Most of us may not be aware of the term-Acrophobia. It is the medical term associated with those who are afraid of height. Depending on the phobia's severity, an acrophobiac person may fear to climb the ladder or go to the top floor of any building. Here, we will find it's symptoms, causes and treatment.People sometimes confuse acrophobia with a similar kind of medical condition called vertigo which causes dizziness and spinning sensation. One should consult a doctor immediately if he/she faces such kind of situation.
People suffering from Acrophobia faces a sense of fear when at height. They tend to lose their balance. People affected can be seen crawling, kneeling and lowering their body when they find themselves at height. More than physical, the mental effects can also be identified easily. They feel terrified and paralyzed. They also start sweating, shaking and feel an increase in their heartbeat during that time.These people can always be seen to avoid any situation where they have to remain at a place situated at some height.
Acrophobia - Causes
According to the experts, acrophobia is a hyper-reaction to the normal fear reaction. It is partially believed to have been established due to evolutionary survival mechanism. Expert also believes that this may be due to a previous accident or memory of a previous fall or due to their parent's nervous reaction to height.
Acrophobia - Treatment
Traditionally, actual exposure to the height was supposed to be the solution, where the sufferer was taken to a high place along with a professional therapist, and taught to face the fear. Otherwise, Cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT is considered to be the treatment in most of the phobias. Patients are also taught how to reduce the panic time when put into the phobic situation and regain emotional control.
Acrophobia is considered to be quite dangerous if the panic level goes up too much. The person may tend to take some unsafe moves in order to avoid the situation leading to fatal result in some cases. Proper treatment should be done to avoid such a situation.
4 comments:
Thanks Vikram for that valuable addition. Yes, you are absolutely right.That is another way of Acrophobia treatment, I mentioned the most commonly used methods.
Nicely put I agree for the most part.
Thanks for passing the valuable comment. I really appreciate. Keep visiting.
[...] One of the most common phobias, Acrophobia or Allodoxaphobia is the extreme fear of heights which effects the quality of life.It is considered as a hyper reaction to normal response to fear. A person with this disease gets panic when they reach heights. when it gets severe the person might restrain from climbing to heights or even going to a flat which is on top level. An Acrophobic might experience dizziness or feel like spinning when he reach height and might get confused witht he disease `vertigo’. Symptoms of AcrophobiaA person with Acrophobia on reaching heights will experience Severe anxietyLosing sense of balance trying to cling to some thing, descending at the spot, crawling, kneeling etc.BreathlessnessHeart palpitations or anxiety attackDizzinessfear of dyingExcessive sweatingShakingNauseaDry mouthInability to speak or think clearlyMight cry or yell out CausesThe phobia is caused by extreme fear of injury or death caused by a fall. At times a bitter childhood exerience may be the reason.
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