George's Heart?

So, perhaps George has a weak heart that, through a tramautic event in his past, developed into claustrophobia? That could be a good explanation, except for a really interesting comment that I think shows an even deeper mental problem. Page 28, to Jason: "Hey, do you get claustrophobia out in the middle of the ocean? Would affect me the same being at the bottom of the ocean. Being out in the middle of the ocean. I'd go crazy." This line suggests not claustrophobia, a fear of closed in spaces, but rather the opposite: agoraphobia, or fear of wide open spaces (also means fear of public places). So perhaps he has both phobias?

In light of this comment and George's panic attacks, I don't think George has just claustrophobia. He says "Get me out of here, I can't breathe" outside on the patio of Queens, hardly an enclosed space. However, you can infer from this that the play takes place in a kind of prison, a world that George gets caught in and shot in, one created by the attitudes of Jason and his family towards each other. But medically, I think George has a weak heart, a tendency towards anxiety, and tramautic events (perhaps in his childhood?) that have made him live cautiously for his entire life. He abhors excitement and probably does as much as he can to escape potentially anxiety-causing situations. This is identified as claustrophobia, but the triggers can come from anywhere: Jason's gun, the wide open ocean, etc. - it really doesn't have anything to do with physically being in an enclosed space, it's simply the powerless feeling that he is in an enclosed space, created by the anxiety in his mind and the weakness in his heart.

Source:

Causes of claustrophobia:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/269093-what-are-the-causes-of-claustrophobia/

Symptoms of claustrophobia:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/98071-claustrophobia-symptoms/

Brian

The problem with George

Hey guys,

I've been trying to diagnose George's condition, and what exactly is wrong with him, because there are some contradictions in the text that need to be worked out. I'll lead you through my thought process so you can see where the ambiguities are.

First, Bernice says that George has claustrophobia, and George's dialogue during his panic attack(s?) suggests this too: "Get me out of here," "I can't breathe," "I gotta get outta here," etc. These are all typical symptoms of claustrophobia.

Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong website has a lot of really good information on anxiety disorders, including claustrophobia. It says that claustrophobia presents itself in 3 ways: anxiety-related, physical, and cognitive. Anxiety-related is simply anxiety caused in a claustrophobic person, "when triggered by certain situations or by just thinking about it." Physical symptoms are usually a result of the anxiety reaching a tipping point. They start with an increased heart rate, sweating, and possibly heart palpitations; increased anxiety results in trembling, nausea, and in the most extreme cases, chest pain, vomiting, a feeling of choking, and a series of hot and cold flashes. Finally, cognitive symptoms are fears of losing control and dying, a loss of empowerment in the mind, that is caused by severe anxiety.

I think it would be interesting to play with all 3 of these with George - is he so claustrophobic that he is in a constant state of anxiety throughout the whole show, and the physical/cognitive only get triggered by Jason's actions? Or maybe he is able to control his phobia, but not under these extreme circumstances? And where exactly is the triggering point for him?

Now, the problem is that there are contradictions to the claustrophobia diagnosis in the text. George says "I almost went to 'Nam. But I got a heart condition," referring to the 4-F deferment given to physically/mentally unstable men during the Vietnam War draft. But as far as I can see from the research, heart conditions don't cause claustrophobia - except in the case of panic disorders. According to LiveStrong, a panic disorder is characterized by "unexpected periods of fear accompanied by symptoms, which can include weakness, fainting, heart racing, dizziness, sweating, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, abdominal distress, chest pain and hot flashes... People who experience these episodes while being in an enclosed space may develop claustrophobia."

Brian