Acrophobia: Involuntary Fear of Heights

Acrophobia is one of the most common phobias, like Thalassophobia and is also one of the most dangerous phobias. People who suffer from this phobia feel intense fear and panic attacks when they encounter heights like mountain peaks, bridges, tall places, etc. 

So, here in this article, we will tell you what acrophobia is, how it feels to be acrophobic, what are the causes of acrophobia, what are the effects of acrophobia, and what treatments can be helpful to deal with acrophobia.

Such a fear is not a surprising fact because extreme heights can cause fear for anyone. But the main issue starts when someone starts fearing very low heights like stairs, small buildings, etc which can affect their daily life. 

This is known as Acrophobia which is very common in people. 

Well, many psychiatrists considered that this could be a result of a traumatic experience.

This can be caused by:

• Traumatic Experience: For example, if someone has ever faced falling from a high place.
• Encountering High Places: It could be possible that you feel this fear when you visit or see a high place like a mountain peak. 

Currently, there are possibly known reasons for having such a fear. 

Acrophobia can cause

Acrophobia can cause many unsuitable conditions for a person, which can affect their daily life. It can cause:

• Increase sweating when facing or seeing high heights
• Panic Attacks (Serious condition)
• Chest Pain
• Increasing Heartbeat
• If you feel dizzy or imbalanced, then you feel a little fear, then it’s not a big problem.

When you go to a high place, you can face these situations. If someone feels panic attacks, chest pain, or any serious condition, then this needs to be treated.

Some acrophobic feel embarrassed about their condition, but this is not that embarrassing. Even many celebrities with acrophobia are exposed by the media. Some popular celebrities have confused that they are acrophobic or they fear heights.

Acrophobia Treatments

There are treatments available to treat acrophobia. You have to visit a psychiatrist who will help you to solve this problem. These treatments can include:

• Exposure Therapy: This is one of the best and most proven techniques to overcome your fear. In Exposure Therapy, a patient or attacked person is faced with an object that he fears. Your psychiatrist will slightly expose you to some heights or pictures of high places to help you overcome your fear.  
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: CBT is the second best option for treating acrophobia. 

This fear is not hard to treat. With proper care and a good psychiatrist, you can have a good life with acrophobia. 

Acrophobia test

You know the treatments for Acrophobia but it is necessary to know whether you are acrophobia or not before visiting a psychiatrist. If you feel a little fear of heights, then it is quite common. You don’t need any special treatment for this but if you feel serious conditions like panic attacks or chest pain, then you should visit a psychiatrist. 

You can use the below two methods to test whether you are acrophobic or not. 

Acrophobia six flags

Acrophobia Six Flags are located in the USA. This is the perfect option to test Acrophobia. Well, I will not tell you the details of this ride because you can see the live example in the video below:

If you know about acrophobia at Six Flags then have you ever wondered how tall is the acrophobia at Six Flags? Well, this free-fall tower is 200 feet tall, which will be the best option to test whether you are acrophobia or not.

Acrophobia Images

This is the easiest method to test Acrophobia. Below are some pictures. If you feel fear, anxiety, chest pain, sweating, or such a condition that shows abnormal condition, then it might be possible that you have acrophobia. 

Below is the image of a man on a mountain peak:

Celebrities with acrophobia:

There are some famous celebrities who have talked with the media about their fear of heights and high places. Michelle Rodriguez, Woody Allen, Ben Foster, and Shailene Woodley have talked about their fear of heights. 

Have you ever wondered how many people have acrophobia? According to Clevel And Clinic, around 3 to 6% of the world’s population has acrophobia, which proves that it is one of the most common phobias like Claustrophobia.