Is acrophobia just a fear of the body? You think it’s too simple.

Whether you are a mountain climbing enthusiast or not, you may have discovered that one of the attractions that domestic mountaineering scenic spots have particularly liked in the past two years is the "high-altitude glass plank bridge". The transparent glass bridge built between two high mountains at an altitude of hundreds of meters is scary to look at from a distance, let alone walk on it. Therefore, we often see tourists stumbling or even unable to move on the flat bridge surface.

It is understandable to be afraid of heights on a glass plank bridge. However, if you find that a friend is extremely scared in a high-rise office, even sweating profusely, with a rapid heartbeat and difficulty thinking normally, you need to pay attention - your friend may have "acrophobia"!

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01

Acrophobia is a disease

It has nothing to do with guts and courage

Acrophobia is a real psychological disease and a common anxiety disorder. It is not "cowardly" in the general sense. It is manifested as fear of standing on a tall building or on the top of a mountain, and feeling fear near a bridge or subway track. Generally speaking, people with acrophobia usually fear that they will get hurt if they fall from a height. Some people with acrophobia will have an abnormal and uncontrollable urge to jump down, and they will feel as if an external force is pulling them to the edge of the height. They may even have visual hallucinations, and even if their feet are firmly on the ground, they feel like their body is falling down. Feeling that you are falling or sliding down is a form of physical representation, and people with acrophobia will feel dizzy as a result.

Fear of balconies, stairs, and elevators are all related to acrophobia. These fears are strong even when there are guardrails or you are far enough away from the edge that you cannot fall.

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02

"Fear of heights" is an innate self-protection

According to statistics, one in fifteen people in the world has a tendency to be afraid of heights to some extent. To some extent, "fear of heights" has evolutionary significance. This "fear" itself is also a protective measure for human life safety. It can make people instinctively stay away from dangerous areas and reduce the chance of casualties caused by falling from heights.

In addition, there is another reason why people avoid heights, that is, humans are used to looking at things from a perspective parallel to the ground, while at heights, people's sight lines are perpendicular to the ground. For example, when people see a car on the ground, they see the side, but when they look down from an airplane, they can only see the lid. Although they are all three-dimensional, if the body balance and direction discrimination abilities under the horizontal perspective are converted to the vertical perspective, they will definitely not be applicable. After the visual information obtained is changed, the body is very likely to lose balance and sense of direction, which will make people feel insecure and need to return to the horizontal perspective as soon as possible. The above two reasons determine that "fear of heights" has become a fear rooted in everyone's heart.

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03

Fear of heights can be cured

Although fear of heights is normal and may even be beneficial to survival, fear of heights is not equal to acrophobia. Fear of heights is more about being alert to danger and thinking that heights may not be safe enough. If you can confirm that you are safe, you generally won't feel that scared. However, acrophobia is different. People with acrophobia will feel very anxious at heights. Even if they know they are actually in a safe environment, they will still feel panic involuntarily and lose confidence in their sense of balance. They want to lower their body's center of gravity (squat or even lie down) to seek a sense of security. In addition, physiological reactions such as trembling, sweating, and palpitations may occur, and in severe cases, they may even be unable to think normally.

True acrophobia is rare. To determine whether you are afraid of heights or have true acrophobia, the standard is to think about whether the fear of heights has affected your normal life. If it has not affected your normal life, the fear of heights is within the normal range; on the contrary, if you cannot live or work in high-rise buildings because of fear of heights, or you are extremely scared after climbing a few steps, it is very likely that you have true acrophobia.

In addition, unlike fear of heights, patients with acrophobia feel stronger anxiety that lasts longer. When an attack occurs, they have symptoms of anxiety and autonomic nervous system, and may have dry mouth, increased heart rate, flushed face, etc. At the same time, patients with acrophobia know that this fear is excessive, unnecessary, and unreasonable, but they cannot control it.

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Fortunately, fear of heights can be cured. The most famous one is the systematic desensitization treatment program: exposing the patient to the unpleasant environment for a long time until the fear is weakened or eliminated. Of course, for safety reasons, virtual exposure is also a recommended option, that is, recreating a high-level scene in a virtual reality created by special equipment. Clinics with such equipment are more willing to choose this treatment method because it allows therapists to treat more patients more effectively and in a timely manner.

04

Stand high and jump far?

Relax and don't be nervous

Have you ever had this experience: when you are on the edge of a cliff, suddenly a strange thought flashes through your mind: what will happen if I jump off? Or you are driving on a dangerous mountain road, and suddenly you want to turn the steering wheel to the right and rush out of the mountain road for no apparent reason.

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If your answer is "yes", don't panic, there are many people who think the same way as you. Studies have shown that among people who have had suicidal thoughts, 75% have thought about jumping from a high place; and among 431 subjects who have never considered suicide, half have had the urge to jump from a high place. In 2012, a paper published by American psychologists called this emotion "the phenomenon of heights". There is even a special word in French (l'appel du vide) to describe this emotion, which means "the call of nothingness."

Why do people want to jump when they are standing on a high place? Jennifer Harms, a professor of clinical psychology, believes that this impulse is caused by the real desire for death, or the brain may mistakenly interpret "jumping" as a safety signal. When we face high altitude, the brain circuit may send out a "fear" alarm, and then our consciousness will try to deal with this fear. Imagining the scene of jumping can help the brain better understand this unfamiliar fear scene and form an effective way to deal with it.

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So, next time you experience the "high altitude phenomenon", you can tell yourself in your heart: relax, this is just the brain trying to keep us away from danger. However, if you find yourself overly anxious, or suicidal thoughts appear very frequently, feel out of control, and affect your daily life, work, and social life, it is recommended to seek medical help in time.

Author | Tang Yicheng China Science Popularization Mental Health Promotion Center

Review | Wang Kui Associate Researcher, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

References:

[1] Huppert, D., Wuehr, M., & Brandt, T. (2020). Acrophobia and visual height intolerance: advances in epidemiology and mechanisms. Journal of Neurology, 267(12).

[2] Fanny, Levy, Pierre, Leboucher, Gilles, & Rautureau, et al. (2016). E-virtual reality exposure therapy in acrophobia: a pilot study. Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[3] Doreen, H., Eva, G., & Thomas, B. . (2017). A new questionnaire for estimating the severity of visual height intolerance and acrophobia by a metric interval scale. Frontiers in Neurology, 8, 211-.

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