Fear of heights: how to overcome it?

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Imagine that you have to climb up somewhere high. How do you feel about that? Your extremities are trembling, you feel dizzy, you cannot breathe, you start feeling nauseous, you can’t see what is going on around you, etc.

Are you familiar with these feelings?

If your answer is positive, it means that you’ve got a serious disease – acrophobia, or fear of heights.

How to overcome fear of heights: the origin of the problem

The fear of falling down when you are at a height is a normal protective response of the organism to the danger, and such reaction has actually saved numerous lives!

Imagine that you are coming up to the steep of the cliff. What is your reaction to this? You start feeling dizzy and your instincts tell you to step back. However, if you hadn’t stopped then, you would have fallen down that cliff.

We often confuse the natural protective response of the person to some dangerous circumstances with the symptoms of acrophobia.

Many people are afraid of being at a height, and there is nothing wrong with that! This happens due to the fact that their brain warns them about the upcoming danger. However, if you start choking and trembling even when you come out on the balcony of the second floor, this is a real problem and you should start thinking how to overcome fear of heights.

Acrophobia is quite a widespread disease, and approximately 5% of the world population (and this is about 400 million people) suffer from this disorder.

It is interesting that people who have been diagnosed with this disease start panicking not only when they are at a height themselves, but even when they watch how somebody else climbs up some heights as well.

Try to remember whether you’ve felt creepy watching the electrician on an electric pole or a builder winterizing the balcony on the eight floor?

Read also: 7 ways how to overcome fear

How to overcome fear of heights and why is this fear so dangerous?

“Lean into your fears… dare them to do their worst and cut them down when they try. If you don’t, they’ll clone themselves… they’ll mushroom till they surround you, choke the road to the life you want. Every turn you fear is empty air, dressed to look like jagged hell”.
Richard Bach “Running from Safety”.

You may think that acrophobia is very easy to fight. Just walk on the ground, don’t climb up anywhere, don’t come up to the windows, and the problem is solved! However, this disorder is much serious than you can imagine!

• First of all, every second person suffering from acrophobia is afraid to fly.
  And there are not so many chances that you’ll never have to use an airplane in order to get somewhere. One of my friends was extremely afraid of heights. Her fear was so strong that her parents decided to move from their apartment on the seventh floor to the detached house. My friend didn’t even think about solving this problem: she worked as a manager at the trade center and her profession had nothing to do with heights; she spent her vacation only in our country or in the neighboring ones. My friend hadn’t experienced any problems until her boss decided to send her on a business trip abroad, and she had to go there by plane. My friend couldn’t refuse from this trip. The ending of this story is really awful – hysterics at the airport, shocked bosses and the posterior dismissal.
• Secondly, you never know what your life brings you next.
  You may end up climbing up somewhere trying to save your own life. Keep in mind, that if you have an attack of acrophobia at this moment, you won’t survive.
  In many Hollywood movies characters are climbing up a height trying to escape from danger. Well, obviously, most of these films are a work of fiction, but some of them are based on real life situations. Moreover, if you take into account our troublesome life and geopolitical situation you will never guess what our future will be like. That’s why it is always better to be prepared for any possible outcome!

4 guidelines how to overcome fear of heights

Every fear can be fought. All you need in order to overcome your fear is a strong desire, a bit of patience and a proper approach to the problem. I’ve chosen 4 guidelines which can help you to overcome fear of heights very quickly.

• Find the cause of your fear.
  The reasons for most of our fears can be found in our childhood memories. If you find the root of all evil, you’ll be able to extrude it!
  One of my acquaintances told me that her parents often scared her with such words: “If you misbehave like that, you’ll be stolen by Baba-Yaga (Russian folk character, which is similar to an evil witch). Such threats led to the formation of the following image in Olya’s head: she is taken away by an ugly witch, they are flying far from little girl’s house and Olya sees towns and villages down below. The girl’s fear of being kidnapped deeply associated with the fear of heights.
  Very often acrophobia is caused by an accident that took place in your childhood. For example, it can occur after you’ve fallen down the tree. As soon as you find the reason for the occurrence of such disorder, you’ll be able to persuade yourself in your ability to overcome your fear and live happily ever after.
• Visualization.
  Start doing the following exercise every day.
  Close your eyes and imagine that you’re on top of the skyscraper. Picture the place where you’re standing, the process of climbing up the roof, what is going on around you, what you can see from the building, what are you wearing at the moment, etc. You have to make yourself sincerely believe in this image.
  If you manage to perform this task, you’ll get first symptoms of acrophobia. This is when you have to start fighting them right now. Take a deep breath, calm down, and try to stop trembling. You have to overcome this fear which deprives you of so many great things: hiking, parachute jumps, distant trips, and even from watching a beautiful landscape.
• Fight fire with fire.
  You can overcome the fear of heights only if you climb up some height. However, don’t use the shock therapy trying to make a parachute jump. You’d better do one thing at a time. Start with a small height, and then little by little you’ll be able to increase the height you’ll climb up.
  The important thing is that you shouldn’t escape as soon as you’ve reached the height. Spend at least 20 minutes standing on the balcony and enjoying the beautiful landscape, think about something nice. Your aim is to receive positive emotions and pleasant associations from being at a height.
  Keep in mind: How to overcome fear of death
• Control yourself.
  As soon as you’ve made some efforts and reached the height, try to calm down. Take a deep breath and convince yourself that you shall not fear anything. Don’t look down! Look straight ahead of you and focus your eyes on something for some time.
  These simple recommendations will help you to get rid of dizziness and panic.

Apart from these tips I also publish a bunch of useful recommendations on my website every day, that’s why you should subscribe to my motivational articles emailing if you don’t want to miss anything!

You shouldn’t fight acrophobia alone. First of all, it is very dangerous: you may become overwhelmed with panic and simply fall down. Secondly, if somebody stands by you and encourages you to go on, you will become highly stimulated to find the solution to the problem as soon as possible.

Keep in mind that before you start solving the issue “How to overcome fear of heights”, you have to find the initial cause for development of this disorder. If you manage this, there will be one limitation less in your life!