Rene Takes On Her Claustrophobia

Rene Syler fears getting stuck in tight spots.

Her fear, known as claustrophobia, is common. Syler says hers is a mild case.

But, in The Early Show series Facing Our Fears, co-anchor Syler tells of the time she was briefly stuck in her small home office.

"You start breathing faster," she says. "You can feel your heart speeding up. You can't think. It's like your brain locks up and you just (say), 'Get me outta here!' But …it's not something that you can rationally talk your way through."

Luckily for Syler, the ordeal only lasted 10 minutes until she was able to get out.

"You can't really explain these things," Syler says, laughing. "If we could, they wouldn't be phobias."

Psychiatrist Alan Manevitz of Weill Cornell Medical College tells Syler, "It's not irrational to be afraid of being trapped. What you don't want is you don't want the fears to trap you.

"You have to learn relaxation techniques through breathing techniques, through muscle relaxation. You might use hypnosis, we may use medication, there's visual imagery. ...You want to be able when you feel trapped to still react cooly and calmly to solve the situation."

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