How to overcome the fear of heights

  • Jul 26, 2021
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How to overcome the fear of heights

Fear is a very human experience. A fear that also acquires different nuances depending on the feared object. There are many fears and phobias and also different types of phobias. For example, Height can become a source of fear for those who suffer from acrophobia. As a consequence of this fear, the person acts from avoidance in situations that cause this concern. For example, the person may avoid going out onto the terrace of an apartment located at a height that makes them uncomfortable. When is it important to seek help and know how to overcome it? When fear is limiting, that is, who feels a fear that can condition them even before a circumstance related to this fact occurs. When it interferes with your normal life. How to overcome the fear of heights? In Psychology-Online, we tell you the symptoms and consequences of fear of heights, as well as the more effective psychological techniques and other tips to overcome acrophobia.

Possible causes of having developed acrophobia are:

  • The instinct
    : fear has an adaptive part that serves to guarantee survival. A certain fear or respect for heights is healthy, since it causes us to be careful not to suffer damage.
  • The learning or transmission of information about that danger.
  • The inheritance: the predisposition to develop some disorder can be inherited.
  • The result of bad experiences related to fear. It may or may not be in the first person.
  • The autosuggestion: give more thought to the subject.
  • The cognitive biases: unreal thoughts.
  • The Vertigo: a dysfunction of the balance system.
  • Some peripheral vision deficiency that affects the sense of balance.
  • Some problem in the proprioception, the visual perception of the movement itself.
  • Genetic predisposition to develop anxiety disorders.

Normally, the fear of heights is not caused by an isolated factor, but by the confluence of several of the factors.

The importance of facing phobias lies in the great limitation that they produce in the life of the person who suffers:

  • Changes in social relationships: a person's leisure schedule can be reduced by being conditioned by the avoidance of those plans that produce this anticipated worry. That is, the person rejects plans that may include experiencing the feeling of fear.
  • Concern for the environment: this is a type of fear that not only produces suffering to those who suffer it, it also produces a response in the closest environment. Some people may try to overprotect someone who experiences a fear of heights. Others may feel incomprehensible because they do not understand the reason for this reaction. Other people want to help a loved one but do not know exactly how to do it. Therefore, it is convenient to look at this fear beyond your individual perspective.
  • Anticipatory anxiety: the present is a vital stage of development and happiness when the person has his mind totally focused on the now. However, this conscious presence is interrupted by the anticipatory tendency of those who anticipate what may happen. The person observes reality from the point of view of this irrational fear, therefore, his Emotions and feelings are also linked to these ideas associated with the perception of a danger. How does this situation influence the person? This reality produces a loss of quality of life since the protagonist suffers in advance for something that has not happened yet.
  • Professional consequences: This is a type of fear that not only produces observable effects on a personal level, but also on a professional level. For example, when a person conducts an active job search process, they may experience the circumstance of conducting job interviews in offices located at the top of a building. Other professionals carry out their normal working day in a setting with these characteristics. Factors that produce the response of avoidance or discomfort in those who suffer from fear of heights.

Furthermore, the more feared situations are avoided, the stronger the fear grows and the more it becomes generalized. More and more situations are feared and therefore avoided.

To overcome the fear of heights, a process is necessary, in the same way as in the rest of specific phobias. It is important to know that phobias can be overcome, as there is a treatment for them. However, it will largely depend on the complexity of the disorder in each case and the patient, their involvement, their motivation and her personality.

1. Recognition of fear

When a person assumes her fear and shows his desire to overcome it by realizing how it conditions him in her life, he has taken a very important first step to move forward.

2. Psychological treatment

In acrophobia it is very important that the person seek specialized advice since professional support is essential. Each person who suffers from this fear is unique. Therefore, the process of overcoming fear is also part of the attention to the individual needs of each case and to the variables of each story.

In the first instance, a comprehensive evaluation of the patient, the origin of the phobia, the symptoms and the situations avoided. A full evaluation will also be done to rule out other anxiety disorders, since a phobia is very common in the context of another anxiety disorder.

Next, the psychological techniques:

  • Techniques cognitive: You can start by identifying irrational beliefs and modifying them for functional thoughts.
  • Techniques of relaxing: such as diaphragmatic breathing and progressive muscle relaxation technique. It will be necessary to learn to manage physiological activation and restore a state of calm in body and mind.
  • Behavioral techniques: the most effective and used are systematic exposure and desensitization. The procedure is similar: it is about not avoiding the situation, but facing it. In each case it will be different. It is common to make a hierarchical list of feared stimuli to gradually face situations. The exhibition can be first in imagination and then live. There are also virtual reality technological tools, very useful in these cases. Exposure must be controlled, long and repeated. While the patient is facing each feared situation, he must apply the cognitive techniques and relaxation techniques previously learned to manage the anxiety caused by the stimulus. Gradually, he will get used to the stimuli, making the anxiety reaction less and less. This process must be guided and supervised at all times by your psychologist.

Currently, these psychological techniques are very effective for phobias and have a high success rate.

3. Tips to overcome fear

  • Seek support: either from your usual support network or from a new group of people who have similar problems and can compete experiences.
  • Do exercise: physical activity is useful to relieve the tension that anxiety generates.
  • Practice mindfulness or mindfulness: helps you live in the present and focus your attention on what is important at all times.
  • Take care: rest and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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