Doctors call a pathological fear of heights acrophobia. This psychological disease, which affects about 5 percent of the world's population, has become widespread due to the development of technology and science.
Technological progress has given people the opportunity to rise to previously unattainable heights and intensified pathology.
When a person experiences fear on the roof of a high-rise building or near a cliff, this cannot be considered acrophobia. After all, if it were not for this protective reaction of the body, it would not recoil from the edge and could easily fall down.
If you are afraid of being at high altitude, do not worry. The brain is just trying to send you a signal to mobilize your strength and be careful.
But when you feel dizzy, your hands are shaking and you start to feel sick on the 4th floor balcony, this may be a symptom of a disease. In this case, it is worth thinking about how to overcome your fear of heights. After all, if the disease continues to develop, you will begin to experience horror even in situations that do not threaten you with a fall.
Psychologists note that acrophobia often leads to thoughts of suicide, and patients often choose jumping from a skyscraper as a method.
Acrophobia - fear of heights: causes
Acrophobia differs from the usual fear of heights in that a person suffering from it begins to experience discomfort even at an insignificant height, the stay at which a priori cannot cause any harm. Such fear can be present since childhood or acquired during life.
With acrophobia, heights cause a number of symptoms, including panic and even hysteria
With acrophobia, being at heights causes:
- dizziness
- nausea
- weakness in the muscles (or, conversely, their hypertonicity)
- rapid breathing and heart rate
- limb tremors
- panic attack
- pale skin
- dilated pupils
All of these symptoms can manifest themselves to varying degrees depending on the individual characteristics of the person and the severity of the phobia.
It is important that in psychiatry and psychology there is a condition characterized by caution when at heights, due to the instinct of self-preservation, as well as a pathological condition .
Pathological fear or phobia manifests itself not only in the occurrence of the symptoms described above, but also in sudden panic at the mere thought of being high.
Acrophobes are afraid of even small heights
For a long time, there was a version in scientific circles that the onset of acrophobia is preceded by a certain negative situation associated with heights , when in the past (most likely in childhood) a person experiences a fall from a height and a serious injury. Later it was found that not only this reason, but also a number of others lead to a phobia:
- Weakness of the vestibular apparatus - when its functioning is impaired, a person has poor control of his body and orientation in space, which provokes a fear of falling even from a small height 2. Genetic predisposition (the presence of mental disorders in parents can very often contribute to their occurrence in children) 3. Brain lesions (injuries, infections) 4. Costs of upbringing - the formation of low self-esteem due to too strict upbringing, which was not accompanied by rewards and praise 5. Long-term and frequent stressful situations 6. Excessive alcohol consumption, which contributes to the development of intoxication of the body 7. A set of certain individual characteristics - anxiety, suspiciousness, shyness and increased emotionality 8. Developed imagination against the backdrop of a bad experience with heights
Among the many reasons for the fear of heights is a bad experience in the past.
Many experts in the field of psychology believe that the fear of heights is a primitive fear , which was preserved in the process of evolution and was inherited from our ancestors. Thus, primitive man associated heights with danger to life, and this caused fear, which was the main link of the instinct of self-preservation.
This theory is also confirmed by the fact that most animals with good eyesight are also afraid of heights, which indicates the instinctive nature of this phenomenon.
The occurrence of acrophobia is also characteristic of other conditions:
- aerophobia - fear of flying
- bathophobia - fear of depth, the feeling of the abyss
- ilingophobia - fear of sudden dizziness at heights
- Climacophobia - fear of going up stairs
Often, fear of heights is an innate phenomenon that is not caused by external reasons.
FAQ
– Why did I start to be afraid of heights?
– There was some point of departure where the release of negative emotions occurred. But the reaction to a certain type of fear begins to accumulate in childhood. Look for the root there.
– Can you quickly remove your fear of heights?
– Each person is individual. For one, 2 hours of consultation with a psychologist is enough, and the second year he goes. Both may even achieve the same results. The speed of getting rid of such fear depends on the intensity of emotions, their repression into the subconscious and the person’s willingness to work on himself.
– If I’m afraid of heights, will I be afraid of flying an airplane?
– Fear of flying on an airplane has a separate name, has other symptoms, and these two phobias will not necessarily manifest themselves in you. But the probability is high.
– Can men be afraid of heights?
- They can. But, as statistics say, women are more susceptible to this fear.
Benefits of being afraid of heights
First of all, any fear is a part of the instinct of self-preservation and, if the fear of heights does not become pathological, then it is aimed at preserving life.
A person suffering from a moderate fear of heights will not expose his life to unnecessary risks associated with it, which is undoubtedly a positive thing.
Moderate fear of heights is a defense mechanism
- On the other hand, any fear is useful at the biochemical level. When the body experiences fear, adrenaline , which brings a feeling of pleasure
- This is why many people like to tickle their nerves by watching horror films. Fear of heights is no exception - being at a considerable distance from the ground brings its own dose of adrenaline
- This property of fear is often used in psychotherapy: when a person is in prolonged depression, the impact of fear on him makes him feel the value of life, turning on the instinct of self-preservation
- In addition, adrenaline, released into the blood under the influence of fear, allows you to excite and restore a sense of reality.
- Overcoming your fear of heights brings personal growth . Thus, many people who are afraid of heights overpower themselves and jump from a parachute, which allows them to assert themselves, strengthens willpower, and allows them to reach the top in other areas of activity.
Overcoming Fear Brings Personal Growth
More about aerophobia
Man cannot fly, he was created that way by nature or God, but he has always dreamed of it. Since the invention of the hot air balloon, and then the airplane, he finally had such an opportunity: now he can fly anywhere. But, at the same time, some homo sapiens developed an uncontrollable fear of flying in a device specially adapted for this.
In fact, any person, due to the instinct of self-preservation, is afraid of the previously unknown and dangerous. Such anxiety usually arises before the first flight in life. While on an airplane, an air passenger experiences discomfort; the body reacts to the unusual environment and pressure difference with a headache or earache, and nausea. It becomes alarming when the airliner shakes when it enters a turbulence zone or it falls into an air pocket. Such anxiety is a protective reaction of the body, which passes over time or is not given much importance.
It’s another matter if the fear of flying is irrational, inexplicable; takeoff and landing, and even the flight itself, are “like death” for an aerophobe. He is frightened by the sound of the engine running, landing gear retracting and extending, wing mechanization, and everything described above. He is nervous, sweats, rubs his palms, tugs at his hair, reacts violently to everything that happens on board, and often tries to drown out his fears by getting drunk before the flight or starting scandals.
Such fear, literally panic, arises from an obsessive fear of death and the inability to keep the situation under control. The aerophobe experiences insurmountable horror, because he is firmly convinced that the plane can fall, since he is not in charge of all processes and nothing depends on him.
Aerophobia can develop in a person who has previously found himself in a real dangerous situation that arose during a flight. However, it can also be imaginary, far-fetched. People who are successful, intelligent, with a strong character, but with an anxious type of thinking are susceptible to this disorder. They are afraid to entrust their life to someone else, because they are used to being responsible for themselves, to control everything that happens. Such individuals do not understand the essence of the operation of aircraft systems and the processes that ensure its safety.
Sometimes aerophobia is accompanied by a fear of closed spaces and heights (claustrophobia and acrophobia, respectively). In this case, it is a symptom of these psychological problems.
The harm of fear of heights
Pronounced fears that turn into an obsessive state only bring harm to the human psyche. This is due to the fact that a person is often in a state of stress, panic, and organs and systems begin to function in a non-standard mode. This can lead to loss of consciousness, heart attack, stroke.
The wear and tear of the cardiovascular and nervous system in acrophobes under the influence of stress leads to them living shorter lives . According to recent studies, fear leads to early death, because acrophobes die 20 years earlier than the average.
Acrophobia leads to depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and even suicide. If the phobia is not treated, it can progress and then all the symptoms caused by being at altitude will arise even
at the mere thought of it . This will lead to constant stress, which will provoke more serious diseases, both somatic and mental. Often, untreated phobias lead to madness and suicide.
Breathe evenly
The suitcases are packed, the vouchers are purchased, but the passengers are in trouble. To relieve tension in the body, the expert advises using breathing techniques. “You need to do several breathing cycles, and the exhalation should be longer than the inhalation. Try to breathe not superficially, but more deeply, with your stomach. Place your hand on your stomach, and you will feel how the air fills you and frees you,” suggests Irina Frolova.
When performing the exercise, the specialist advises focusing on breathing. All thoughts should be put aside and allowed to take their course, like clouds in the sky. You just need to watch how the air slowly enters and leaves the body freely. This technique can calm the nervous system, level out an elevated pulse and calm an agitated heart.
In addition, according to the expert, there are many different points in our body, by influencing which with massage movements we initiate self-regulation without any drugs. In particular, these are the “reset buttons” that are located under the collarbones. They switch the nervous system, mobilize our brain to think clearly and force energy to move in the right direction. The psychologist recommends massaging such points for at least 30 seconds on each side.
“You need to make a “pistol” out of your fingers - connect your index and middle fingers, and put your thumb aside, as if you are showing “class.” Then feel the dimples under the collarbone. Press your fingers into them and massage these points with pressing movements. Place your other hand on your stomach near the navel to feel the air movement. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. The exhalation should be longer than the inhalation. Swap your hands - this is necessary for the integration of the left and right hemispheres and the body,” the psychologist recommends.
On board, to distract yourself, you need to take your favorite books, a selection of films, a playlist or some kind of game. You should choose clothes that are as comfortable as possible, loose and not tight.
Photo: depositphotos/Rosinka79
How to overcome fear of heights?
If fear has not turned into acrophobia, then you can easily overcome it on your own. For this, there are special techniques developed by psychologists:
- Practice being at altitude . At the same time, start with an insignificant one, get used to it and rise above 2. When you are at a height and feeling panic, focus on some subject and study it carefully - this will help you cope with anxiety and calm down fear. 3. Try to visualize your fears . While at home, in a comfortable and safe environment, close your eyes and imagine that you are at a considerable height. In your thoughts , convince yourself that there is no danger , that you are on a stable surface that cannot collapse, and therefore a fall from a height is impossible. Do this often and the results will not be long in coming. 4. When the fear of heights begins to recede, you can consolidate your fear by skydiving. Having been at such a height and landing successfully, you are unlikely to be afraid to stand on the fifth floor balcony. It is advisable to do group jumps with people close to you.
Group parachute jump
If you cannot overcome fear on your own, then you need to seek the help of a specialist , because it can be controlled for the time being and it is unknown whether at some point fear will control you and worsen your quality of life.
General recommendations
During treatment for pathological fear, it is necessary to constantly exercise. Join a gym and train several times a week. Do exercises in the morning and breathing exercises afterwards.
- To do this, stand up straight, close your eyes, take a deep breath and hold your breath for a couple of seconds. Then exhale forcefully and repeat the exercise 10 times.
- Normalize your sleep. It should be calm and long-lasting. Go to bed no later than 11 pm, having a relaxation session before bed.
- Start eating right. Eliminate fatty, spicy foods from your diet and instead try to consume more natural fruit juices, herbs, fish and dairy dishes.
- Doctors recommend giving up strong coffee. The caffeine it contains can increase anxiety and aggravate acrophobia. As soon as you stop drinking the aromatic drink, you will notice that the symptoms of fear have lost their severity, and the constant tension has decreased.
Ways and recipes to overcome fear of heights
- Each person is an individual and only he has a set of certain unique characteristics that make him an individual
- It is not possible to say that there is a technique that can deprive absolutely everyone of any fear - the solution to each problem must be carried out individually. A qualified psychologist with experience in working with phobias will best help with this.
- According to most psychologists and psychiatrists, the fight against pronounced acrophobia is an extremely difficult task that is almost impossible to solve on your own.
- Even under the guidance of specialists, therapeutic measures will not be limited to one session, but will constitute a long process of systematic and balanced influence
Treatment of phobia is the work of a psychotherapist.
Practice shows that hypnosis sessions are highly effective in the fight against acrophobia. By putting the patient into a trance state, a psychotherapist skilled in hypnosis can provide a corrective effect, thanks to which there is a high chance of completely eliminating the phobia.
Imaginary danger
It should be noted right away: in car accidents, which occur much more often, the likelihood of dying is thousands of times greater than in a plane crash. This is evidenced by dry statistics. An airplane passenger has a one in 45 million chance of crashing. Let's do the math: even if he flew every day, such a death could have overtaken him only after 123 thousand years.
Pilots go through several stages of training. They are people too and they want the number of takeoffs to equal the number of landings.
As for modern aircraft, they are very reliable and have several redundant systems. That is, if one fails, the other will start working, which will allow the plane to land safely at the nearest airport. Both the crew and ground services will make efforts to achieve this.
Of course, we have heard news more than once about plane crashes with many victims. Each case has its own reasons, often a coincidence. But all of them are carefully investigated, studied and measures are taken to ensure that this does not happen again.
Pills for fear of heights
Drug treatment cannot eliminate acrophobia, so the use of any pills can only alleviate the general condition and eliminate associated symptoms.
You should not believe charlatan psychotherapists who promise to give you a pill for a phobia - modern medicine has not yet invented it and it is unlikely that this will be done in the near future.
In combination with psychotherapy, the following drugs are used to alleviate the patient’s condition with acrophobia:
- antidepressants - the duration of use is usually more than six months (drugs such as imipramine may be prescribed)
- tranquilizers - prescribed for no more than two weeks (for example, phenazepam)
- nootropics - drugs that stimulate blood circulation in the brain
- vitamins (most often Magne B6)
Medicines will help get rid of the accompanying symptoms of phobia
In no case should drug treatment be carried out without a doctor’s prescription , and its effect will be ineffective without psychotherapy.
Fear of heights in children
- All children have a fear of heights - it is inherent at the level of instincts. But there are times when fear is very pronounced and then they talk about childhood acrophobia
- Treatment of this condition is extremely difficult, because it is much more difficult for a psychotherapist to work with a child than with an adult, especially if the patient is an early child.
- A persistent fear of heights, which is extremely difficult to get rid of, develops in children after falls that are accompanied by severe injuries. But experts also call overprotection on the part of parents one of the common causes of acrophobia in children
Fear of heights in children
Prevention of acrophobia in children is very important, which includes the following activities:
- sports related to heights (riding a scooter, cycling, climbing a sports ladder)
- entertainment that allows you to develop the vestibular apparatus (climbing ropes, trampoline jumping)
- Parents should not at every step instill in their child the idea that heights are dangerous. It is necessary to soberly assess and distinguish when height poses a real danger and when it does not
The child very willingly accepts education, which is carried out not directly, but indirectly. Read books, fairy tales, and poems to your child about how heroes overcome their fears and are not afraid of heights. This is especially effective if the child has had a negative experience related to heights.
What does the absence of fear of heights mean?
In the fight against your own fears, it is important not to cross the line, because moderate fear is the mechanism that is designed to save life in case of danger. Therefore, to perceive being at heights with a feeling of complete safety is, to some extent, even more harmful than having a phobia.
Lack of fear is no less dangerous than having a phobia
- According to psychologists, the complete absence of fear of heights is dangerous because at some point, due to one’s own carelessness, an irresistible desire to step into the abyss may arise. This is the so-called reverse side of a phobia, when overcoming it, absolute fearlessness arises, which is destructive for a person.
- If you do not have a fear of heights and feel the desire to take a step into the void on the roof of a high-rise building, then this is a good reason to consult a psychotherapist, because this may indicate a serious and life-threatening mental disorder
- Fears are an integral part of our life, but if they reduce its quality and are very annoying, then these phobias need to be gotten rid of. The important thing is that no specialist can help you cope with fear if you don’t want it yourself. Get rid of fears and don't let them control you
