Original title:
Myth: Fear of heights is "timidity"
gossip:
Whether you are a climbing enthusiast or not, you may find that one of the amusement projects that the domestic mountaineering scenic spots in the past two years especially like to engage in is the "high-altitude glass trestle". Hundreds of meters high, the transparent glass bridge built between the two mountains, if it is accompanied by strong winds, let alone go up and walk, just looking at it from a distance feels a little scary. However, if you find that a friend is afraid of heights in a high-rise office, or even sweaty, heart-racing, and difficult to think normally, you need to pay attention - your friend may have "fear of heights"! Fear of heights is nothing more than timidity and encouragement.
Interpretation of the Truth:
01
Fear of heights is a disease
It has nothing to do with guts and courage
Fear of heights is a real psychological disorder, is a common anxiety disorder, not in the general sense of "timidity", specifically manifested as fear of standing on a tall building or on the top of the mountain, close to the bridge, subway road and other heart will also feel fear. In general, the point of fear of people with heights is usually the fear of falling from a high place will be injured, and some people with fear of heights will have an abnormal, uncontrollable urge to jump down, and will feel as if there is an external force pulling them to the edge of the high ground; and may even have visual fantasies, even if the feet stand firmly on the ground, but the body will fall downwards. Feeling like you're falling or sliding down is a form of somatic representation that causes people with fear of heights to feel dizzy.
Fear of balconies, stairs and elevators is all related to fear of heights. These fears are strong even when there are guardrails or enough away from the edges of heights that it is impossible to fall.
02
"Fear of heights" is an innate form of self-preservation
According to statistics, one in fifteen people in the world will have a tendency to fear heights to a greater or lesser extent, and to some extent, "fear of heights" has evolutionary significance. This "fear" itself is also a protective measure for human beings to protect their own lives, which can make people instinctively stay away from dangerous areas and reduce the chance of casualties caused by falling from a high place.
In addition, there is another point that makes people avoid the high places, that is, human beings have become accustomed to seeing things from a perspective parallel to the ground, and at high places, people's eyes are perpendicular to the ground. For example, if a person sees a car on the ground, he sees the side, and from the plane down, he can only see the cover. Although they are all three-dimensional, it is necessarily inappropriate to convert the ability to balance the body and the ability to distinguish directions in the horizontal perspective to the vertical perspective. After the visual information obtained changes, the body is very easy to lose balance and sense of direction, which will cause people to feel the lack of security, and need to return to the horizontal perspective as soon as possible. The above two reasons determine that "fear of height" has become a fear rooted in everyone's heart.
Source: Popular Science China
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