Good Question: Why Are Many People Claustrophobic?

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- One night after the last miner resurfaced in Chile, doctors are already sending some of them home to their families. Not only does the thought of being trapped in a mine scare people, it's also the idea of cramming into the capsule that rescued those 33 Chilean miners and riding up that narrow tunnel.

So why are people afraid of small spaces? Why are so many people claustrophobic?

Psychologist Dr. Marc Mooney says 12 percent of the population is claustrophobic. Mooney said a single experience, often in childhood, can trigger a lifelong fear of confined and small spaces.

"Some people are born with a tendency to be kind of fearful. And you combine that with an experience of being trapped or confined in a small space can lead to someone having a lifelong fear," said Mooney.

Some people area so claustrophobic they will not get MRI's, the medical test that requires you to lie in an enclosed tube for almost an hour.

But Mooney said you can overcome claustrophobia. The treatment is cognitive therapy and involves gradually introducing the patient to confined spaces.

At first, Mooney said it may mean having the patient sit in a closet with the door open and then increasing the amount of time you spend in the closet, eventually shutting the door.

"I have a number of patients who have done this and they've kind of learned that hey, the closet is a nice place to be. It's nice and dark and my kids can't find me. So they've gone from claustrophobia to claustrophilia," said Mooney.

Some people suffer from the opposite of claustrophobia. That's called agoraphobia and that's a fear of wide, open spaces.