Claustrophobia Test (CLQ)

Claustrophobia is the fear of enclosed spaces, and it is one of the most common specific phobias. Elevators, airplane cabins, MRI scanners, tunnels, basements, and tightly packed crowds are typical triggers, and surveys suggest that a meaningful minority of adults experience at least some claustrophobic fear in situations like these, with a smaller group meeting the criteria for a full phobia. For many people the fear stays mild and easy to route around; for others it shapes daily decisions about travel, medical care, housing, and work, from refusing an MRI to climbing ten flights of stairs rather than stepping into an elevator.

The Claustrophobia Questionnaire grew out of a key insight from the psychologist S. Rachman: what looks like one fear of enclosed spaces is actually two. People in tight places may fear running out of air, or they may fear being trapped and unable to move, and the two fears can come apart. Building on this two-component model, Adam S. Radomsky, Rachman, and colleagues published the CLQ in 2001, asking respondents to rate how anxious a series of enclosed or restrictive situations would make them.

This test profiles the same two facets. Suffocation captures fear connected to breathing: unease with masks and blocked airways, stuffy rooms, steamy air, and the feeling of not getting a full breath. Restriction captures fear connected to confinement: being pinned, tied, locked in, or stuck in a crowd, an elevator, or a stalled train with no way to leave. The two often travel together, but a person can score high on one and low on the other, and the profile shows each separately.

Research using the CLQ has supported this two-part picture. Scores distinguish people with claustrophobia from people without it, track how distressed people become in tight situations such as MRI scans and behavioral tests, and fall when claustrophobia is successfully treated. The suffocation component also connects to panic-related fears, since the sensation of breathlessness plays a central role in panic. Together, the findings suggest that knowing which fear dominates - air or escape - says something real about how a person's claustrophobia works, and it can shape which situations feel hardest: a high suffocation score points toward masks and stuffy rooms, while a high restriction score points toward locks, crowds, and pinned limbs.

Your two facet scores are averaged into a single Total Claustrophobia score, shown as a percentage from low to high. Alongside your bars, the chart marks estimated comparison values for a typical adult, who lands near 31% - most people report fairly low claustrophobic fear. These markers are approximations rescaled from published research samples using the original questionnaire, not validated percentile norms for this exact test, so treat them as a rough point of reference rather than a precise ranking.

This test is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not a diagnostic instrument and cannot determine whether you have a specific phobia. The test is based on the Claustrophobia Questionnaire but uses its own items and is not affiliated with Radomsky, Rachman, their co-authors, or their institutions. Specific phobias respond well to treatment, particularly exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy, so if fear of enclosed spaces is limiting your life, consider speaking with a qualified professional.

References

• Radomsky, A. S., Rachman, S., Thordarson, D. S., McIsaac, H. K., & Teachman, B. A. (2001). The Claustrophobia Questionnaire. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 15(4), 287-297.
• Rachman, S., & Taylor, S. (1993). Analyses of claustrophobia. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 7(4), 281-291.