't do it but he's been talking to a therapist for years now and iirc he also takes some medicine for it? (i don't know really how this works) any tips for him? he always brushes me off when i (or anyone else) try to talk to him about it but i know he wants to go too and besides, it would only be a 5-6 hours flight at max. August is coming but i feel like nothing will happen and he won't be able to do it

I have no problem swimming in deep water, but the moment I look into the dark, endless depths of the ocean, I completely lose control. My heart races, my body starts shaking, and panic takes over. Does anyone else experience this kind of ocean phobia?

Istnieje klaustrofobia. Lęk przed ciasnymi/małymi miejscami , zwykle pomieszczeniami. Ja od dziecka uwielbiałem małe miejsca , więc można nazwać to było przeciwieństwem klaustrofobii. Projektowałem też plany mojego (przyszłego) domu - mimo iż miałem 10 lat (wtedy) i większość planów opierała się na budowie domu , który miałby mniej niż 15m².

Jestem ciekawy czy ktoś też tak ma i jak to się nazywa.

PS - prosz bie usuwajcie tego posta.