The 51-year-old Berwyn, Ill., woman experienced her first panic attack in 2001, while driving over a "huge" bridge on her way from Washington, D.C., to New Jersey.
"By the time I got across, my heart was pounding and palms were sweaty," she said.
During the drive across, she stayed in the middle lane, focused on the car bumper in front of her and avoided any side glances. She began dreading the return drive two days before she had to make it.
Embarrassed about her phobia, she tries not to let on to others she is uncomfortable even when she's a passenger.
"I will just look down," said Barnickel, who works in public relations for a local charity.
Mark Reinecke, professor and chief psychologist at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, said Wednesday's tragedy in Minneapolis likely will only reinforce bridge phobia, or gephyrophobia, in people like Barnickel.
"It's the fear of not being able to return to a safe place," Reinecke said. "But the likelihood of another bridge falling is no higher than it was last week."
Moreover, psychologists say Wednesday's bridge collapse – similar to the section collapse of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake – is sure to spike bridge fears among the public, at least in the short-term.
"A phobia has to be an irrational fear that is inappropriate," said Jerilyn Ross, president of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. "If it makes sense, it's a fear. Right now, (gephyrobics) feel very much like the rest of the population (who ask): Can we trust bridges?"
Ross, who is a licensed social worker, said she's treated two patients who've chosen to ride in a car's trunk as someone else drives it over a bridge. Tucked away in a trunk produced less anxiety than having to bear witness to the view, she explained.
For people already anxious about a bridge collapse, Wednesday's news brought the terror close to home.
"They see this one event on the news, and it causes that anxiety to be triggered," said Anne Marie Albano, associate professor in psychiatry at Columbia University.
Experts say statistics for bridge phobia are hard to come by, in part because the disorder may stem from a variety of phobias. For some, the bridge brings out a fear of heights, while others might experience a fear of being confined or a fear of open spaces.
"It's often not the bridge itself," said Reinecke.
Reader comments
Click here to view or add comments on this story
Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form