Are claustrophobia and agoraphobia truly opposites though? To me they seem very similar, in that the core fear with both is of losing control and/or being unable to escape, albeit in different ways obviously. One clinical definition of agoraphobia is an irrational fear of being in a situation where escape is difficult or impossible. In claustrophobia the fear is similar; one is trapped in a small space and feels one cannot escape. Yes, one phobia is of open spaces and the other is of closed spaces, however the root fear, losing control, is identical.