What is a person who is afraid of heights called? Is acrophobia a pathology or a self-preservation instinct? Mental symptoms of acrophobia

Acrophobia: fear of heights

Pozharisky I.

Acrophobia is the irrational fear of heights. This is a mental disorder, expressed in an abnormal fear of heights, which keeps its owners in a […]

Acrophobia is the irrational fear of heights. This is a mental disorder, expressed in an abnormal fear of heights, which keeps its owners in a vice throughout their lives. Acrophobia is widespread and is one of the ten most typical phobias: according to some reports, it affects about 10% of the total population of the Earth. Acrophobes are more likely to become people who experience fear of flying. This fear in different people is caused by different reasons, manifests itself with an unequal degree of severity, but always gives them discomfort and even quite tangible suffering. As with many such disorders, acrophobes often cannot cope with their problem on their own, so they need treatment.

What is acrophobia

Acrophobia must be distinguished from a simple fear of heights, which many people have to a small extent. It is normal if a person is afraid to stand over a huge cliff or on the roof of a multi-storey building. In this case, the fear is dictated by a real fear for one's life and is quite understandable. The fear experienced by those suffering from acrophobia is beyond logic.

Acrophobes are afraid of any height, for example, they never ride in elevators, escalators, do not rise above 1-2 floors? they are afraid to stand on a chair, where the floor is only 0.5 m, and even calmly look at images and photographs of tall objects. The fear of acrophobes is so great that it haunts them even in nightmares or takes on a paradoxical form when they are afraid, lying on their backs, to look at the ceiling or at the sky. At this point, they think that they can fall from a height (in their mind, up and down are reversed).

Irrational and illogical fear is acrophobia. Although it does not cause direct harm to the body, its very presence suggests that people predisposed to it have imbalances and a tendency to mental neurotic disorders.

Both men and women can suffer from acrophobia, but there are certain groups of citizens who are more prone to the appearance of this disorder:

• people who survived a fall from a height;
• impressionable children who were forbidden by their parents to climb heights;
• suspicious girls and boys who imagined themselves a picture of how they would fall and severe pain after him;
• individuals with phobic anxiety disorders.

In them, acrophobia occurs much more easily, since there is already prepared soil for it. Therefore, it is often these people who need the qualified help of a psychotherapist in order to overcome their fear and live on without it.

Causes of acrophobia

Acrophobia attacks can occur different reasons. Brain damage as a result of inflammation, infection or injury, frequent alcohol intoxication, chronic stress can start the disorder. Great importance mental illness, low self-esteem, anxious and suspicious nature, excessive impressionability and emotionality play in the development of fear of heights.

Own traumatic experience is also the cause of acrophobia in humans. It can be falls from a height, resulting in injuries, bruises, fractures, and so on. After that, the fear of heights developed as a defensive reaction to the possible danger of falling and injuring.

It has been established that many acrophobes who want to commit suicide choose a jump from a height for this, explaining that there is simply nothing more deadly for them.

The reason for the appearance of acrophobia is the ancient fear inherent in the genes, which accompanied our ancestors on the hunt. He protected them from falling from a height, and we inherited it already in the form of fear, which in some people can take the form of a phobia.

Not only fear plays a role in the formation of acrophobia, but also the living work of the subconscious, the tendency to fantasize and exaggerate. A person with a vivid imagination can easily draw a picture of himself with details of how he will fall, what he will experience and what it threatens him with.

Acrophobia can be not only in adults, children can also suffer from it. It cannot be said that this fear is innate, it is acquired in early childhood. Often the fear of heights appears when the child is trying to learn to walk. He climbs onto a chair, falls off it, and, naturally, cries. An unpleasant sensation is fixed in his subconscious and eventually develops into a phobia.

Parents themselves can also bring up acrophobia in their child when they accidentally drop the baby on the floor. Or they constantly pull him up, do not allow him to climb trees, so as not to fall and break.

Symptoms of acrophobia

Fear of heights is expressed in a number of symptoms that begin to cover a person as soon as he approaches a place of potential danger. These are strong vegetative-vascular reactions:

• numbness and trembling in the limbs;
• dizziness;
• "cotton legs";
• rapid breathing;
• chest tightness;
• frequent heartbeat;
• nausea;
• dry mouth;
• severe anxiety;
• fainting.

To these symptoms, the acrophobe has a vertigo reaction, that is, he loses his balance, it seems to him that everything is spinning around him, or that he is spinning around his axis. His body temperature drops, "cold sweat" appears on his forehead and body, his hands and feet become cold. Vomiting and nausea, shortness of breath, salivation, or, conversely, dry mouth may occur.

Often, acrophobes cannot even get close to the object that causes fear in them, because even when they look at it, all the described symptoms begin to appear. Often they are so strong that they force patients to consult doctors, for example, cardiologists or gastroenterologists. But it turns out that internal organs they are healthy, and they need the help of another specialist: a psychotherapist.

Moreover, acrophobia also has psychological, and not just physiological symptoms. Actophobes, forced to be near the object of fear, become irritable and impatient, aggressive, overly restless, compressed into a spring. They cannot concentrate on anything other than the fearful height, their head becomes empty, dizzy, their legs give way, some have a feeling of unreality of what is happening and they are afraid to go crazy.

The ratio of mental and physical symptoms for each actophobe is individual and determines the state of the body and the course of an attack of phobia. If a mental signs dominate, and the patient is also inclined to fixate on his feelings, then this condition often provokes the development of depression. Such a patient at the beginning of the treatment of fear of heights may be incredulous, suspicious, not too confident in success and fear the appearance side effects from strong medications.

Treatment of acrophobia

Treatment of fear of heights is necessary if it significantly complicates the patient's life, for example, he lives in a high-rise building and is afraid to climb even to his own home. To correct acrophobia, today they use drug therapy. Patients are given sedatives, anti-anxiety and sedative drugs, antipsychotics, tranquilizers and antidepressants. Additionally, nootropics are prescribed for stimulation cerebral circulation and multivitamin complexes.

An excellent treatment option for anxiety is a combination of medication and psychotherapy.

Auxiliary means: drugs that stimulate blood circulation (nootropics) in brain tissues, vitamin complexes.

Books and cartoons will help children overcome acrophobia, in which the characters successfully overcome various trials and emerge victorious from them. The example of brave heroes helps the child to overcome his own fear. Parents can also become an example for the baby if they show him how to overcome his fear.

For those who cannot cope with acrophobia on their own, the help of an experienced doctor will be very helpful. Today, patients are offered several methods for treating fear of heights:

• Cognitive behavioral. The first stage of treatment - an acrophobe learns to independently control his condition in order to no longer be afraid of heights. Then comes the practical part. The patient and the doctor go to the hill, where they continue to work out the learned techniques already in practice.
• Hypnotherapy. This method involves introducing the patient into a trance, finding and deeply working out the root cause of the phobia. And then the correction of the patient's attitude to height and the elimination of fear. This is achieved with the help of clear and direct instructions that the specialist inspires in his patient.
• System constellations, psychodrama. With the help of this method, the doctor first introduces a person into a trance, then corrects his attitude to the situation that caused acrophobia. Then he eliminates fears, teaches him to adequately perceive situations related to height that may arise in the future. The phobia goes away forever.
• Erickson hypnosis. This is the softest effective form hypnosis. The treatment of fear is not carried out by direct installations, but by activating the body's own reserves of the acrophobe, therefore it is highly effective and harmless.

Treatment of acrophobia should only take place under medical supervision. The method of treatment and the number of procedures are also selected by the specialist. Treating a fear of heights on your own is undesirable. Usually self-chosen therapy does not give the effect that can be expected from a well-chosen treatment. Self-medication can even worsen the condition, increase fears, deform the personality and often lead to the addition of other phobic disorders.

Acrophobia - what is it? This is the name of the fear of heights, and this is the most common fear associated with spatial discomfort. This phobia is considered a mild degree of neurosis, which does not lead to any consequences. But such fear warns that a person is out of balance and has a tendency to mental disorders.

Many people at high altitude experience fear and dizziness. And people who suffer from acrophobia experience such fear more vividly and expressed. They have an attack of nausea and overwhelming horror, there is a strong salivation, breathing and heartbeat become more frequent, the body temperature decreases, the work of the gastrointestinal tract increases.

The reasons

Acrophobia often occurs in very impressionable people with a rich imagination. Such a person even in a state of sleep is afraid in front of height. An interesting fact is that this pathology can cause an attack of fear and negative emotions not even top notch. It is enough for a person to imagine that he is falling from a height.

Most psychologists believe that the occurrence of any phobia is associated with a negative experience that experienced in the past, but relatively recent studies have refuted this theory. Many people in the past did not get into unpleasant situations that would be associated with height. Fear of heights can be congenital and is often combined with intolerance to loud and harsh sounds.

According to other scientists, such a phobia is a prehistoric phenomenon, adapted to modern reality, which is based on the fact that earlier people quite often fell from great heights. Thus, acrophobia is related to an evolutionary safety mechanism.

Fear of heights can also occur for other reasons:

• weak vestibular apparatus - if its functioning is impaired, a person begins to poorly control his body and navigate in space, leading to fear of falling even from a small height;
• genetic predisposition - if the parents had mental disorders, they often occur in children;
• frequent and prolonged stressful situations;
• trauma and infection of the brain;
• excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages;
• a combination of such individual characteristics as suspiciousness, anxiety, shyness, increased emotionality.

Symptoms

Fear of heights manifests itself in different ways. Usually those who suffer from acrophobia claim that if they are at a height, then unable to control themselves and their actions, they have a desire to jump down, although they have never had a suicidal tendency. In addition, fear of heights is accompanied by a fear of slipping, as well as dizziness, nausea, turning into vomiting.

Diarrhea may occur, breathing becomes faster, the pulse increases or slows down, the person begins to sweat profusely, there is pain in the heart and tremor of the limbs pupils dilate. There is an increased muscle tone, an increase in motor activity, which is accompanied by chaotic movements, a person tries to hide from the apparent danger.

If the fear of heights manifests itself regularly, almost every day, even without a reason, then this serious reason to contact specialists. Such symptoms, present daily in a person's daily life, can lead to severe mental illness. The patient significantly limits his freedom of movement, his desires and taste preferences change.

All symptoms of acrophobia are conventionally divided into two groups:

• somatic symptoms;
• psychological signs of illness.

depending on the severity of the phobia, this pathology has a different degree of severity. Mild signs, which consist of a slight increase in heart rate and fear of being very close to the edge of the abyss, are not considered a manifestation of acrophobia. People tend to be afraid of heights.

Psychological signs consist in the occurrence of attacks of uncontrollable panic in a person when climbing to a height, and in more severe cases panic appears during the contemplation of high objects or the mental representation of the ascent itself. In this case, a person ceases to fully control his actions, he cannot move on, sits on the floor, covers his face or head with his hands and does not react to anything.

Acrophobia in children

A very serious situation arises if a child suffers from acrophobia. with him much harder to work and communicate than with an adult. The situation can be aggravated if it is necessary to help the baby, who had previously fallen from a height or was dropped from it. In this case, the child develops a persistent feeling of fear of tall objects, as well as a fear of heights in general. It often happens that parents, with their excessive guardianship or excessive care, unwittingly, form acrophobia in their child.

Such a phobia in a baby is manifested by a feeling of discomfort, even if it is at a low altitude. Wherein panic may develop and fainting, accompanied by increased heart rate, nausea and dizziness. But the worst thing is that the child loses control over his actions. Due to his controlled fear, he is unable to figure out how to descend correctly and be safe.

To prevent the development of acrophobia with a child, it is necessary to engage in comprehensive development. Riding bicycles, scooters, jumping on a trampoline or skipping rope help the baby learn to navigate in space, strengthen his vestibular apparatus, prevent the appearance of fear of heights. Parents should not forbid their child to engage in activities that involve climbing sports ladders and ropes, as well as orientation in space. It is impossible to inspire him all the time that this carries a danger, since the fear of heights will only intensify.

Treatment

According to psychologists and psychiatrists, acrophobia is considered a disease that is very difficult for a person to cope with on his own. Getting rid of panic attacks fear of heights is possible only with the help of good specialists in the field of psychiatry and psychology, and after a preliminary diagnosis. To do this, the doctor evaluates the subjective story of the patient about his feelings and conditions associated with height, and also observes him when performing functional tests. These tests are carried out with extreme caution so as not to worsen the patient's condition.

People who suffer from a fear of heights, who live on the top floors of a skyscraper, or who are constantly panic attacks, are able to get very severe depression with irreversible consequences. According to statistics, those patients who constantly struggle with their fears, on average, live much less. Regularly experienced fear greatly wears out the nervous and cardiovascular system.

By using medicines acrophobia is almost never cured. Medications help temporarily eliminate or slightly reduce fear of heights, but the phobia does not disappear. Usually the treatment of fears is carried out with the help of antidepressants and tranquilizers. Additionally, nootropics are prescribed that improve blood circulation in the brain tissues, and vitamin complexes.

The only method 100% valid, this is a treatment with the help of a partial or complete corrective effect on the patient's consciousness, introducing him for this into a state of deep hypnosis. Only psychotherapists who are fluent in hypnotic skills can help such people.

Besides, there is a cure, which is based on teaching a person to keep his psychophysical state under control. Thanks to relaxation techniques, you can block fear on a subconscious level. This therapy consists of three stages.

• The first stage is that the patient is taught control and relaxation techniques without the use of antidepressants.
• The second stage is a practical exercise, carried out at a low altitude, always accompanied by a doctor. Its purpose is to provoke fear. If the patient is not able to conduct such an activity, then the sensation of height can be stimulated with the help of virtual reality.
• During the third stage, a person applies the acquired skills until the discomfort completely disappears. After that, the height is gradually increased and all steps are repeated in the same sequence.

In this way, acrophobia is the fear of heights, which gives a person severe discomfort. It is necessary to get rid of such fear, but if a person himself does not want to do this, then not a single specialist will help. By learning to manage fear, a person's life will change for the better.

More than 5% of the population is afraid of heights. In most cases, fear is associated with normal human instincts. The feeling of fear is necessary for people, because it forms caution and saves life. , rising to a height above the 20th floor, then you should not sound the alarm. Every healthy person experiences such sensations. If the fear of heights prevents you from living, and you are afraid to get off the ground more than a meter, then take action. This condition is called acrophobia and is considered serious. psychological illness. How to stop being afraid of heights?

Where does acrophobia come from?

The roots of fear go back to childhood. Psychological traumas received in childhood remain for life. At the same time, a person does not know that he has any phobia until he encounters a specific situation. Rising to a height, a person at one moment will feel fear, his knees will begin to tremble, his hands will sweat, his breathing will become heavier. In such situations, a person is unable to stand on his feet. To continue the path, he climbs on all fours.

Where does acrophobia come from?

Children's failures. Falls from a table, chair, bicycle, tree lead to such consequences. The question immediately arises of where to find a child who has not fallen from a hill at least once. Why don't all adults suffer from acrophobia? Only the fall has no effect, the child remembers the reaction of adults more. If others panicked, cried, fell into hysterics, then the child will remember the height as something unpleasant and dangerous.
Occupational injury. Climbers, skydiving people, stuntmen succumb to injury as a result of work activities. After serious injuries, it is difficult to return to the profession. In this case, you will need psychological help. The specialist will prescribe a program that will restore and return the ability to the previous skills.

Acrophobia arises as a result of trauma or experienced shocks associated with height. So don't expect the disease to go away magically. You will need help and individual therapy, which will gradually relieve fear.

How to stop being afraid of heights?

Before starting treatment, experts recommend checking how advanced the phobia is. Standard therapy will remove discomfort, neurosis, but will not cope with dangerous conditions. If a person refuses to leave the house or because of a fear of heights, then take more serious measures. In addition to sedatives, the patient will need the help of relatives and a psychotherapist.

How to stop being afraid of heights?

Assess the degree of harm. Determine when you start to be afraid. or ride a roller coaster or the fear comes from taking the elevator to the upper floors of the building. Then look at the statistics on how many people are physically injured in the event of a disaster, a ride breakage or an elevator. As a rule, the numbers come down to one in a million.
Learn to relax. Any technique that you own or are interested in will do. , yoga. Practice deep breathing techniques during attacks. Such exercises give control over your own body, allow you to observe from the outside the symptoms of panic: sweating, heart palpitations, breathing.
Connect virtual methods. To get started, consider pictures that capture the city from a height. If you managed to look at the photo without shuddering, then go to computer games or special programs. Modern technologies allow you to project different situations, for example, you are standing on the edge of a cliff. With the mind, a person understands that the situation is not real, but quite real. The level of fear is lower, try it.

A healthy person is less prone to worries and alarmism. A normal lifestyle is affected by the quality of food consumed, the amount physical activity and . These recommendations will not eliminate acrophobia completely, but will reduce the symptoms.

Psychological methods of dealing with fear of heights

Self-improvement begins with the recognition of the problem. After that, you should not resort to cardinal methods: jumping from a bridge, climbing onto the roof of a house. Such actions are dangerous to health, since the body can turn off at any time. Panic attacks cause dizziness, nausea, trembling limbs. One wrong step or action and your health will be at risk.

Psychological methods of dealing with fear of heights:

Determine the level of fear. Take a stepladder and rise gradually upstairs, fix the moment when panic attacks appear. Measure the resulting distance. Then analyze the situation, what would happen if there was a fall from that height. The maximum that threatens is a dislocation or a fracture. These damages are easy to get while walking down the street. Some patients, having completed this exercise, are cured, as they understand that fear is unfounded.
Follow the sequence. The first thing a psychologist will say is that fear should be faced face to face. Therefore, climbing to heights is inevitable. After determining the critical point, raise the bar up. If you experience panic, having risen to the third floor of the house, then next time rise to the floor of the flight up. Then go to the window and look straight ahead, slowly look down. The next lesson starts from the previously mastered height. So gradually, you fight fear. In order not to worry about your condition, make lifts with a loved one.
Get into visualization. To get the result, do the exercise every day. To do this, close your eyes, imagine beautiful nature. Then see yourself strong, brave and joyful. Approach the object that causes fear and mentally rise to the height. Visualization works well when you dwell on the details. Imagine how you overcome the climb step by step, how your heart beats, makes noise in your ears. At the conclusion of the visualization, you calmly walk the path, then fearlessly look down.

If the described methods did not bring results, then do not despair. The doctor will select a special technique. One option is to put the patient into a state of hypnosis. During the session, a person is given an installation that removes fears. After a course of hypnosis, acrophobia disappears. The only method of this method is a high percentage of the return of fear. At the same time, it is not known what actions will trigger the mechanism and lead to panic.

Treatment of acrophobia with medicines

It is not recommended to use sedatives on their own. Medications are selected by a psychotherapist. At the same time, it is important to find a doctor who works with people. Taking drugs does not fight acrophobia, but only eliminates the consequences and unpleasant symptoms.

Treatment of acrophobia is carried out with the help of such medicines:

Antidepressants. Used to reduce depressive states. Preparations remove from despondency, return a feeling of joy. Regular depression leads to nervousness, irritation. In a shaky state, attacks become more frequent and are painful.
Benzodiazepines. These drugs are used for blocking purposes. They act in the future, reducing the symptoms that occur with fear. They cannot be taken constantly, therefore they are prescribed in difficult situations in order to bring a person out of a state of constant panic.
beta inhibitors. It is known that during fear there is an adrenaline rush. Medicines from this group reduce its production. As a result, symptoms such as palpitations, sweating, and a rush of blood go away.

Studies conducted by scientists and doctors have led to the conclusion that people with poor eyesight and upset vestibular apparatus, more often suffer from acrophobia. Therefore, the therapist conducts a series of tests to take indicators. If the diagnosis is confirmed, then in addition to sedatives, the patient is prescribed drugs to improve vision.

Fear of heights is inherent in every person in their right mind, because. this fear is connected with the instinct of self-preservation. But there is a phobia of heights, when at the thought of climbing a mountain or flying with a parachute, panic sets in, stupor and universal horror sets in.

Acrophobia - what is it?

There is normal anxiety, when fear is based on caution and self-preservation, but in parallel, pathological anxiety is also distinguished in medicine, which cannot be explained by logic. For example, the fear of heights when flying on an airplane is associated with anxiety for one's life, a person does not have sufficient information about the principle of operation of an airplane. But, if you understand and study this issue, then an adequate solution will not keep you waiting.

The phobia of heights is, first of all, not an adequate reaction to any opportunity to climb up. A person believes that the risks of falling from a height are much higher than the real situation. It is this pathological reaction or disease that is called acrophobia. Any explanations and sound reasoning cannot affect a person's irrational fear.

The symptoms of acrophobia are very specific, so you can immediately distinguish a sense of self-preservation from a pathological reaction to height:

• palpitations, when there is a feeling of fluttering or uneven beating in the chest;
• dizziness and nausea;
• lack of oxygen;
• pawns ears;
• numbness of fingers and toes;
• increased sweating.

Causes of acrophobia

According to Freud, the fear of heights is interpreted as the fact that a person is afraid of what he really wants, i.e. the fear of falling from a long distance hides suicidal thoughts, so you should take a closer look at your own condition so as not to miss the warning signs.

On the other hand, there is an opinion that acrophobia is the result of damage to the normal structure of the brain that occurs after traumatic situations or as a result of infectious diseases.

Additionally, it can be noted that people with a sensitive psyche are often prone to phobias, where suspiciousness, shyness and impressionability predominate in temperament.

How to overcome fear of heights

Fear can be overcome with visualization. Try in a comfortable environment for you, close your eyes and imagine yourself on top of a mountain, near a cliff. The natural reaction of the body will be all the same familiar symptoms of a panic attack. Gradually mentally visualizing your own fear, and each time, also mentally, overcoming it, you can reduce the feeling of fear of heights in real time.

It is possible and necessary to overcome the fear of heights and get rid of acrophobia, because any phobias limit life, preventing you from enjoying it to the fullest. You just need to find your own, individual way to overcome fear. Hypnotherapy, psychoanalysis or cognitive behavioral therapy, whatever you choose, it will be the beginning in dealing with the limitations in your life.

A fear of heights, called acrophobia, is one of the common phobias that are related to space. The human body is not designed to be at significant heights, so in the mountains a person experiences dizziness, which is considered a normal physiological reaction. Discomfort is considered problematic when staying at a low altitude. Let's talk more about the fear of heights and how to overcome it.

Fear of heights: causes and symptoms

Fear of heights is a phobia that, according to statistics, affects 2% of the world's population. And women are twice as likely to be affected.

Acrophobia is found on the lists of the most common phobias of mankind, called by various medical organizations.

It belongs to the group of fears of space. In addition to acrophobia, this group includes the fear of closed spaces, called claustrophobia, panic fear open spaces, or agoraphobia, and the fear of being in public transport, or amaxophobia.

Why fear is normal, but phobia is considered a pathology

In the course of evolution, fear has become a natural reaction. human body to external threats. Like most representatives of the animal world, primitive man, at the sight of danger, either showed aggression or fled.

Fear contributed to the maximum mobilization of all the resources of the human body for the sake of survival. Adrenaline entered the blood, the heart rate increased, the level of glucose in the blood increased, coagulation and blood flow increased.

Modern man is much less likely than his ancestors to be afraid of real physical threats, but the unrest has moved from nature to the social environment. Now fears are associated with changes in social norms and living conditions (losing a job, being sued, and so on). Not only did they not disappear with the improvement of living conditions, but they turned into phobias that primitive man did not know.

Physicians distinguish between normal and pathological forms of anxiety. The former occur in a potentially dangerous situation, such as climbing a mountain or taking off an airplane. Anxiety is exacerbated by lack of data or lack of time to study all the factors and make an informed decision.

In other words, climbing the mountains, a person experiences the consequences of changes in atmospheric pressure. Not knowing how normal this situation is, he may panic.

Pathological anxiety is in no way tied to a real threat. If the fear of heights that exists in the subconscious of everyone healthy person, goes into an irrational phase, it turns into a phobia.

Thus, it is normal to experience fear while standing on the roof of a building, on top of a mountain, while on board an airplane in flight. But if a person starts to panic when crossing a bridge or climbing to the third floor, this is a sign of pathology.

So, in the course of one of the studies, experts found that 80% of those suffering from acrophobia admitted that, being at their best, they were not able to control not only their thoughts, but also their actions.

It is known that attacks of acrophobia are accompanied by the appearance of signs of depression, which is not observed in a person in a normal state. Occasionally, panic is accompanied by a suicidal desire to jump down.

Fear of heights: causes

Most mammals are familiar with the fear of heights. It is known that a cat is wary of a glass floor located at a height, but, making sure that it is safe, steps on it. The child will walk on the glass floor if the mother convinces him that it is safe. But the exact reasons why natural fear increases and a phobia occurs, doctors cannot name.

However, medicine knows the factors that can cause acrophobia.

Here are the key ones:

• Brain damage that are caused by trauma, as well as inflammatory or infectious diseases.
• Heredity- the presence of mental disorders in the next of kin.
• Mental predisposition. Fear of heights is more likely to occur in people with increased anxiety, emotional shyness and timidity.
• Low self-esteem. Low self-esteem can lead to the emergence of acrophobia in people who received an evaluative upbringing, whom their parents rarely praised, but made strict demands.
• regular stress or alcohol intoxication.

Thus, the fear of heights is associated with both external factors, and with the internal problems of the body.

Acrophobia: symptoms and manifestations

Experts distinguish two groups of symptoms of fear of heights: somatic (physiological reaction of the body to a phobia) and mental.

A person suffering from acrophobia may experience the following somatic symptoms:

• Deep shortness of breath in the absence of physical activity.
• Severe dizziness and increased heart rate.
• Involuntary nervous trembling and blanching.
• Feel dry mouth or lump in throat.
• Diarrhea or frequent urination.
• Nausea.
• Sleep problems (slow falling asleep and nightmares) and early awakening.

It is known that if a patient with the manifestation of these symptoms, not realizing their true cause, turns not to a psychiatrist, but to another specialist (gastroenterologist, cardiologist, etc.), treatment is delayed.

Mental symptoms include the following:

1. Fussy and impatient behavior.
2. Irritability and manifestations of unreasonable anger.
3. Excessive anxiety and display of aggressive behavior.
4. Presence of gloomy premonitions in the patient and inability to concentrate.
5. Complaints about the feeling of "emptiness in the head."

At its peak, the phobia leads to fainting, vasospasm, and severe dizziness.

Fear of heights is accompanied by accompanying fears:

1. Lose balance and fall down.
2. Lose control and jump from a height.
3. Fly in an airplane.
4. Ride on the upper shelves of trains or settle on the upper floors of buildings.
5. Look at the high slopes.
6. Vertigo when looking down.
7. To climb up the stairs.

Fear of heights: how to deal with it

Knowing the name of the fear of heights and its main symptoms, it is important to get information about the methods of its treatment.

It is known that acrophobia is not a sentence and there are many methods of its treatment, among which there are those carried out without medication.

If the fear has not reached a critical stage and does not cause panic attacks, a person suffering from acrophobia can take a number of independent steps to cope with the problem. Among them, experts recommend:

• Push back the horizon.

One of the simplest but effective ways deal with most known fears. To do this, you need to find the limit of safe height and gradually increase it.

For example, if a person panics after climbing to the third floor, take the floor as a starting point and climb a couple of steps towards the fourth floor every day. After going a couple of steps, stop, get used to it and make sure it's safe. Next time, this pair of steps will become the new reference point from which the ascent will begin.

With regular use, the technique can effectively overcome fear.

• Visualize the place.

Being safe, close your eyes and imagine the place where the last time there was an attack of fear. Mentally stand on it for a while, convincing yourself that it is safe and there were no rational reasons for excitement last time.

• Visualize the process.

Another way to deal with obsessive fear. Imagine climbing to the top or skydiving. First, “savor” the details: fantasize about the equipment, accompanying people, environmental conditions. Then move on to fantasies about the process itself: how the ascent or boarding of the plane will begin, who will be nearby, and so on. Gradually, in fantasies, bring the process to the end - climb to the top or jump off the plane.

• Learn to relax nervous system using meditation, breathing exercises or auto-training.

Not always independent steps of the patient lead to the desired results. Sometimes you need to seek help from specialists.

Among the medical treatment methods, experts recommend the following:

• Hypnotherapy.

One of the fastest and most effective techniques that allows you to correct the attitude to the problem in the subconscious. As a rule, the interaction between the patient and the specialist consists of two stages:

1. Immersion of the patient in a deep trance, close to half-asleep. At this stage, the rigid control of consciousness is reduced, and the specialist gains access to the subconscious. This allows you to find in the depths of the unconscious the situation that triggered the phobia, to survive and rethink it together with the patient.
2. Reprogramming of the subconscious, suggestion of a new model of behavior. Through this stage, the practitioner eliminates the need to avoid certain behaviors and resort to replacement rituals caused by the phobia.

Hypnotherapy is effective when the patient is suggestible.

• Cognitive-behavioral technique.

The purpose of the technique is to educate the patient to properly respond to height and control panic attacks. The doctor's work with the patient consists of three stages:

1. The patient is taught techniques for controlling emotions and relaxation without the use of medications.
2. Provocation of fear. The doctor accompanies the patient to a small but uncomfortable height. AT modern medicine virtual reality devices are also used to create a sense of height.
3. The patient applies the acquired skills, using the mastered techniques, and reduces the discomfort.

The task of the technique is to ensure that the patient, using knowledge about the control of emotions and relaxation, reduces the discomfort from being at a height to zero.

• Play therapy.

The essence of the technique lies in the fact that the patient is allowed to play computer games in which the hero is forced to overcome high obstacles, jump, climb, and so on. Controlling the hero, the patient is forced to face his fear in the virtual world. He gets used to it and over time in the real world the phobia recedes.

• Complex treatment.

A technique used in especially severe cases. Includes psychotherapeutic techniques in combination with a number of drugs.

From medications Four types of drugs are used in this treatment:

1. Vitamins.
2. Sedatives.
3. Beta inhibitors, which block the release of adrenaline and prevent a panic attack.
4. Drugs that stimulate blood circulation in the brain.

Acrophobia is a curable disease. If its causes are still a matter of debate in medical circles, then treatments are known and effective. Among them are those that a person is able to use on their own, and those that are used only by qualified medical professionals.