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Look at these two pictures
Is there a feeling of suffocation with dizziness and soft legs?
What is fear of heights?
What we call the fear of heights
It is generally the normal physiological response of the body
It can make people instinctively stay away from dangerous areas
Reduces the risk of falling from heights
And what we really should be afraid of
It's a fear of heights
People with fear of heights are even in
Have a guardrail or stay away enough from the edges
It is impossible to drop it
There is still a strong sense of fear
It has nothing to do with guts and courage
It's a mental illness
It is classified as an anxiety disorder in psychiatry
For example
I didn't dare to work in a high-rise office building
Seeing others on high
Your heart beats faster, your chest tightness and you even faint
There are symptoms of anxiety and autonomy at the time of the attack
Dry mouth, increased heart rate, flushing, etc
Some patients stand on high ground
You may even be tempted to jump down
Clinical psychology professor Jennifer Harms thinks
This impulse is because of standing on a high place
Man is stimulated by a real desire to die
It could also be that the brain mistakenly believes that "jumping" is safe
Why are humans afraid of heights?
This also starts with the theory of evolution
It goes back tens of thousands of years
When our ancestors were in danger
Triggers the brain's "death anxiety" mechanism
At this point, the amygdala sends a red flag
Stimulates fear and secretes the adrenal glands
People will feel it immediately
Dizziness, soft legs, shivering and sweating, rapid heartbeat, chest pain, and a strong feeling of suffocation
So as to unleash your potential
Allows you to escape in dangerous situations
And in human evolution
After the tragic lesson of countless people falling from a high place and falling to their deaths
The amygdala is terrified when it sees the heights
Even if you are standing on a high place with protective measures
It still feels "dangerous ahead"
Thus expanding your fears
Makes you feel a fear of heights
That is, human beings have become accustomed to using it
See things from a perspective parallel to the ground
When we look down from above
The line of sight is close to perpendicular to the ground
When the visual information changes
The body is extremely prone to loss of balance and sense of direction
It can make people feel insecure and afraid
How to treat fear of heights?
Systematic desensitization
Usually, you can consciously perform ascending exercises
Start with a level you can accept
Then gradually increase the height
Exposure therapy
Direct contact with situations that give rise to horrific anxiety
Hold on until the tension goes away
kinesiatrics
Vision, internal perception and muscles
It is the element that we control the balance
Maintain a healthy physique through exercise
Makes the balancing system work properly
The fear of heights will not be so serious
Pharmacotherapy
If it is indeed particularly serious
Medications may be used
Taking the drug eliminates the autonomic response
Reduce alert levels
(Medication to be used under the guidance of a doctor)
At the same time, the fear of heights is an innate protection of me
After reading the tweet
Stop laughing at the timidity of your fearful friends
Resources:
[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-.
[4] BAI Fubao. On the Nature of Death Anxiety[j].Medicine and Philosophy(a),2015,36(10):40-49.
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