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Are you afraid of elevators?
Stories this week about shocking elevator deaths in New York -- including one in which a woman was crushed and killed and another in which a woman was attacked and set on fire -- horrified millions, but none as much as those who suffer from severe elevator phobias.
Such events are rare, but they rivet the attention of people who have trouble even riding an ordinary elevator to the next floor, sufferers and experts say.
"That was the first and maybe the only article I read in the New York Times," says Jane Murphy, a 52-year-old Dallas business owner, referring to the crushing accident. "It was horrible and I felt bad about her but in my mind it was just another confirmation as to why I don't like elevators."
Murphy says she's had her phobia for decades and can even remember walking up 14 flights of stairs to her family's condo as a teenager.
"I've even gone to meetings with clients and gotten them to open the door for me on the 10th floor since those doors are always locked," she says. "Sometimes I can force myself to ride one but other times, I can't step on. I don't have a choice. It feels like a do or die decision."
For Murphy, it's not so much a fear of dying in the elevator as a fear of getting trapped.
"I don't worry about tragedies, I worry about getting stuck," she says. "I think it's a control factor. It's all about being stuck in this sealed container."
According to Elizabeth Lombardo, a clinical psychologist who uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people overcome fears, elevator phobias are relatively common (although not so common to be included on this comprehensive phobia list) and are definitely treatable.
"They're common and the reasons are twofold," says Lombardo, author of "A Happy You: Your Ultimate Prescription for Happiness." "One is the lack of control and the potential for death, i.e., the elevator is going to drop 20 stories and kill you and you have no control. The other component is claustrophobia because you're in a confined space. I have some clients who will only go in an elevator if there's only one person or no people in it. I've had clients not take jobs because they couldn't ride an elevator to their office."
Lombardo says the problem with elevator phobias is that it's actually possible for an elevator to suddenly drop a few floors or crush someone's limb -- or worse.
"When I was doing my pre-doctoral training down in Houston, there was a doctor who stuck his head into the elevator but not his legs and the sensors didn't go off and he was decapitated," she says. "Elevators can be dangerous and deadly. But so can vacuum cleaners. There are freak accidents everywhere."
What's important to remember, she says, is the difference between possibility and probability. The chance of a freak accident causing an elevator to malfunction or the chance of being attacked by a fire-wielding assailant are very small, of course, Lombardo said.
According to the New York Post, many New York office workers are already shunning elevators due to the accident. Will this week's tragedies have a bigger effect on those with elevator phobias?
"I will absolutely be getting more calls," says Lombardo. "For them, it's like, 'See? It really can happen. I'm justified in having this fear.'"
Murphy says that's certainly how she felt after reading this week's news.
"I got a vision in my mind about what kind of elevator it was," she says. "And could picture one of those old buildings in New York where the elevators have gold doors and they just look like such a barrier. That once you're in them you can never get out. And I just thought, 'Where's the stairs, man?'"
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you may find this of help when talking about fear Anxiety attacks are perhaps the most acute physical manifestations of fear. An anxiety attack causes your heart to beat so rapidly that many rush to the emergency room. Until recently, those fears were thought to be unsubstantiated.. But Time recently reported on a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that proved that frequent acute bouts of fear and anxiety does in fact increase your risk of heart attack.
Something else that might help the more analytical clients is a little history lesson. Before 1900, hundreds of people used to die every year in elevators. However an inventor named Otis invented a revolutionary spring-loaded locking device that automatically engages - locking the elevator in place - if the elevator goes into free fall. He demonstrated his invention at the Worlds Fair by actually stepping onto an elevator, causing it to go into free fall, and allowing the locking mechanism to engage. He did it over 100 times himself. Since the invention, elevator deaths have become extremely rare even though tall buildings are now much more common.
I agree with you, rocinnante, but the issue with phobias is that they are, by their very definition, irrational. Rationally, phobics understand that elevators are safe but their hypersensitive "fight or flight" reflex takes over. We all have this reflex as it comes from our ancestors but in phobics, it is more pronounced. Very difficult to overcome this.
It's got to be debilitating to have this phobia, particularly in a place like NYC with the tall buildings. The stories, while admittedly very rare, can't help.
You can argue all day that your less safe in a car or plane or outside, but when you can easily avoid the risk of using the elevator by taking the stairs its just too easy(unless for physical reasons you can't). In fact people who take the stairs are healthier and more energetic anyways. I try to take stairs any chance I get. Have to do something to try and offset how much sitting I do in my job. I have been stuck in an elevator before and that is such an effecient use of my time, so glad I didn't take the stairs saving me those two hours of waiting.
Yeah and after you walk up 6 or 7 flights a few times a day is there shower rooms you can use? Progress has a cost. Re: elevators, a trivial cost.
If you need a shower after 6 or 7 flights of stairs maybe you should be taking them more often so your body is used to minor physical exertion on a regular basis. You don't need to run up all 7 flights, a steady climb shouldn't burn a healthy person out.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 68 elevator-related deaths from 1992-2003 among people using elevators while at work, an average of six passenger deaths per year (see fig. 5). These included supervisors/managers, clerks/stock handlers, janitors/cleaners and their supervisors, plus a wide variety of other occupations.
During this same period, the CPSC reported 24 non-work related deaths of escalator passengers in 12 states and the District of Columbia – about two per year.
People killed at work were most freight elevators so there is little direct correlation. So roughly 2 people a year are killed in elevators in residential or office businesses.
The odds a person will die from an elevator accident in a year are 1 in 10,440,000 (US, 1992 - 2003). OCD much?
Still much better odds than the Mega Millions ticket you might have bought on Friday being a winner.
Yet we plan, in our dreams, on winning, and most of us totally, and quite properly, discount the danger of dying in an elevator.
Must be that humans are inherently optimistic.
Chris - "“Basically, when you exercise the main way you keep your body cool is by sweating. An athlete who has adapted (through exercise/training) to keep the body cool during exercise will shunt blood to the skin’s surface more quickly and release heat from the body. At the same time the sweat glands increase their output and so cool the body through sweat evapourating. Therefore the fitter you are the more effectively you keep your body cool = the more you sweat. Training harder, for longer, in hotter and a more humid environment, will also make you sweat more."
Moral is, increase sweating is common for low intensity work for those who are primed to sweat. Your assumption could be wrong.
6 or 7 floors is one thing, don't think many people want to go up and down 20 flights or more a day.
All these failures are possible, but not probable.
I will concede the above, but I usually find myself hopping into an elevator at speed: better to be in the elevator or not in it, but not halfway between both states if something is to go wrong.
The cliche of an elevator falling multiple floors and killing the people inside is rare. Most deaths occur during boarding or attempting to escape from a stuck elevator.
I have always wondered if , when the elevator car drops and right before it hits the bottom, you jump up, I wonder if you would live? And reading this article, wondering if all the others jumped up but the woman that died. I am leery of elevators, but not phobic. My brother used to work for Otis elevator and he says before it would drop 100 floors, the brakes would go on. There are, he says, two sets of brakes that slow it down. And I'm hoping I can trust him. lol
You may be jumping in the elevator but you are still falling down the shaft. Even a well timed jump will not mitigate the sudden deceleration. BTW, the elevator in this incident did not fall. The woman's foot became stuck in the door and the elevator shot up, crushing her and stopping further movement. The 2 who were taken to the hospital were physically uninjured.
This was actually checked on Mythbusters once. It pretty much showed that it wasn't possible to jump at the last second.
Typical MSN; I read the article to find out the facts about the accident and all they give is a fluff piece about fear. Let's make this SENSATIONAL!!!!!!!! Criminy, all I wanted was a news story...
To put what paramed said in other terms, your body inside the elevator is falling at the same speed of the elevator. Even if you could time it perfectly to jump up just before the crash, you are only slightly reducing the speed at which your are falling. When you land (falling object meets non-moving ground), it's still gonna hurt!
(Just like jumping straight up and down on a moving bus -- you don't land further back on the bus, because both you and the bus are moving forward.)
If you are in a falling elevator, you are in an accelerating frame. You can't come up with enough power from your legs to overcome the acceleration of the frame. Gravity acts the same on all objects, regardless of mass. There is a terminal velocity of 120 mph, in a body falling from a plane due to air Resistance. In an elevator, the fall is usually not far enough to reach that speed, but enough to kill you if its initial point is high enough. Potential energy increases with height, kinetic energy then expressed as it falls. The best thing you can do is sit down in the corner with your knees up and your head and face in your hands between your knees, with the elbows tucked in. Or, get on top of someone else....just kidding.
I would think the best thing to do would be to lie flat on the floor of the elevator to increase the surface area over which the force of the landing is distributed. Lying flat lowers the force loading by spreading the load over the entire body. If you're standing, the force comes into your body through the very small area of the soles of your feet. If you then collapse, your head falls from a height and strikes the floor.
It may actually be a good idea to get on top of someone, because their body would act as a shock absorber. It would not lower the total amount of force felt in the deceleration, but it would spread that force over slightly more time, reducing the maximum loads on your body. This is what a catch mat does for a stunt performer taking a fall. The force of the impact is determined by the weight of the faller and the distance of the fall (speed at time of impact). Falling into a catch mat distributes that force over time, reducing the maximum forces felt by the body, preventing injury.
sounds like a bunch of babies whining about their bruised vaginas. It's a frickin' elevator. Take it to your floor and walk out the door
Ah, and you must not have a single fear I assume? Have you been trapped in elevators? Have you had to crawl up through a narrow slit and barely get out? Have you had the elevator DROP and jolt while you're in it? What was that? No? Oh, well please don't disrespect people who have a fear. I DISLIKE them strongly and am a little scared but I still ride them when I'm not feeling well.
Oh and all of the above, has happened to me. So I have good reason to be a little anxious.
I am slightly claustrophobic, so if it's a small, older elevator, I will take the stairs. If the elevator is large, not full of people, modern, and up to date on inspections (yes, I check those), I feel safe enough to enter. Mind you, I live on the 23rd floor and work on the 26th floor so I am constantly using elevators, on a daily basis. If an elevator makes an odd sound or has some issue with the floor leveling or the numbers are starting to shift, I take another one. I have yet to become stuck, although a few co-workers got stuck for about 10-15 minutes once in the past 4 years. All I know is I wouldn't want to be stuck on an elevator for an hour with 12 other people, I would feel like I am suffocating.
Suffocation is never an issue outside of industrial settings. These things have been around for decades; nay centuries. The number of people who've died on them in all that time is probably less than a thousand.
My friend Al, up in Washington State, likes to get on a elevator full of people, and then let out a fart that would suffocate a water buffalo, then he looks at some other poor guy and pretends he is the offender. He is a big reason not to take elevators. Maybe we should have him tracked by satellite...
I have had elevator phobia for years but mostly could get on if I had to. Then I GOT STUCK in one several years ago and that was the end of taking them. I have avoided taking classes at my university if they were on a floor super high. I did ride one last January when a family member was in hospital but it was difficult.
Since I did get stuck it's pretty much impossible for someone to tell me it's a small chance of happening, they are safe, etc.
I guess MSNBC is running out of things to wrte about. What a none story this was. Boo Hoo you can't ride and elevator who cares?
Um, a lady died in an elevator accident -- that is why this is news. I would definitely say death in a freak accident is newsworthy. Also, please learn to spell and use proper grammar instead of posting asinine comments.
If "Ihateliberals" really hates liberals, and if he is smart, he will change his posting name to "I love liberals," so that all the ridicule over his near-illiteracy will reflect on the left wing. As it is, he's giving us lefties some good fodder for mocking right wingnuts. Thanks, dude. Now go get a tutor and learn what you would have learned in 8th-12th grades, had you not dropped out.
Amanda, Merry Christmas. What monitors this forum needs, it has.
And, 'AllThat..', the guy graduated with social honors from schools ran jointly by NEA, UFT and ASFCME employees, who unfortunately had meeting in Atlantic City the decade he was in school.
I never felt afraid to ride elevators in my life so far, but I have felt acutely claustrophobic inside this narrow shower stall in my tiny apartment around March of 1997 when I was suffering bad depression (which made taking showers difficult for me to tolerate). I've realized since then I've always had some bit of claustrophobia since I was growing up. My depression has rarely been that severe in my life -- 2 or 3 times so far... Might come from a complicated difficult childbirth I endured, according to my parents. I actually used to have nightmares about it, believe it or not, where I'd be enveloped in darkness but I'd feel nauseous and I'd feeling as if I were repeatedly feel as though some pressure would start increasing around me, which would increase the nausea; then then the pressure would ease off, and I'd temporarily feel better, then the cycle would repeat.
Hope you're getting the help that you need.Depressive episodes can intensify other negative emotions such as anger and fear, but clinical depression and a phobia of being in a closed shower stall are actually two separate clinical issues.
If you need someone who "gets it" to visit with about these issues or if you need help finding a physician and/or therapist you can always go to www.nami.org
My parents told me that my mother almost had a miscarriage, so I almost didn't make it alive [during] birth. They say that for most people, birth is the first physical trauma they experience in this life. It's not just hard on the mother, it's very hard on the baby as well...
Harry: You poor baby. Too bad your mother wasn't caught in an elevator door while giving you birth.
My condolences to the family of the woman that died in the elevator.
Harry, Are you sure you're ok?
Nan,
What would make you make a purely evil comment to someone you don't know, who hasn't done a thing to you, who is telling the group that he has been in horrible psychological pain?
Maybe you thought rightly or wrongly that this would be someone who wouldn't feel like defending himself and so you could get by with the cyberbullying?Maybe you even get a kick out of trying to cause pain to the most vulnerable.
As a child a bigger boy in my neighborhood would torture and kill animals for fun.One day he went over and tortured a rabbit that was already injured.Your comment to Harry reminded me exactly of that.
Shame on MSNBC for allowing someone on Newsvine to try to pull a psychological assault on someone who appears to be vulnerable.You all should be the ones stepping in here, not me or any other bystanders.
Nan,
Looks like the best part of you was left at the hospital....Your mean!!
Harry, pay no attention to "Nan the Nasty"...she is the one who has to spend the rest of her life living with that nasty mind of hers...flip flopping from wishing someone dead to feeling sorry for another person who has died... please just flush her words down the toilet where they belong !
Harry, honestly son, you dont really remember this experience. Your not a baby anymore and your probably ok now. That was a very confined space you were in back there, but you escaped! So relax Harry, its all good.
Sorry to have come off as "mean". IMO Harry was off-topic in that he did not allude to the horric accident of the lady in the article. He instead turned it into his own sad story.
@kcstrawberry,dano,sylvia: see comments on the next page
Nan-967490, death wishing is just terrible and a violation of the Code of Honor.
You are suspended for a week.
I was trapped in an elevator in my building for over 2 hours. It fell a few floors and suddenly stopped, and I could then hear metal creaking as I took a few steps. It was a horrible experience. Now I keep a Valium on hand just in case.
That happened to me when I was four years old. I'm not phobic, but I'm always relieved to get off!
All these years of insanity has given me Republiphobia!
Condolensces and prayers go to the victims' loved ones.
The design of the elevator may have sensors to sense such as body heat, shadow/image, and it is going to stop the elevator door closing. It is the design problem.
Go back to redesign the elevator to prevent the future accident.
Gee, wow! Another totally stupid "news" item. There's a greater chance of being killed by a drive-by shooter with road rage than in an elevator accident. This story is about one woman with neuroses and a few mindless psychological babbles, and the we should be so lucky that the purveyor of this trash be crushed under a load of falling sales.
youre a dip@!$%#
Sad truth is if she did not panic ! She would have walked out with the other two people
Lynn: I read a different article about this. Her shoe got caught and she was dragged with the car. This is not a good story IMO
For about a year when I was in my early 20's, I would have a recurring dream about being in an elevator in which the cable snapped and plunged for a long and horrifying time. I wouldn't consider myself phobic about elevators, but if I can take the stairs instead, I generally do. Any time I hear about an elevator accident, which admittedly, is rare, it freaks me out a bit.
Evil: I have that same dream about once a month ! And I always survive . Weird.
Spooky, isn't it?! I never do find out if I survive in my dream.
This was like a Steven King Novel... The tragic part was that it was real.....
Thanks for your article. Hope to hear from you the next time this happens.
Your posts are pathetic in my opinion. This woman died a horrific death.
What about falling down the stairs. That's happened to me before. We're all doomed, doomed I say...
I fell down the steps broke my tail bone lots of bruises.
That's a good point. Most elevators are probably much safer than stairs (unless you consider the health risks for someone who needs the exercise). I've seen a few that behave so badly, with the carrage moving while the doors are open, that I'll avoid those particular elevators. Even in elevators that work well, I cringe when I see someone chitchatting while standing on the threshold, that's a bad place to hang around, even if you're not holding anyone up.
We took some friends to visit the World Trade Center before those cut-throat pirates destroyed it. Of course the view, the restaurant, etc. was great. When leaving the top, I noticed some were a little upset at having to use the elevator and didn't care for the way WTC people herded us into it. So, in a loud voice, I remarked to my son that the elevator floor was only a cheap sheet of metal protecting us from a 1/4 mile drop. The collection of stares we got was my reward, and the complaining stopped.
Is it me or does no one seem at all concerned about the poor unfortunate lady and her family?
A long time ago I worked in a hospital as electrican apprentice, we were responsible for daily elevator care, routines and we contacted the elevator service techs when necessary. Throughtout those years into my present age of 66; I usually check the elevator inspection certificate displayed in all elevators. I am looking to see that the date of last inspection is less than 1 year, many times it was more than one year since last inspection. My advice is that everyone notice the inspection dates and if more than 1 year to contact proper authorities. Some businesses cut costs any way they can!
George,
Yes indeed. Critical preventive and corrective maintenance is a) being deferred while the equipment remains in service, and b) being performed by unqualified inspectors and technicians. If you haven't seen an Otis, Montgomery, Thiessen, or other qualified company's van parked outside your building in the last couple years, or if your facility maintenance guys take the stairs you might well consider joining them.
Of course you can't jump up with tons of pressure pushing you down, which is simple physics. An elevator accident is about as likely as a lightning strike, but my claustrophobia still bothers me everytime I ride one.
I have helped a number of people overcome unhealthy fears such as this and yes such tragic stories are often used to "confirm" why the fear makes sense. Irrational fear is not a conscious choice and resists being reasoned away. The person's subconscious protective functions are treating something that is possible as if it were probable. The good news is that mind/body healing techniques like hypnosis are often effective for this type of problem since it addresses the imaginative part of the mind rather than the logical.
Been on a falling elevator!!!!! Come on people!!!!!! Where have you been!!!!! When the elevator falls just jump off at the last floor - didn't you guys grow up watching cartoons?!?!?!?!?!?
Ok, really. When I was in college I worked in a huge, old wooden warehouse that had an open elevator, meaning it was enclosed on 3 sides by wire fencing (yes, I said wire fencing) and the front was open, no door, no gate...nuttin'!!!!
The elevator was started by pulling on a steel cable to "jump start" the motor...the elevator was notorious for falling so on my first ride I was instructed that if it fell I was to jump out as it passed a floor. CRAP! Are you serious...even if you were up only one floor, jump out...because the cable spool above would fall and crush whatever was in the elevator.
Guess what...on the very 1st ride, between the 3rd & 4th floor....snap - the manager was gone, right outta the elevator...I was out on the next floor and yep...several hundred pounds of steel cable came crashing down...I thought...I love this job...stayed there for 5 years!!!!!!
We got to hunt pigeons on one floor that was empty...we rode bicycles and carried bb-guns...America...you gotta love 'er.
You are one brave dude Skeeter!