When I was a child I loved going into the hills with one of my uncles. I loved exploring everything around and getting into caves where one of the areas I loved to explore the most.

As I have been growing older (just became 59), I try to stay away from closed areas, not that I suffer but I do not feel confortable being inside small closed spaces.
A few days ago I had to have a MRI from my hip, as I have been suffering pain for the last years. I was keeping my eyes closed while I was being setup but just for one moment decided to open them up before the test began. I saw myself inside the tube and felt so bad I tried to push myself out and I asked them to get me out as I was not able. I relaxed for a while having my eyes closed and told the to proceed and the test was done with no problems.

I had to keep my eyes closed and bring my mind away from the test to forget where I was and keep calm until the 20 minutes ended. I have noticed I was getting slightly anxious in closed areas in the past bot not to the point of feeling I needed to get out.

I hope I can cope with it in the future as I may have to have more MRI's taken in the future but I agree, it is not easy to deal with anxiety when you face it and although you can try to control it with your mind, it probably gets worse as we grow older, so it is something to try to work on yourself as time goes by.