I just wanna know if this is an irrational fear or if it's normal. From the time I was a teen, I've always been afraid to ride inside of elevators. So afraid in fact that I usually prefer to take the stairs. I absolutely CANNOT ride an elevator by myself. Whenever I have to ride in an elevator, I just tense up, freeze, and keep imagining crazy scenarios like the elevator crashing or getting stuck inside of one. When I reach my destination, I rush out of it like Sonic The Hedgehog on crack. The crazy part is that I've never had a bad experience with elevators! Is there something wrong with me or is this fear normal?
Well first, something can be both irrational and normal. Like, for most of the people capable of accessing this site, in their home countries a fear of spiders is normal but irrational. Actually that probably holds true for most places if not all places.
That said, I'd say that this is more irrational than rational, much like my fear of moths. I mean, technically, you're more likely to experience injury because of an elevator than I am because of a moth, but there are plenty of other mundane things that can kill us both that are each more likely to do it as well that we're not afraid of.
Does this mean you should feel bad for having the fear? Nope. All I can really suggest is not let the fear rule you. To this day moths freak me out, get my heart racing, my breath comes in short, and I twitch like hell, because that's my base response. But the other day, when a moth got caught in the house, I managed to keep myself under control because I knew that the odds were on my side that I was going to be fine. And I was, I caught it in a glass container and let it out safely outside. It's taken me quite a while to do this, however.
So, I guess you should just try to train yourself. Remind yourself that elevators are commonly used for good reason and that building codes exist and are enforced to help maintain your safety; and if you want to argue 'oh but the people behind this building are cheapskates' then think of it as they'd still have safe enough elevators because it's cheaper
than being sued.
Yes, there is technically a chance that the next time you're on an elevator, it'll be one of the one in ~1,333,333,333 ( that's one and a third billion ) chance that it'll end poorly for you. It could happen, and for some people each year it is, but you're more likely than that going to be fine. Fine in the other 1,333,333,332 times out of the 1,333,333,333 times.