Fear of Heights

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People have some sort of fear in life. Fear of heights is one such fear that is very common. Just as with any other fear, this one, too, is a psychological problem.

Fear of heights actually means a fear of falling. You can see that the main cause is the fear of death. It is all in the mind and is known as “acrophobia.” This word is a combination of two Greek words. “Acron” means peak or height, and “phobos” means fear. Once this fear is realized, you may not fear heights anymore.

There are many types of fear of heights.

It can range from the simple to the most severe. It must be said that most people are afraid of heights in one way or another. Many people construe that the dizziness they experience when looking down from a great height is acrophobia. In fact, this is vertigo, and vertigo is just one of the types of acrophobia.

Who can be affected by this phobia?

Anybody can be affected. Even babies who actually do not know fear would dread to cross over a glass floor with a sense of depth below it.

What are the symptoms you face?

Yes, fear again is the issue, and you may face psychological or physiological symptoms.

Physiological symptoms are the following:

  • The heartbeat starts getting irregular as one goes up;
  • This is followed by palpitation and sweating of palms;
  • The anxiety level goes up;
  • Your feet start to tremble, and you tend to lose your composure; and
  • You experience a sense of nausea.

Psychological symptoms are the following:

  • You get a sense of an impending fall and death;
  • You imagine yourself falling down though you may be perfectly still;
  • You may feel stressed; and
  • You may get confused over a simple task and end up making a mess of it.

Where do you experience this acrophobia?

You may observe this fear anywhere in tall buildings, elevators, airplanes, while crossing high bridges, or even while traveling in an automobile in a mountainous range.

What exactly do you observe?

You sense a feeling of giddiness while approaching any place at a height. You sense that you are going to lose your balance. This makes your subconscious mind work overtime and actually makes you fall. Hence, the trick in curing this psychological problem is to cure the subconscious mind.

How do you cure this symptom?

The only way to cure such a psychological symptom is to train the subconscious mind. You should learn to relax under such circumstances. Doing exercises such as Yoga brings stability to the mind, and this stability can cure these symptoms quite easily.

You must reduce your caffeine intake by cutting down your coffee. Coffee can make you nervous, especially at great heights.

Many a time you may not be able to avoid heights. Your office may be on the 15th floor. You cannot do anything about it. The only way is to get exposed gradually to this fear.

You can get the help of psychologists who can help you in this matter. Learn to control your anxiety and emotions. Exposure to uncomfortable heights can trigger a wave of negative emotions that can prove harmful.

In extreme cases, you can take medicines to cure this phobia.

Conclusion

Every type of phobia is a psychological disorder that has to be dealt with in a psychological manner only. You have to remember that just removing your fear of heights does not guarantee that you may not fall from a height. You have to take precautions to protect yourself from danger

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