MRI CLAUSTROPHOBIA- Causes,symptoms & Solutions

MRI CLAUSTROPHOBIA

Whether you are Claustrophobic or not. There is a fair chance of an induced MRI claustrophobia due to the MRI machine. In MRI, the machine is a small tunnel with compact space and the patient has to lie inside the compact bore. Due to this enclosed aperture of the machine, the patient feels anxiety and tends to fear of entering inside the machine. This is called “MRI Claustrophobia”. It is the most common cause of a patient`s fear of lying inside the MRI machine.

CAUSES: It is often caused due to early traumatic events that occurred in the childhood of the patient. Environmental factors play an important role in developing feelings of being trapped in children and adults. Such type of phobia can also be caused by traumatic events such as:

• Being stuck in public transport in a crowd for a long period of time.
• Being locked up in a closed tight space like an elevator or small room without a window.
• Experience turbulence while flying.
• Being abused by someone in childhood.
• A Parent having this clinical condition may transfer it to a child because of the same genes.

This occurs mainly due to the malfunctioning of the amygdala in the brain. A brain`s specific area that deals with the fear response is overactive. Past experiences of being in a closed space in childhood may often lead up to growing up as a claustrophobic adult. SYMPTOMS: Claustrophobic patients suffer from mild symptoms and may advance to severe complications. Patients may feel mild nervousness at the start but this can further lead to panic attacks. The mild symptoms of the phobia are as follows:

1. Shortness of breath
2. Sweating
3. Nausea
4. Shaking or trembling
5. Fast Heartbeat
6. Dizziness
7. Hot flushes or chills
8. Hypertension
9. Head ache
10. Numbness
11. Dry Mouth
12. Choking sensation

These mild symptoms may further lead to severe psychological claustrophobic symptoms which are as follows:

1. Fear of fainting
2. Feeling of Dread 
3. Fear of Losing control
4. Fear of Dying.

You may also feel a sense of doom or a dying feeling. These feelings tend to generate more fear in patients, even in actuality the situation is not as dangerous as it seemed.  Sometimes, thinking about being in a compact space may lead to a symptom such as being unable to breathe properly, running out of oxygen, and getting restricted. DIAGNOSIS: The patient suffering from such type of disorder may consult a Psychiatrist or Psychologist for the symptoms. Diagnosis of the claustrophobic conditions may arise during the doctor consultation for anxiety-related disorders. The Psychiatrist or a Psychologist may ask for the following:

1. Rule out any other types of symptoms
2. Try to know about the severity of the symptoms 
3. Will try to understand what the symptoms are and what triggers them.

To know further about the details of the fear the doctors may ask you for:

1. To take a physical exam related to the disorder in which there will be questions related to the cause of symptoms.
2. Will measure the level of anxiety by the Claustrophobia scale.

The doctors will also review your history of excessive anxiety by the following means:

1. Caused by anticipating an event
2. Anxiety or panic attacks in relation to the environment 
3. Whether it disturbs any normal activities.

TREATMENT: There are many people who are aware of their clinical condition and generally take precautions of closed spaces. But avoiding such confined spaces won’t make your phobia go away. The best possible way to get rid of this disorder is by treatment. The first step of the treatment involves the meeting with the Psychologist or Psychiatrist. Therefore, MRI Claustrophobia can make you weak and infirm, if it’s not treated. Due to the advancement in technology, most Hospitals & MRI scan centres have installed the In-Bore Cinema and the Audio System which mainly focuses on MRI ambience that reduces Claustrophobic feeling inside an MRI machine. There are several ways to treat the patient with claustrophobic feelings:

1. MRI Cinema: One of the most recent advancements in technology has brought up a solution for this psychological condition. The MRI In-bore Cinema is like watching a Television inside the MRI during the scan is being done. The patient can watch movies, news, YouTube, or listen to music with the MRI Audio system and get away from the fear of closed spaces. This helps to distract the patient`s mind from the enclosed tight spaces and the scan is done without any repetition.
2. Behavioural Therapy:  This therapy aims to re-educate the patient`s mind so that they don’t get scared of the places they fear. In this therapy, the patient has to talk one on one with the psychologist or therapist. The patient has to talk about the negative feelings in order to overcome fear.
3. Exposure Therapy: This is a type of therapy where the patient is put in a situation of anxiety and help them to get over the fear. In the first stage, the patient is shown a picture of a closed space. In the next stage, the patient is actually put inside the closed space with the help of the doctor.
4. Relaxation and Visualisation: In MRI, when the scan is running the patient is unable to move so therapists depend on certain relaxation and visualisation techniques to overcome their fear. The patient is asked to take deep breaths, or meditation to keep themselves calm, by counting the number from 100 to 1 or by visualizing a safe picture.
5. Alternate Medical Treatment: One of the last options in the treatment, is the medication which is used as an alternative to the therapies. The doctor may prescribe an anti-depressant drug to make the patient relax. It can also be taken with the therapy treatment to manage the fear. 

Generally, the therapy and treatment last around for 10weeks to overcome it.

Summary:

The MRI In-bore Cinema has now been looked for as an alternative to Medications or Therapy treatment as it rejuvenates the MRI patient experience. Moreover, the MRI Audio system works as a noise-reduction tool and also works in combination with the MRI In-bore Cinema.