Claustrophobia

[OneHour]

How would you suggest for us to deal with a new great, inspiring, energetic, scout with a problem with claustrophobia? This is something new for us (especially me). I have dealt with ADD, ADHD, Hyperactivity, disrepect, bully, homesick, shyness, etc., but never claustrophobia and night-terror.

 

He loves the outdoor, but has night-terror because of claustrophobia? Sleeping in the outdoor without a tent is not really an option (at least not for a newly minted scout) in the hot Southeast Texas area where the mosquitoes are hazardous to one's health. We adults (two at a time-YPT) cannot take turn staying up keeping a vigil over the camp. It amazes me still how most of our boys slept through the frantic scream and how quickly some of the adults sprang into action! Thanks in advance.

 

1Hour

[dan]

screened in room?

 

[ScoutNut]

Many new tents on the market now have a window in the roof. It sounds like there would be little chance of rain if the fly was left off so he could see the sky. Also have a talk to him and his parents. They might have some ideas for you.

[OldGreyEagle]

Actually your location may help, what about a Bivy sac with mosquito netting? would being able to see out of the netting help?

[SR540Beaver]

Just out of curiousity, have his parents sought any professional help for his problem? As Scouters, we all do our best to provide a quality program to all boys equally. But we often become part of a boy"s "therapy" for attempts to provide ADD or ADHD boys with activity or to provide socialization for anti-social kids. While these boys need the help and scouting can be an excellent resource for this help; too many parents dump their kids off on scouting and don't participate. I too thought of a screened room. However, that has it's limitations of you backpack. Also, if your troop provides tents, then you are stuck with having to provide a special accomidation for a particular scout. Inclement weather is another problem with a screened room. While BSA prefers that boys camp in their patrols, there is no rule against a boy sharing a tent or shelter with their own parent. Perhaps the parent needs to step up and go along on campouts to handle this special need.

 

Now, please don't flame me for mentioning ADD or ADHD. I have no problem with boys who have problems like this being in the troop. But some do honestly present problems that sometimes require parental control instead of expecting the leadership to have to constantly give special attention to.

[Adrianvs]

Night terrors have nothing to do with claustrophobia. Of course, an individual might have both conditions at the same time, but they are no etiologically related. If the child only has these symptoms during the night, then I would wager that he doesn't have claustrophobia at all. Claustrophobia is not going to cause the child to suddenly begin screaming in the night. Night terrors are relatively common, but surprisingly few people know about them. Does the child have night terrors at home as well? What, exactly, happens when the boy 'wakes up' in the night? Is he responsive? Does he remember the events in the morning? I'm not going to pretend to do a clinical assessment here, but if you gave me more information I might be able to steer you towards some possibilities. If the child does have night terrors, it is possible that those around him have begun using the word "claustrophobia" incorrectly. If this is the case, the problem may have been attributed to the closed spaces of a tent or bedroom withoug due cause. This is also likely to cause the child to perceive these locations differently. Indeed, it may even cause the phobia itself by conditioning a fear response in the child. As it stands, however, I cannot be sure about what is going on. What, exactly, is happening? Where and when is it happening and not happening?

[OneHour]

We found out afterward from his parents that he does see a specialist about it. It's a combination of both night-terror and claustrophobia. He has it at home from time to time ... night-terror that is and regularly in the RV.

 

One the first night, around 3:00 am, I heard a scream and a plead for help. I and the three other scoutmasters jumped out of our tents. Fumbling in the dark, we went from tent to tent checking on every boy (all 20 of them). We couldn't find the source of the scream. I found that one boy was still up and we found out that he and his tent mate the tent door opened for him and the window flap down exposing the screen only. I asked him if he was alright and he replied yes. I think that he was crying, but he tried to hide it. He does not remember it the next day.

 

 

On the second night, he woke up screaming and panically trying to get out of his tent. I got to him first and he was sitting inside of his tent crying uncontrollably. He was trying to get out of the tent and could not find the zipper. He screamed. The scoutmaster and I talked to him. He was very responsive (eventhough his tent mate was out like a light throughout the whole ordeal). He said that he is claustrophobic and felt that the walls were caving in around. Being totally dark and without any depth perception, I could see why he felt as he did. We calmed him down and left him with a lantern that has night light. 1/2 hour later he screamed out again. This could not be night terror, because I can still hear him sobbing from my tent. We clear out my van and allow him to sleep in there. We showed him all of the exit of the van. Crack opened the windows. He went back to sleep. I practically stayed up all night in my tent worrying and listening out for his voice. I got a whole hour of sleep that night. I don't want to professionally diagnose the scout (that's the job for the Doctors). I don't want to tell his parents that this is the way to cure him. The problem is I and the Scoutmaster felt so helpless. I just want to see if anyone has run across this before and how you have handled it.

 

Seeing out of the netting does not help. Leaving the rainfly off in SE Texas is asking for inside of your tent to be wet (and it was sprinkling both nights). But for some reasons, sleeping in the van (I guess that Andrianvs' suggest that locality differences may attribute to it may be a valid one) seems to calm him. The scoutmaster and I were worried that the van is somewhat claustrophic as well. Either that or it is so well insulated that his scream did not venture outside of the van. We did crack both front and rear windows for ventillation.

 

His father is a physician. I had a long talk with him. He said that by simply telling the boy to go back to sleep afterward would be sufficient. He won't remember anything. His father said that he does have night terror and then after the night terror causes him to wake up, the claustrophobia sets in and it won't get better. His father does take him to the campout when we were in the Pack still. They camp in RV, so I never knew of the issue. His mother said that since he joined the troop, he loved scouting and she hates to pull him out. I told them that it is not necessary to pull him out. There are ways that we can help to get him (and us) through it.

 

We agreed on a several of things to try, including having him sleeping with his father (when his fathers attends the campout) in their Suburban or just have him dropped off for the day activities for the close-by campouts or sleep in one of our Troop 10-man tent.

 

As for bivy sack, I have a co-worker told that it is not for someone who is claustrophobic. The netting and the hood around the head is quite a compact space.

 

Hind sight, I wished that his parents had let us know about his condition though! When you are sound asleep and awoken by a scout's screaming in terror at 3:00am, it's difficult for you to gather your senses afterward.

 

OneHour

[SR540Beaver]

Scout camping in RV's and Suburbans? Even in Cubs? Never heard of it. I guess you could do it if you didn't go to a scout property. Our scout properties only allow vehicles in camp to unload and load. Then they have to be taken to the parking area.

[OneHour]

Our Pack usually camped at State Parks where there is a section for RVs. When we do go to a BSA campground, they usually don't go.

 

If they are going to stay in their Suburban, then, yes, they will have to sleep in the parking lot with the rest of the cars away from the campsites, a minor inconvenience, but for a boy to experience scouting, then it's all worth it!

[Adrianvs]

If the boy doesn't remember the event in the morning, then it is unlikely that he "woke up" from the night terror at all. It is often difficult to tell the difference between a frightened (or claustrophobic) child and one who is in the midst of a night terror. An individual in the midst of a night terror will appear to have woken up, but they have not. Crying, screaming or responding to questions does not mean that the child is truly awake. Those with night terrors will also manipulate objects like tent zippers or door handles. I've seen a kid in walk all through an entire house, respond to direct questions, and then proceed to sit and watch television for several minutes before going back to bed. In a sense, they were asleep the whole time. As the father indicates, the only real "treatment" for a night terror is to get the child back into bed. Most kids in the midst of a night terror will eventually respond and go back to sleep peacefully. This can take some time, on occasion. You will want to do this gently, of course. If the child is waking up and claustrophobic, you will want to comfort them as needed. There is a difference between waking up from a nightmare and succumbing to claustrophobia and having night terrors (many of which are accompanied by claustrophobic feelings). A child usually doesn't wake up from a night terror; they eventually go back to sleep and don't recall the event. Does the boy have claustrophobic symptoms apart from episodes in the middle of the night where he apparently wakes up? I don't want to second guess the father, who obviously has more information than any of us, but I suspect that there may have been a mistake in communication here. In any case, it is fortunate that night terrors rarely continue into adulthood. I don't think that this should be any reason to pull the boy from scouting, of course.

[OneHour]

Yes, his father seems to know more about his problem. It would have helped us had they given us a heads-up on his condition.

 

It is the worst feeling to stand there feeling helpless. I guess that I wished that I could just have slept through it as the other six fathers did, but then I would not be me. My helpless feeling comes when YPT prevents me from comforting him. The best that I could do is to stand there and pat him on his head and talked to him in a consoling way while he sobbing uncontrollably.

 

Thanks for the info Andrianvs. It did take a while, about 15 minutes the first night to get him to go back to sleep. It took about 20 minutes the second night, the second time, to get him to go back to sleep. On the second night, he was wide awake and gathered his sleeping bag and shoes to go to the van. He even helped me clear out the van (while sobbing). I'm fairly sure that he was awaken.

 

Tonight, I took sometimes and did a search on night terror and learned a lot about it and the more that I learned about it, the more I imagine what could have happened (ie., sleep walking, etc.) I guess that I will recommend to our scoutmaster and his parents to insist that his parents be with him on the campout. Clearly, he needs to have constant vigil at night by an adult, one of his parents. I and other scoutmasters cannot take on the great responsibility of taking care of this type of special needs scout without the help of his parents. We are not trained to handle such situation. This is for the safety of the boy.

 

1Hour

[dozer]

Been there, don't want to go back. That scream, sounds like a woman being murdered, and they don't know they did it. They get out of tents without untying the flaps! Now you have a sleepwalker with night terrors, can you take him camping near a river? Will he wake up if he falls in?

The parents of the boy I'm speaking of didn't warn us of his problems either. He transfered out a few years ago, but that bloodcurdling scream still rings in my ears.

I feel for anyone with those problems and concerns, good luck Alan