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Related Topics:Acrophobia
- For the online game, see Acrophobia (game)
Acrophobia (from Greek , meaning "summit") is an extreme or irrational fear of heights.
Acrophobia can be dangerous, as sufferers can experience a panic attack in a high place and become too agitated to get themselves down safely. Some acrophobics also suffer from urges to throw themselves off high places, despite not being suicidal. Anecdotal evidence is available in the resources in the section #Urge to jump citations.
"Vertigo" is often used, incorrectly, to describe the fear of heights, but it is more accurately described as a spinning sensation.
Causes of Acrophobia
The most widely accepted explanation is that acrophobia stems from fear — fear of falling and being injured or killed: this is a normal and rational fear that most people have (people without such fears would die out).
A phobia occurs when fear is taken to an extreme — possibly through conditioning or a traumatic experience. Then, the mind seeks to protect the body from further trauma in the future, and elicits an extreme fear of the situation — in this case, heights.
This extreme fear can be counter-productive in normal everday life though, with some sufferers being afraid to go up a flight of stairs or a ladder, or to stand on a chair, table, (etc.).
Some neurologists question the prevailing wisdom and argue that acrophobia is caused by dysfunction in maintaining balance and that the anxiety is both well founded and secondary. According to the dysfunction model, a normal person uses both vestibular and visual cues appropriately in maintaining balance. An acrophobic overrelies on visual signals whether because of inadequate vestibular function or incorrect strategy. Locomotion at a high elevation requires more than normal visual processing. The visual cortex becomes overloaded. and the person becomes confused. Research is underway at several clinics. [http://www.pneuro.com/publications/dizzy/index.html Some proponents of the alternate view of acrophobia warn that it may be ill-advised to encourage acrophobics to expose themselves to height without first resolving the vestibular issues.
Solutions to Acrophobia
Some 'treatments' include de-sensitisation, or shock treatments. For a fuller list, see phobia.
See also
Akrofobi | Akrophobie | Acrofobia | Acrophobie | פחד גבהים | Héichtenangscht | Hoogtevrees | 高所恐怖症 | Acrofobia | Акрофобија | 懼高症
"Acrophobia"