An anxiety disorder characterized by an irrational
fear of
Santa Claus. The signs of clausophobia usually develop early in life during childhood. Signs of clausophobia include: automatically and compulsively looking for exits when sighting a
fat bearded man in a red suit or feeling fearful on hearing Ho-ho-ho.
The most common type of treatment for clausophobia involves mental health counseling targeted to overcoming the fear and managing triggering situations.
Different types of strategies include:
* Relaxation and visualization techniques designed to calm the fear when in a clausophobic environment
* Cognitive-behavioral therapy (
CBT), an approach that involves learning to control the thoughts that occur when confronted with the fear-inducing situation in such a
way as to
change the reaction
* Relocating to Tehran
At the sight of Mr
Ferguson, the PE teacher, dressed in a
red velvet suit with a pillow stuffed in the top of his trousers, the little
girls were struck by clausophobia and backed away in abject terror.