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Original poster

Got trapped on the tube this morning - does anyone have any words of advice?

31 replies

TinaTrapped · 13/09/2021 13:24

Apart from a spell abroad, I have always lived in London. In 2005 I was nowhere near the bombings but was on public transport and the tube lines got stopped and we got stuck on the tube until they knew it was safe to roll the trains forward to the platforms.

Ever since then, I've really struggled with feeling trapped on the tube and the train (and planes!). It's the fear of not being able to escape and it's a very real and horrible fear. I just want to collapse in a heap and be taken off but of course you can't.

I've had every therapy going, been given pills that you take - nothing makes a difference. I just know that logically I can get trapped and it can take hours to get out and I just don't want to be stuck like that!

I haven't had a bad incident until today when v sadly someone died at Cannon Street. This caused a massive knock on impact across the lines and I got stuck between stations (albeit above ground) for ages. The minute the tubes got moving again, i got off at the next station and got the bus to work but I wondered if anyone has ever got over something like this. I actually paid to see a psychiatrist at one point who said there are just some people who are treatment resistant and I might just be one of them!

I think it's getting worse for me, almost to the point of not wanting to catch public transport, but I just can't let that happen as I need to work and I don't want to restrict my life. I'm hugely frustrated with myself. I was the only one that got off the tube when it started moving today!

OP posts:
FightingtheFoo · 13/09/2021 20:31

I'm so sorry. I had something very similar on tubes, also about getting stuck. Somehow it morphed into something else (won't share it) and I'm barely able to use the tube now. I went without using it at all for 3 years at one point although I've had to start using it again recently and I can basically take it from station A to station B and back but nowhere else.

It's basically OCD intrusive thoughts. The best it got was when I was having CBT but I presume you've tried that?

LaBelleSauvage123 · 13/09/2021 20:33

Taking sertraline got me over my fear of feeling trapped on transport.

Easternfells · 13/09/2021 20:57

I’ve developed awful claustrophobia in the last few months since having an MRI (which had to be abandoned). This has been a total shock to me as I’ve always been quite laid back without any phobias. After the MRI I got the tube home which was quite stressful, then had flashbacks at night for several days afterwards but forgot about it until driving through the Dartford Tunnel a few weeks later. Since then I’ve felt extremely claustrophobic several times, even in a black cab! It’s such a sudden phobia that I feel I should be able to get back to normal quickly, but I’m not sure how. I tried a hypnotherapy podcast recommended on an old thread on here, it made you relive the experience but as if from a distance. This made it all worse and rather reluctant to try anything else for a bit. It’s totally shocked me that I could get to middle age being fine and then develop such an extreme fear. I’m able to avoid using the tube but long term would like to use it again. It’s quite cosy down there in the winter and I used it for years including after 7/7. Waffling now, but yes I totally understand. I feel so cross with myself and embarrassed that I can’t put mind over matter.

kitkatsky · 13/09/2021 21:02

Not the tube but I suddenly got the fear about driving for no reason one day. I'm not 100% over it but the only way to improve was to increase the risk all the time, so firstly just driving 5 minutes on a route I knew in the sun, then soing it at night and in the rain and building up. I suppose for you it's be above ground followed by one stop below ground etc?

Ducksurprise · 13/09/2021 21:02

Hypnosis. I thought it was a load of old cobblers but turns out not. I also couldn't deal with getting stuck on transport. Although anti ds can help (and menopause can makes things worse)

ArcheryAnnie · 13/09/2021 21:22

I have been having various MRIs, at which I am trying not to freak out when in the tube (not helped by me being rather stout, and the tube therefore being rather sug). What helped me enjoy it, not just get through it, was basically pretending it was all kinds of other things - an avant-garde opera by John Cage, or liftoff in a Saturn rocket to the moon. Etc etc. When I was trying not to freak out in hospital last year, I pretended I was in the sickbay of my favourite sci-fi show, and it really worked.

Are you good at creating scenarios in your head, OP? Can you imagine yourself somewhere else, somewhere you'd like to be, where a tube tunnel is an integral part of it?

GrumpyTerrier · 13/09/2021 21:47

Distraction distraction, anything to make it feel like you are not there. Music or podcast or earplugs so you can't hear anything, book or something to distract your mind, sunglasses to dull the visual input.

Incidently for an MRI I found a sleeping mask great. As long as i didnt see the tube it was ok.

GrumpyTerrier · 13/09/2021 21:47

Download your favourite thing to watch and watch it on your phone. Watching things is what gets me through flights without panicking.

Griefmonster · 13/09/2021 21:51

How old are you OP? My spider phobia got a lot worse as I hit mid 40s. I think menopause can set off anxieties.

HotChoc10 · 13/09/2021 22:22

I have had a similar experience since being stuck underground for about 20 minutes when someone was taken ill, thankfully not terror related.

I almost never get the tube at times when it's likely to be crowded if I can help it smd frequently add an hour plus to my journeys by getting the bus.

Things that help when I do get the tube are having a bottle of water with me, somehow helps me feel less 'stuck', and if the tube does stop in a tunnel, at a red signal or whatever, setting a timer on my phone for two minutes and telling myself I can panic if I'm still there at the end of it... it basically never does. Before I go in I try to just accept there is a chance I will have a panic attack and that that is okay... Difficult to remember in the throes of it though!

HotChoc10 · 13/09/2021 22:51

Oh, I also try to think about the extraordinary lengths people go to to help those in danger, like the poor boys who got trapped in the cave in Thailand. I remind myself that there is no real chance of a tube full of people being left forever underground.

That said, I do let my phobia limit my life to an extent so not sure how good my advice can really be.

MistySkiesAfterRain · 14/09/2021 00:38

Not that but I had severe breathing issues running for a train (which turned out to be something undiagnosed) so for a long time I had that association.

Plan your route, leave plenty of time for the journey, breathing and a bag full of distractions-something to watch, listen to, do. I like those puzzle books that you get at stations.

Always carry a portable phone charger.

If I had a bad journey I would consider changing the route or time and building back up to it. Make full use of any flexible working hours.

Get the hidden disaability sunflower lanyard and carry a handheld fan.

DinosaurOfFire · 14/09/2021 00:45

If treatment hasn't helped, would having an assortment of preps in your bag help? A small bottle of water, some hard boiled sweets, a cereal bar to keep your blood sugar up if you do get stuck, a mini powerbank to charge your phone if needed, a little notebook and pen so you can jot things down/ play noughts and crosses with the person sitting next to you if you're there a while, a handkerchief with a calming scent on it to reassure you. Just small things that would make life easier and provide light distractions if you were stuck for a prolonged period again.

halloweenie13 · 14/09/2021 00:57

I moved to London last year and this hasn't happened to me yet but I am fearing and dreading it. I work from home so don't have to venture out as much which is helpful but sometimes isolating, I had an incident a few years back which caused issues with enclosed and small spaces. Maybe see a doctor and get general advice about next steps and see if that helps x

ArcheryAnnie · 14/09/2021 07:21

@Griefmonster

How old are you OP? My spider phobia got a lot worse as I hit mid 40s. I think menopause can set off anxieties.
This is worth thinking about. I was frightened of everything for about two years when I began the menopause. It's now mostly eased off, thank god.
Original poster
TinaTrapped · 14/09/2021 07:55

thanks all - I've read all your posts and they have made me feel better!

hypnosis is the one thing I haven't tried - but I am willing to try anything to make this better so I will look into it

funnily enough I am 48/49 - so just at the right age for menopause. I have started getting menstrual migraines back which is apparently a sign that menopause is on its way. Other than that, I haven't felt too bad. I can't take hormonal drugs so I won't be able to take HRT but actually just knowing that a stage of life can make this worse is comforting in a way.

I tried to tell myself that if I took a flight somewhere, it would be the same thing as being stuck on a tube or a train and I've taken 12-13 hours flights at points in my life and no delay is going to get you stuck that long. I don't like flying either but you do sort of resign yourself I think when you know the journey will take longer from the outset.

I also think smelling something might help - I can imagine smelling something and taking myself back to somewhere nice and calming so I'm going to look into something that will do that!

it's just reassuring to hear from other people who don't think you are mad!

OP posts:
MrsLargeEmbodied · 14/09/2021 07:59

i had the same for a while in my twenties, travelling by tube.
concentrate on your breathing op.

Beamur · 14/09/2021 08:00

Whilst generally speaking, you need to safely expose yourself to the things that make you anxious (so you can reset the likelihood of harm to a rational level) - it's easier said than done! Is overground an option instead? Buses?

KittenKong · 14/09/2021 08:04

Take a bottle of water and some music/book with you.

Try not to cram into packed train - wait for a seat if you can. Practice slow breathing and visualisation.

I was once stuck for 2hrs in stinking heat on a tube train (in a tunnel). It was mobbed, hot and stuffy. This was when we used to get quite a few IRA threats.

ThePlantsitter · 14/09/2021 08:11

I'm sorry I don't know how to help in your specific case but I know a lot of Londoners who avoid the tube because they don't like it much (me included) and get buses and overground trains instead even if the journey is longer, so you're definitely not alone.

KittenKong · 14/09/2021 08:14

I’d rather walk than take the tube! It’s way busier (pre lockdown) than it was when I started using it in the 90s. During the day it’s zippy to get around but not during rush hour.

Hunkeringdown · 14/09/2021 08:29

Had a number of unpleasant tube experiences, bomb scares, long hold ups mid tunnel and massively overpacked trains, which eventually morphed into a real terror of the tube.

Nothing I did or took, helped to cope with it.

So I started to walk. You will be stunned how close many places in central london actually are. When the distance was too great I bussed and if that was too difficult got a taxi.

I can honestly say I haven’t been on a tube for 30 + years, never failed to get somewhere and ended up a whole lot healthier as a result of the exercise.

MrsLargeEmbodied · 14/09/2021 08:30

i had to resort to the bus op

KittenKong · 14/09/2021 08:30

I miss the guy in the central line who used to come on with a telescope and hang out the door of and yell ‘I see no ships’...

User1110 · 14/09/2021 08:34

Yes I feel the same to a degree. My friends do too - one takes a propanolol before travelling on the tube.

I feel better above ground but I absolutely hate being stuck in a tunnel. I always have my earphones in + water and that tends to help distract me a little but I do always get a pang of panic!