Contents
Hello, dear readers of the site! Acrophobia is a panic fear of heights. Today we will analyze where it comes from in an adult, why people are afraid, as well as methods of dealing with this fear.
What is it like?
Approximately 400 million people on the planet experience a panic fear of heights. They cannot fly on a plane, go to visit friends who live in skyscrapers, do not go to ski resorts.
What can we say, sometimes they are not able to climb a stepladder, walk across the bridge and just go out to the balcony of the second floor to get some fresh air.
Even visiting shopping centers where there are escalators is beyond their power. Therefore, we can safely say that life is not easy for acrophobes.
They experience such a strong horror when they get to a height that they are sometimes ready to jump down on their own, just to end the suffering. And this is said by individuals who are not prone to suicide.
But basically, the reaction of 80% of people with this kind of phobia is the same — to sit on the floor, feeling the support and cover your face with your hands, just not to see what is happening around.
By the way, absolutely all animals that are able to see and cannot fly are afraid to fall.
Causes
Experts cannot say exactly why people are afraid of heights. This can be influenced by several factors, such as genetic predisposition along with negative experiences.
Therefore, in each case, an individual approach is required, both in diagnosis and in treatment.
But there are a number of reasons that are most common. So, to provoke the emergence of a phobia can:
- Brain damage due to trauma or inflammatory, infectious diseases.
- Heredity. Predisposition to mental disorders is inherited. If a close relative had a diagnosis, then there is a high probability, for example, at a time of stress, that one cannot cope with feelings and, so to speak, acquire a phobia.
- And speaking of stress. Life in tension, when a person often encounters emotional upheavals, does not pass without a trace. This is especially true for workaholics who are trying to cope with deadlines. The body spends colossal resources in vain, which is why it fails at one moment.
- Alcoholic or drug intoxication. Any kind of addiction, the so-called dependence, changes not only the state of a person’s health, but also his perception of the surrounding reality, type of behavior and character.
- Negative experience. A fall from a height, even a small one, leaves an imprint in the memory. Both in adults and in children. It’s just that children mostly displace the cause of fear from memory and when they grow up, they cannot rationally explain where it came from. It is a little easier for mature people, they are able to tell what consequences this fall led to, how much it cost, and so on. Why do people around them treat them with great understanding.
- Parenting style. Authoritarian parents, prone to despotism, violence, both psychological and physical, form low self-esteem and a lot of fears in their children. Life in constant anxiety and worry is difficult, so the occurrence of acrophobia is not the worst thing that could happen.
- Personality type. Sometimes it happens that no stressful situations are needed, the person himself is so sensitive and anxious that he will react violently to any little thing. It was as if something bad had happened to him.
By the way, it happens that this type of phobia turns out to be congenital, not acquired. But it is usually accompanied by a fear of sounds, light.
Experts say that this is an echo of the memory of ancestors. Fear of heights allowed them to survive, since the probability of falling off a cliff was quite high. Especially in the dark, fleeing from the predators that hunted them.
Evidence
In principle, an acraphobe experiences the same symptoms that occur with other phobias, let it be the fear of horses or flowers in pots.
It’s just that they will mainly manifest themselves when he thinks about falling, for example, from the stairs. Or he will find himself in conditions that usually cause him to have a panic attack.
Somatic manifestations
- Pain in the chest and it seems that a heart attack is about to happen. Which only intensifies the horror, since the thoughts of imminent death do not calm and do not give the opportunity to pull themselves together.
- Shortness of breath, difficulty with breathing, which becomes more frequent to the maximum. The level of oxygen in the blood rises, from an excess of which a person can lose consciousness.
- Change in the skin. That is, the skin either turns pale, or vice versa, turns red.
- Tremor of the limbs and the whole body in general.
- Indigestion, nausea, vomiting.
- Sometimes, there is a chill, despite, say, a high temperature in the room.
- Sleep disorders that cannot be overcome without sleeping pills. That is, the acrophobe will not be able to sleep until he takes the pill. Despite the fact that the eyes are closed, and there are no forces. Sometimes, nightmares torment me, after which it’s generally scary to go back to bed.
- Frequent urge to go to the toilet, despite the fact that the bladder is half empty.
Psychological
- Low self-esteem is both a cause of this type of mental disorder and a consequence. It is impossible to feel self-confidence and one’s strengths when anxiety is constantly present in the background. And it is not clear at what point a panic attack will manifest itself.
- Aggressiveness. Anxiety, which accompanies almost every step, deprives one of the strength and resources to adequately respond to any stimuli. Why does a person respond with aggression to attempts to approach him, to talk.
- Decreased cognitive abilities. Due to anxiety, a person is unable to concentrate on the task at hand. He easily forgets the necessary information, is not able to solve a simple problem and, in general, analyze some events in his life.
- Depression and a tendency to pessimism. Which is quite understandable. It is difficult to enjoy every day when you are limited enough in your actions. That is, an acrophobe cannot afford to go to a shopping center with friends, visit relatives, because they live in a multi-storey building. And what is most depressing is to choose a job for the soul. After all, you have to look only for those that are on the first floor.
- Depression. Dealing with which is not so easy. A person loses interest in life, gets tired of constant unpleasant experiences. He ceases to monitor his appearance, does not leave the house and loses his appetite. This all provokes thoughts of committing suicide, and in extreme cases, attempts that are completed successfully.
Treatment
People with acrophobia usually make one mistake, instead of wondering how to stop being afraid of heights, they, having experienced physical discomfort as a reaction to fear, go to the doctors. Just not the ones you need.
For example, they visit cardiologists, gastroenterologists, therapists. They go through examinations, long lines, pay bills, and so on. In order, in the end, to find out that with health, in principle, everything is in order.
A psychotherapist can help you get rid of your phobia. Cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnosis and gestalt therapy have proven themselves well in this topic.
It will also be useful to visit a psychiatrist. He will prescribe medications that will help restore sleep, cheer up and get rid of anxiety.
Recommendations
Frequent living of anxiety and tension wears out the cardiovascular as well as the nervous system. And this threatens with a heart attack, asthenia, psychosis, and so on.
So check out the breathing techniques that will help you beat stress and get rid of its negative effects. After all, it is impossible for a person to avoid situations that bother him, upset him or make him angry.
Reality is not as beautiful as we would like. Therefore, it is important to be able to get rid of negativity and relax.
Meditation will also help you with this. Listen to yourself, your desires and enlist the support of loved ones, perhaps they will keep you company in training.
Completion
And that’s all for today, dear readers! Stay with us and you will find out what haptophobia is or what the fear of women is called.
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Good luck, health and, of course, happiness!
The material was prepared by a psychologist, gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina