Acrophobia - Fear of Heights

We all know that Phobia means fear but most of us fail to understand the severity of this kind of fear. Let me first define Phobia so that the following discussion becomes easier to understand. Not all kinds of fear are called Phobia, This term should be specifically used to mean an irrational fear of an idea or object which is generally not fear inducing and the person who is phobic fails to behave normally in a situation where he /she has to face the fear. Phobias are generally classified as Anxiety Disorders and they can be cured.

In this article I would discuss about Acrophobia or fear of heights and one incident that was there at the back of my mind when I was researching for the article is once when my mother and I went to the eighth floor of a building to see a friend of mine. There in tat apartment she would not let me look out of the balcony, she kept on reiterating that I might fall, the same thing was repeated when I tried to have a look out of the window. The most remarkable thing about the incident was she was quite serious and started looking severely unwell after some time and she completely regained control of herself as we came out of the building. So this was a case of Acrophobia, which belongs to the category of space and motion phobias.

Causes of Acrophobia- Fear of Heights

It is said that Acrophobia can be hereditary, that is children might just inherit it from parents or due to some traumatic experience associated with the object of fear, which makes the perception negative and scary. In fact it is said that fear of heights can also be non associative and it is general human reflex that works, more in some individuals which is termed as fear. Two terms have been coined- one fear and the other phobia; phobia is an extreme case of fear. The fourth cause of Acrophobia can be the inability to maintain balance, which leads to an alertness so as to avoid unnecessary accidents.

Treatment of Acrophobia

Most of the experts believe that people live in fear throughout their lives because they are too scared to even try and get out of their phobias. The incident or incidents that might have given this kind of a negative perception might have been simple but the mind refuses to forget the incident and get rid of it. Most of the therapies involve confrontation with the fear and to make it simpler, the patient is prescribed Beat Blockers, which block the signs and symptoms of anxiety when the patient faces the object of fear. Once the patient faces the fear he/she is helped to form a positive perception about the situation. The positive perception should be strong enough to come in mind before the deep rooted negative one. The patient should find it easier to learn and understand. During the process to keep the patient calm and away from agitation antidepressants and sedatives should be given.