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Mari-am
thanks for dropping in! Yes, it was a rather unsettling experience, at least for me...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 30, 2006 at 8:37 PM
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Nautikos
i like your words "We would take turns, and the one who held out longest would be the winner. "
posted by
Rosetree
on September 29, 2006 at 4:24 PM
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Justi,
thanks, things have improved considerably, although I have become rather busy!
posted by
Nautikos
on September 23, 2006 at 12:39 PM
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Nautikos
Glad to find you did get the cast off. Hope it is feeling much better now.
posted by
Justi
on September 20, 2006 at 6:39 PM
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Bright,
well, it's off! Only to be replaced by a splint, which is a mere trifle, however.
And sorry that, in my excitement, I forgot to answer that very important question about the winner of that devilish game: there was no winner. There were five of us, I think I was the third into the trunk, and after I emerged bloodied, things came to a halt. We were tough, but we weren't that tough...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 20, 2006 at 8:13 AM
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Bright,
thanks for popping in! You're probably the last Blogger to visit me before the great event takes place, in about three hours! Yipppeeeeeeee!
There'll be singing and dancing in the streets... make that backyard...uh, den? Well, I will have a nip of my special scotch...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 19, 2006 at 9:21 AM
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Nautikos
I quess that I have come here just in time for the cast removal or has it already been removed? I can relate to some of that closed in feeling but like you its a rare occurance. I never tuck the sheets at the bottom of my bed. Anyway ~ thank you for visiting me today and I hope your cast is removed and all is well. Did the boy with the watch win the game? 
posted by
BrightIrish
on September 18, 2006 at 8:16 PM
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TAPS
I'm down to counting the hours, and I'm wondering how best to celebrate the event - any ideas?
posted by
Nautikos
on September 18, 2006 at 9:57 AM
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SilverMoon,
a corset? I'm not sure it would induce claustrophobia in me, just a kind of deep amazement of what I had gotten myself into...
But did you know that, in the 19th century and up to WWI, European cavalry officers often wore corsets to keep their backs straight in the saddle? And sometimes they wore them off duty as well, to hide their bulges!
Come to think of it, there are some guys arond my gym who would benefit from that garment, and if I don't get to start working out again soon, I'll need one myself...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 18, 2006 at 9:55 AM
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Tomorrow? That's great.
posted by
TAPS.
on September 18, 2006 at 9:39 AM
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Justi,
well, the damn thing is coming off tomorrow, and I hope it's just the cast, not the arm...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 18, 2006 at 9:38 AM
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that's a good story...
I know how you feel about the cast. I used to work at a ren faire, and i wore a corset. for the most part, I actually enjoyed the streamlined feeling I attained wearing that thing. But often, by the end of the day, I would st art to feel panicky about its sudden tightness. It was an effort to put it out of my mind and not try to claw the thing off me. The same happened a couple of times while making 9-hour international flights, and the person in front of me refused to put up his chair. By the end of the flight, I was about to go mad from the confined feeling. I'm sorry to hear about your hand...
posted by
SilverMoon7
on September 17, 2006 at 6:59 PM
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Nautikos
It is nice to read again. I am sorry about the arm. I too have the anxiety tendency toward places or clothing to confining. Like you I don't go bonkers, but I am delighted when it is over. Glad to hear the cast if coming off soon. Missed ya.
posted by
Justi
on September 17, 2006 at 6:21 PM
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Blanche,
and I am counting! Not just days, but hours and minutes!
Funny, I had assumed that you left out a 'no' in your remarks about socks, probably because I can't imagine anyone actually liking socks, especially not in bed!?
I have a bunch of dress socks in my drawer, but few of them match, so I just grab whatever comes to hand if the need arises, which hasn't happened much lately.
And in the house I walk barefoot, and very often on my toes, since it's a good exercise! You should try it!
posted by
Nautikos
on September 16, 2006 at 8:16 PM
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The 19th is only 3 days away, Nautikos, (election day here in WA)
The primary, so you don't have much longer to go, hang in there.
No, no, I meant that I do like socks to keep my feet warm when I let them hang out from under the blanket. I get a lot of teasing from MG about that, but to each their own.
posted by
Blanche.
on September 16, 2006 at 6:43 PM
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Nana,
yep, when they're running...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 16, 2006 at 6:41 PM
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Blanche,
you too? And here I thought I was the only nut about this blanket business.
And socks? I hate socks as well! I think they're an unnecessary affectation. I wear them (athletic socks) when running, biking or working out, and sometimes with dress shoes when I have meetings in other people's offices. Other than that, it's deck shoes without socks! And in the house I go barefoot!
And yes, I hope this no-fun-at-all cast will come off on the 19th...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 16, 2006 at 6:40 PM
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TAPS,
now this is really interesting! One of the first things I do when I am in a hotel is yank out the folded-under blanket! Can't stand having my feet confined like that!
One of my past loves and I used to argue over that, since according to her to have the blanket tucked under like that was 'the proper way'...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 16, 2006 at 6:31 PM
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Nautikos
BMW bikes are the coolest!
posted by
Nanaroo
on September 16, 2006 at 6:25 PM
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saul,
I guess here as in so many cases, it's a question of 'different strokes for different folks'. I have been under heavy quilts, last summer at one point my car's air conditioner conked out while the thruway had turned into a parking lot - no problems at all! Now, trunks, chests and boxes, and, as it turns out, casts on my arm...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 16, 2006 at 6:24 PM
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Nana,
I like your adventuresome spirit! I never took up flying, I'm a sailor, but I have an old BMW motorcycle in the garage that needs restoring! I'll start that project as soon as I can persuade my wife to give up her half of the garage...yeah right!
But if I were up there, I don't think it would bother me!
And my 'dagger' has come in very handy indeed! I can even scratch my back with it!
posted by
Nautikos
on September 16, 2006 at 6:16 PM
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Nautikos, I hope you get that cast off soon.
It doesn't sound like much fun at all. (And I'm with TAPS on the "got to have my feet free" syndrome, that's why I wear socks, something about having that pressure on my toes just makes me feel constrained and I can't sleep).
posted by
Blanche.
on September 16, 2006 at 4:14 PM
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Nautikos, that's the way I feel when I am in a bed with the blankets all tucked in at the foot of the bed. My feet have to be free to move out of the covers or I go nuts. I never tuck in anything on my bed, just spread the over and smoothe them. I never did like the idea of being in a casket after I'm dead and gone.
posted by
TAPS.
on September 16, 2006 at 2:07 PM
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Don't worry, Nautikos. It's quite normal. Yours is the natural extension
of that terrible enclosed feeling you get under heavy quilts, in tight and restrictive clothing, caught in traffic in a tiny compartment on wheels in 100 degree weather and no air conditioner. Something in the mind projects a feeling that the claustrophobic sensation will never end, even though there is no real logical base for it. Indeed, the workings of the mind are a wonder...
posted by
saul_relative
on September 16, 2006 at 8:31 AM
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Nautikos
I understand the feeling- glad the letter opener helps! I think the closest I came to claustrophobia was when i was learning to fly and was cooped up in a small plane at 6,000 feet... no way out of there.
posted by
Nanaroo
on September 16, 2006 at 6:59 AM
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Cringe,
I appreciate the thought...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 15, 2006 at 7:17 AM
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Naut, given our recent exchanges I thought you might appreciate
something I did with you in mind on my blog.
I called it 'Kitchen Glamour Shot'.
posted by
Cringe
on September 15, 2006 at 6:21 AM
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FLIGHTPATH
thanks for dropping in! Merely thinking about it I don't get much of a reaction. Maybe it's just a lack of imagination on my part...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 15, 2006 at 6:00 AM
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Corbin,
LOL. Fortunately, while somewhat caustrophobia-inducing, my cast is not terribly long, and so I am using a letter opener, a dagger-like instrument, which I carry embedded in the cast, and which I use to deal with itches. It looks decorative, even!
posted by
Nautikos
on September 15, 2006 at 5:55 AM
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Even the thought of being locked up in a trunk gives me claustrophobia! Forget closed spaces large or small. I keep a window open whether it's 72 degrees or 5 below zero outside.
posted by
reasons
on September 14, 2006 at 4:13 PM
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Naut........
Home remedy...........unfold a wire coat hanger and stick it down inside of the cast.....move it up and down.......the bad feeling will be replaced with one of euphoria.......
I don't like a high number of people crowded into a hallway......it's very suffocating............
posted by
Corbin_Dallas
on September 14, 2006 at 3:54 PM
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Wiley
isn't it funny? Elevators don't bother me in the least, I don't even think about it. Now, if they were to get stuck somewhere between floors, at that moment I might develop a different outlook...
Regarding the pills, thanks for the suggestion but I really don't need that. We're not talking massive panic here, just a hint at something that I find psychologically interesting, because it is triggered by a stimulus which, on the face of it, is unrelated to the conditions that would 'normally' induce an attack of claustrophobia.
posted by
Nautikos
on September 14, 2006 at 1:13 PM
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Rumored,
the current date is Sept 19, and it'll be like Christmas, Easter and my Birthday (and not to forget New Years) wrapped into one...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 14, 2006 at 11:25 AM
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muser,
I must confess that I would find that feeling rather strange, and have never had the slightest urge to be separated from my body...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 14, 2006 at 11:22 AM
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Cringe,
what can I say...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 14, 2006 at 11:19 AM
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.Dave
you may well be right. What is also interesting is that the cast I had on my leg (off now), never caused that kind of reaction.
posted by
Nautikos
on September 14, 2006 at 11:17 AM
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Nautikos
It will be grand for you to get that cast of my friend. My brother Dan suffered terribly from claustrophobia, can't ride an elevator really. He nearly went crazy on one in Montréal. Maybe you could use anti-anxiety drug for the period you have to keep that cast on. Good luck with that
posted by
WileyJohn
on September 14, 2006 at 8:37 AM
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Naut, when does that cast come off?? soon?? It would be driving me
nuts, too, but it would be a "just get it off me" feeling ("panicky", in a way)
posted by
Rumor
on September 14, 2006 at 7:44 AM
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I sometimes feel claustrophobic in my own body; I imagine it will be a
most exhilirating sensation when my spirit is freed from the confines of my body.
posted by
muser
on September 14, 2006 at 6:21 AM
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Naut, you're incorrigible!
I was thinking along the lines of those survival shows (I had actually mistyped and put in 'shoes') where they put you in a tub with all sorts of creatures, in particular eels.
posted by
Cringe
on September 14, 2006 at 6:08 AM
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I wonder if it is a throwback to that long-distant box story. Interesting.
posted by
_dave_says_ack_
on September 14, 2006 at 6:03 AM
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Cringe,
bathtub? There is only one kind of creature I want in the bathtub with me...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 14, 2006 at 5:57 AM
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Just spiders, insects, larva, things of that variety, or
and creature you wouldn't want in your bathtub with you.
Snakes, mice, rats, frogs, no bother.
posted by
Cringe
on September 14, 2006 at 5:19 AM
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Cringe,
poor thing, you must be having a hard time with all that going on.
I can say that, aside from this one bit of weirdness, I have no other phobias. Snakes, mice, spiders, heights, ghosts (heck, we went looking for ghosts, never met one, though), 'night terrors' and any of the myriad other things that seem to trouble people have no effect on me. Sometimes I feel a bit deprived...And maybe that's why, in the past, I went on 'recreational' journeys of the mind...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 14, 2006 at 5:14 AM
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Tanga,
in spite of all we know, there are still huge white areas on that map, and probably will remain...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 14, 2006 at 5:02 AM
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'Cept now I call it 'sleep'.
posted by
Cringe
on September 14, 2006 at 2:10 AM
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Naut, I have vivid dreams/nightmares and still occasionally wake up
in the middle of a panic attack, sometimes crying, sometimes with the ghost of some physical pain I've felt in a dream. Sometimes I will have a series of nights like these and be so relieved to drop into a dreamless sleep.
Apparently I suffered from night terrors as a child.
Kind of embarrassed after that comment I left, it was a weird one, but it's how I felt at the time. I often have that feeling of wanting to shut down for a while.
I remember as a kid I would get terrified and overwhelmed by the textures of certain things, it would give me a sense of panic also and urge to shut down, it's weird that I'm remembering all this, I haven't thought about this in ages.
posted by
Cringe
on September 14, 2006 at 1:50 AM
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Nautikos
The mind truly works in mysterious ways.
posted by
Tanga
on September 13, 2006 at 11:41 PM
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Cringe,
very interesting! At the time it must have been truly awful, to have a claustrophobia attack induced by your own body.
You mention that you were afraid to fall asleep - would these panic attacks come upon you in your sleep?
posted by
Nautikos
on September 13, 2006 at 5:24 PM
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Bugger, meant to include during each of these times, I felt extremely
claustrophobic, somewhat trapped by my own body, afraid to fall asleep, afraid to have a panic attack.
posted by
Cringe
on September 13, 2006 at 4:43 PM
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When I had my first daughter at 20, I guess I must've been
somewhat traumatized, let me remind you, 10lb baby, 23 inches long vs 5'3' petite girly (normal delivery), lots of aftercare necessary.
For several nights later, I kept on waking in the grip of a panic attack, just about to start straining to deliver a baby that had already been born, and in all probability waking myself before I could do the repairs any damage.
I was in the horrors at the thought of this happening with my second birth, and had many nightmares pre-delivery. In all probability I held onto Rowan for an hour longer than necessary fearing having to push, she came into the world faster than a Happy Meal to the counter at McD's.
posted by
Cringe
on September 13, 2006 at 4:41 PM
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Talion,
it's amazing how these things get triggered. I'm trying to imagine the situation you describe, and though I can empathize, it doesn't evoke anything. Mention a box though, and I can feel that slight tension, especially when there's
also talk of Wyoming...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 13, 2006 at 12:31 PM
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Mademoiselle,
Wyoming? Surely you jest! That would certainly be the end of me...
posted by
Nautikos
on September 13, 2006 at 11:57 AM
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I have this somewhat irrational fear of being sealed up in a box, and mailed to Wyoming.
No one can figure out why, though.
If you define cowardice as
running away at the first sign of danger,
screaming and tripping,
and begging for mercy,
then yes, Mr. Brave man,
I guess I'm a coward.
posted by
Mademoiselle
on September 13, 2006 at 11:52 AM
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Nautikos
I've only experienced a slight brush with claustrophobia on one ocassion. I was about ten or so in a toy store in a local mall. It was a tiny place, so the aisles were incredibly narrow. Huge stuffed animals hung from the ceiling at the tops of the aisles. I felt like they were closing in on me like some Indiana Jones death trap and I ran out of there as quickly as I could. What's so strange is I'd been in the store previously without that feeling and never experienced it again during future visits. Odd. Our minds are sometimes our worst enemy.
posted by
Talion
on September 13, 2006 at 11:12 AM
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