Claustrophobia - It's Inner Ear Origins & Successful Treatment

Introduction - According to Dr. Harold Levinson's groundbreaking research spanning more than 3 decades and encompassing over 35,000 successfully treated patients, most phobias (90%) were discovered to be of inner-ear-origin and shaped by a range of inner-ear-determined mechanisms.
For the very first time, the shape, quality and combination of phobias could be simply explained and more effectively treated. Is it a coincidence that there is a specific phobia for all motion-related activities, i.e., moving elevators, escalators, cars, buses, trains, etc.? Might not a fear of heights be due to feelings of imbalance, especially when associated with vertigo? And why do a majority of differently named phobias respond favorably to inner-ear-enhancing therapies and are found characterized by inner-ear dysfunctioning in 96% of the cases examined?
For comprehensive purposes, Dr. Levinson proposed in his best selling work Phobia Free that most all phobias could be explained by three basic origins:
Type I - Realistic Phobias - i.e., initially triggered by being stuck in an elevator or tunnel, etc.
Type II - Neurotic Phobias - i.e., being trapped in an abusive family/marital situation and the anxiety symbolically projected onto other enclosing situations, i.e., elevators, tunnels, etc.
Type III - Inner-Ear-Determined Phobias - responsible for over 90% of most phobias and shaped by specific inner-ear mechanisms.
Needless to say, for any given patient, Type I, II and III mechanisms may combine and resonate with one another - requiring clinical dissection, evaluation and appropriate holistic treatment. Indeed, even pure Type III phobias and panic secondarily trigger Type I anticipatory mechanisms which, via a vicious cycle, intensify and complicate the anxiety process and require holistic treatment methods.
Fears of Enclosed Spaces and Other Claustrophobic "Traps" - Elevators, planes, cars, rooms without windows (or windows that don't open), basements, closets, the dark, tunnels, being underwater, movie theaters, MRI's... were first recognized by Dr. Levinson to be shielding environments that physically deprive the brain of vital sensory information (visual, gravitational, auditory, etc., or some combination). These triggers can trip sensitized fight or flight alarms and lead to fears of being trapped (claustrophobic and panic anxiety) in predisposed individuals - those diagnosed as suffering from inner-ear dysfunction.
Accordingly, "potential claustrophobics" will avoid any and all situations unless they can escape or get out if they suddenly are overcome by a fear of losing control (i.e., disorientation, vertigo, imbalance, floating, going crazy or dying) - even rapid emotional and anxiety intensifications.
Claustrophobics are also often sensitive to the smothering effects of crowds. Many are uncomfortable when people get too close - get "in their face." And thus they also may avoid commitments and close relationships - resulting in commitment phobias. Some even feel uncomfortable wearing goggles, glasses, masks, tight clothes, and jewelry because of the smothering feelings these objects physically and symbolically provoke.
Even in a wide-open space some feel trapped - frightened they will never get back to home base - thus explaining the common relationship between claustrophobia and agoraphobia. These trapped sensations can also occur when stuck in a wide-open highway or in a traffic jam...in the middle of a crowd or in the middle of a line... Feeling trapped (literally or symbolically) and its anticipation produces anxiety. And feeling unable to escape magnifies that anxiety - creating real panic.
Interestingly, many individuals with these fears were/are hyperactive, overactive, or overly energetic. These individuals need motion and cannot remain still or "trapped" for too long without feeling overwhelmed and panicky - "off balance." Indeed, they may feel trapped by an "energy overload."
Holistic Treatment - Any and all methods that provide vital insights while lessening the destabilizing physical and symbolic impact of sensory-deprivation-triggers and over-reactive anxiety mechanisms will be lifesaving. These include an in-depth "believable" and emotionally acceptable understanding of the inner-ear-determined claustrophobic triggers, visualization and other cognitive compensatory techniques as well as the use of inner-ear-enhancing medications and SSRI's - all of which successfully minimize or eliminate phobic anxiety and panic.