After great struggle of searching
for both interesting and let's say 'my' topic for this presentation
I've finally found a suitable
proposition. A matter that touches many of us regardless of age, race and
gender. Fear of height - sounds familiar? Most of us know the unpleasant feeling
while being high above the ground, but it's not that easy. From a scientific
point of view, there is significant
distinction between fear of heights (acrophobia), which is a phobia, and the fear
of falling which is natural fear common for most humans and mammals in general.
Surprisingly, in
majority we aren’t afraid of height on its own, the thing that terrifies us are
the possible effects of falling down.
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| Source: http://www.hypnosisisacureforme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/hypnosis-is-a-cure-for-me1.jpg |
To clarify both this
notions let's look at Wikipedia’s definitions. The fear of height is defined as
"(...)an extreme or
irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is not particularly
high up(...)", and on the
other side we have the fear of falling which is said to "(...)encompass
the anxieties accompanying the sensation and the possibly dangerous effects of falling, as
opposed to the heights themselves(...)".
It's estimated that only
2-5% of world population suffers from actual fear of heights but at the same
time, as it was previously mentioned, most of us may feel fear of falling at
various degrees.
But let's get back to the
main topic, the rarer disorder, which unfortunately I have to face every time I
am high above the ground. What may be the cause of our fear of heights? There
are several different theories concerning this phobia determinants.
For a long time, like
most phobias, this one was mostly attributed to traumatic experiences and
environment conditioning, but recent studies have revealed that
fear of heights may be inborn - genetically transmitted. Maybe we should blame
our parents..
The most uplifting
theory states that this kind of fear is an evolutionary advantage, successful
adaptation to our world where big heights are dangerous for our health.
Definitely I will use this one as an explanation of my fear.
Ok, if despite your fear
you are brave enough to climb high mountains, historic towers or any other high
spots, uncomfortable feelings may appear. The most common are: dizziness,
excessive sweating and feeling sick. In extreme cases big height may cause
anxiety attacks, heart palpitations or inability to move. This will happen
probably when we face the height directly, when our brain realize that the
space between us and the ground is big enough to distract our perception. Then our
body may force us to get down and move away from the edge of the object we are
on.
Here is an example of exceptional people who actually are addicted to heights, beware - content may be scary!
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TkFh-6hJYE
If you are experiencing
such symptoms that means you have fear of heights, but don’t worry, according
to many sources acrophobia may be 'cured'. It means that if we put enough
effort ,we'll be able to overcome
the fear and stop symptoms from returning. There are different types of
therapies starting from fighting our fear on our own just by facing it
gradually and ending with using virtual reality. Each and every such therapy
focuses on acclimatizing the brain to big heights and training it to
function normally in such
conditions.
As for now, for me fear
of heights is something overwhelming, I hate big heights and avoid them as much
as it possible. I have already experienced some of the listed fear symptoms a few
times and though I tried many mind tricks,
my body didn’t want to cooperate. At the same time I admire
people who absolutely don’t care about it and feel comfortable regardless the
height they reach.
Are you among them? Or
maybe you share my fear? : )
Have you ever
experienced panic attacks on big heights?
Share your thoughts on
the subject.
http://www.planet-science.com/categories/over-11s/human-body/2011/02/fear-of-heights.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrophobia
http://www.phobiafears.com/phobia/acrophobia-fear-of-heights/
http://www.spwickstrom.com/acrophobia/
Comments
Thankfully I am not among them.
When it comes to helping to overcome this fear I really think that virtual reality may be great for it. Even some games without VR sometimes make me hold my breath, when there is a good representation of a fall from a great height.
I am not affraid of heights, but looking at some videos on youtube, it sure as hell feels uncomfortable to watch it.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A_h2AjJaMw
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDYtH1RH-U
However keep in mind those videos are often made with wide lens cameras. So it looks more dramatic than it really is.
Have you ever experienced panic attacks on big heights?
Not really, as I said Im not affraid of heights.
All my life, I've lived on the 1st or ground floor and a month ago I moved into a flat on the 8th floor. The worst part is, the balcony is really small, with see-through railing, and it's not build-in, but kind of "protrudes" to the outside of the building. It's funny, but I'm really scared of going out there, even though I've been to much greater heights and didn't have such fear.
The highest place I've been to is the CN tower in Toronto, which has a glass floor at the height of at 342 m. I didn't have any problem with walking or jumping on that floor, that's why my fear of going out to my own balcony seems funny to me.
focus on thinking about pleasant things, let alone calming down. That's why in the most drastic cases people just freeze and are unable to move. Fortunately that has never happend to me.
I agree that the worst is the falling part. I always feel uncomfortable when the plane changes altitudes. The body reacts so funnily and we have no control over that. When you think of falling, I think one of the worst things is that you are conscious all the time; you are aware that this is it and there's nothing you can do about it. And it might be some time till you hit the ground, ugh.
Of course I have my fears, but one of the most stressful situations is already mentioned, the airplane changing it's height and altitude - this is one of the moments when I feel I have totally no control of what I am doing.
Personally I don't struggle with acrophobia, I even find being high above the ground quite thrilling, but when I sense the risk of falling I back out, it's nothing abnormal. Having said that I would obviously not do anything like those people in the video, I know my limits and this is far beyond them.
Concerning the video - I've never understood people like that. Yeah, they are called adrenaline junkies and to get another portion of adrenaline they are ready to commit a lot of weird thing, but I am definitely not supporting it.