‘Reaching great heights’ is a fantastic idiom as ‘great heights’ refers to the peak of something, but shockingly, this can also include the peak of fear. Acrophobia is the term used to define the fear of heights. The unusual fear or phobia that one gets in response to seeing heights like the view from a high-storied building, climbing stairs, stepping on an elevator or boarding an airplane triggers a lot of anxiety. The thought of being far-off from the ground sets in panic which can impact the sufferer physically, mentally and emotionally.
Health Impacts of Acrophobia
A certain level of fear is usual in all of us and is considered normal owing to the different ways we react to external stimuli. When this level becomes unusual to the extent that health and well-being get affected, then it is surely an issue of concern. The intensity of fear decides the extent of health impact, say physical and psychological. Commonly acrophobic experience anxiety, tension, headache, dizziness, nausea or vomiting sensation, breathlessness, and severe palpitations. Additionally, their feet hesitate to cooperate being on heights and this is evidenced by a loss of control, muscle agitation, shaking or trembling and numbness in the feet. They tend to clutch the railing tightly or may firmly grasp the hand of the person standing nearby.
What could have led to Acrophobia?
Though the cause for acrophobia may be subjective varying from one person to the other, knowing it is important to treat it. Our past life memories, a horrific fall from a height or a similar bad experience of witnessing another person fall and get hurt or meet with a tragic end can infuse fear. If acrophobia runs in the heredity it can also be a strong cause, as offspring witness their family members experience this fear and psychologically own it.
The height of your self-confidence is higher than your fear of heights, and treatment modalities help you discover this. Distracting yourself away from your inner fear is possible if you keep your mind relaxed. And this can happen only with an expert’s guidance, so get acrophobia help today to reduce the fear of heights. Through treatment modalities like cognitive behavioral therapy, they can reform your thoughts of fear into a visualization of being on the ground even when you are at a height.
During treatment, the expert warrants exposure of an acrophobic to height so that based on the sufferer’s experience coping strategies can be developed. Loved ones and friends can accompany an acrophobic to their places of fear just to boost their confidence. Different therapies like Cognitive-behavioral therapy makes an acrophobic analyze his fear and the way he deals with it. This journey of self-analysis makes him an onlooker of his own feelings and emotions in response to the stressor, the height. After all, the best person to get you out of your fear is yourself, because you know it and you experience it.
The thought of fear is more cumbersome than the actual fear. Don’t allow your fear to take over your psychological wellbeing. Restrict your ailing moments, and get acrophobia help today by seeking the guidance of specialists from this area of expertise.
