Not long ago, the news of "a driver in Jiangsu who took the Guizhou highway was scared out of fear of heights" rushed to the hot search. Mao Mou, a 59-year-old truck driver, pulled aluminum from Guangdong to Chongqing, passing through the Rongzun Expressway in Guizhou, he saw the high drop between the curved viaduct in front of him and the ground, and suddenly felt unwell, dizzy, weak hands and feet, and no longer dared to drive forward, so he had to stop and call for help, "The bridge is too high, I am afraid of heights, I dare not open."
Seeing this news, netizens have expressed empathy and said their various experiences of fear of heights:
"Every time I had to travel by plane, the moment the plane flew off the runway, my heart hung and I had to comfort my fellow people who were equally afraid of heights until they landed safely."
"That year, I went to Ocean Park in Hong Kong to experience the 'speed trip' and realized that I had a fear of heights. The jump machine rises slowly, the heart beats faster, the breathing is short, and the hands and feet are cold. By the time I reached the apex and descended sharply, I felt my heart run to my throat, my breathing was paused, my hands and feet were numb, and I was hanging down. My intuition told me that my life would be short. Fortunately, the experience time was short, and after a while, he returned to the human world, and since then, he has had an indelible fear in his heart. ”
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Why are people afraid of heights? Is fear of heights a disease? Is there a fear of heights that can be overcome? Today, The City Express invited Lin Zheng, director of the Department of Psychiatry of the Second Hospital of Zhejiang University, and Zhang Haisheng, deputy chief physician of the Department of Clinical Psychology of the First People's Hospital of Hangzhou, to talk.
Truck driver suddenly "fear of heights"
Maybe an acute panic attack
The truck driver said that he could not continue to drive because of "fear of heights", but Lin Zheng, director of the Department of Psychiatry of the Second Hospital of Zhejiang University, analyzed that according to the news, the situation of the driver Mao Mou cannot be simply classified as a fear of heights.
If it is a severe fear of heights, it is foreseeable and will consciously avoid driving to "high places" beforehand. Even if you are really afraid of heights, you will not suddenly appear in this state of inability to drive when driving on the highway.
"The degree of fear in Mao's heart at that time far exceeded the danger of reality, in fact, others in the closed carriage, will reduce the impact of fear of heights on the psychology, not so panic." However, he himself could not overcome it, releasing excessive fear, bringing about serious autonomic disorders, weakness of hands and feet, inability to move, and even a sense of near death. So I judge that Mao mou is largely an acute panic attack, which is a manifestation of an acute anxiety attack. Director Lin Zheng said, "Acute panic attacks can not require obvious causes or special situational stimulation, and some people will have seizures in some special circumstances, such as driver Mao Mou may be stimulated by the fear of heights scene." ”
Director Lin Zheng said that acute panic will be encountered more often in the emergency department. "These patients have a heart attack, shortness of breath, symptoms may seem severe, but the indicators of examination are often normal, and in the case of heart disease and other life-threatening diseases, they need to go to a psychiatric or psychological department, which can be cured by drug treatment and behavioral treatment."
Is timidity a fear of heights?
Fear of heights and fear of heights, are they the same thing?
So, why do people fear heights? Is timidity a fear of heights? Is heights fear and fear of heights the same thing?
Zhang Haisheng, deputy chief physician of the Department of Clinical Psychology of the First People's Hospital of Hangzhou, said that the fear of heights comes more from the innate self-defense mechanism of human beings, which is an instinct. When people are at a certain height, facing things that may cause danger to themselves, there will be an instinctive fear, want to actively avoid danger to protect themselves, so as to stop or retreat, which is a protective reflex.
Here, we can look at a famous "visual cliff" (visual cliff) experiment. The experiment was designed by American psychologists Walker and Gibson in the 1960s to study infants' levels of deep perceptual development. The experimental device is a 1.2-meter-high table for babies to crawl on top of which is a block of clear thick glass. Half of the table is covered with red and white plaid cloth (shoal), while the other half is spread on the floor under the table with the same pattern of plaid cloth, creating a visual cliff (abyss).
The researchers placed babies 6-14 months old on a "cliff" to see if they could perceive the cliff and avoid it. Experiments have shown that even if the other side of the glass has its own mother calling, babies born about 6 months old will refuse to climb to the "cliff". That is, babies around 6 months old have deep vision, and people's fear of height is likely to be innate.
Timidity, which has a lot to do with people's personality, is mainly manifested in social barriers, easy to cringe when doing things; thin-skinned, dare not speak loudly; easy to be shy when encountering unfamiliar people, and so on. Therefore, timidity and fear of heights are not absolutely linked.
As for the fear of heights, Dr. Zhang Haisheng said that it is a special phobia, which is often manifested by excessive and unreasonable fear of height or the high environment. People with fear of heights are often not because of height problems, but because of psychological problems. There are streams showing that about 2%-5% of people have a fear of heights, and women are twice as likely as men.
If it affects normal life,
Often self-blame and pain
It may not just be fear of "high",
Or a disease
"Walking the glass boardwalk is frightening" "don't dare to sit on the Ferris wheel", many netizens leave a message saying that this situation is "fear of heights" or "fear of heights"?
Dr. Zhang Haisheng said that there are three main criteria for defining fear of heights.
First, physical symptoms. When at height or when fantasizing about being in a high place, people with fear of heights will have symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, dizziness and nausea, sweating palms, weak legs, and even feeling out of balance.
Second, active avoidance behavior. For objective things or environments, fear and tension that are inconsistent with the actual danger are generated and deliberately avoided. For example, the balcony of high-rise residences is actually very safe, and people with fear of heights often dare not come close. Another example is the high-altitude glass boardwalk, 50%-80% of people standing on it will indeed have a fear of heights, but the brain will tell them that it is safe, and they can overcome panic. And people with fear of heights, in addition to avoidance, even have the compulsive intention of "worrying that they will not be able to control the impulse to jump down".
Third, social functions are impaired, affecting normal life. They are worried about the scenes of daily life in the heights, and they often blame themselves for being timid and miserable.
"Of course, in the end, based on clinical symptoms, a comprehensive judgment will be made whether a person really has a fear of heights." Dr. Zhang Haisheng said.
Because I was afraid of height, I did not dare to cross the Qiantang River
The Xiaoshan man had no choice but to give up his job
I haven't been to the main city of Hangzhou for 9 years
For the fear of heights, Director Lin Zheng also emphasized this point - knowing that the fear emotion is unreasonable and unnecessary, but it cannot be controlled, so that it seriously affects normal life.
"Fear of heights varies in the degree of fear and can be seen as a spectrum from low to high. A slight fear of heights that everyone has, is the innate fear of human beings. When you are afraid of heights, if you can think clearly about the problem and tell yourself that it is not dangerous and safe, it is normal to be able to divert your attention. ”
"And fear of heights is a pathology, patients will be afraid of heights feeling infinite magnification, even overwhelmed by fear, serious self-restraint, dare not take the sightseeing elevator, do not dare to drive on the bridge, do not dare to go to high-rise shopping malls, do not dare to go to climb the mountain with friends and so on." Even if you just think about the scene of the ascent, or hear the words related to 'high', you are afraid, and this pathology needs to be treated. ”
Director Lin Zheng once treated a male patient who was afraid to drive across the Qiantang River because he was afraid of height.
The patient's surname is Wu, he lives in Xiaoshan and works in Hangzhou. Nearly 20 years ago, because there was no river tunnel, the only way from Xiaoshan to the main city of Hangzhou was to cross the bridge.
One day, Mr. Wu drove across the river, saw the gap between the bridge and the river, and suddenly thought that the bridge deck would collapse, he would fall down, resulting in weakness in his hands and feet, chest tightness and panic and other discomforts, and he was still terrified when he arrived at the office. Every time I opened, the situation was serious, and later, the sense of fear became more and more serious, and I had no choice but to quit my job.
At that time, hangzhou's top three hospitals were mainly distributed in the main urban area of Hangzhou, and it was absolutely impossible for him to drive across the river to see a doctor, nor did he dare to take someone else's car, so he could only seek treatment in the local hospital. However, after a few years, the situation did not improve.
Until 2013, with the completion of the Binjiang Branch of the Second Hospital of Zhejiang University, Mr. Wu, who did not dare to cross the river for 9 years, quickly went to the hospital to hang up the expert number of director of Psychiatric Colin Zheng, and wanted to ask him to show himself. After a series of examinations, Director Lin Zheng diagnosed Mr. Wu as a fear of heights. With both medication and behavioural treatment, Mr. Wu's condition gradually improved, and he no longer panicked about high-altitude scenes such as driving across the river.
What factors are associated with fear of heights?
Dr. Zhang Haisheng pointed out that phobia patients have a clear object of fear, and fear of heights is a continuous and excessive fear of things related to "high". In addition to instinctive reactions, it is related to genetic factors, innate anxious constitution, personality basis, psychological factors, and some events in the growth experience.
"The 'amygdala' of the human brain is the brain tissue that produces emotions, recognizes emotions, and regulates them. For people with fear of heights, it is the 'fear center'. People with heights may see someone fall from a height in childhood, or fall off when climbing high on their own, and these scenes cause the brain to have unpleasant experiences or terrible memories of 'high', forming a psychological cue. Therefore, when patients come into contact with high objects and scenes, they will immediately make emotional responses, which do not need to go through the thinking of the cerebral cortex, but the brain nerves directly form a conditioned reflex and stimulate an anxiety response. ”
In addition, according to the research of American scientists included in CNKI, it is believed that height fear is related to overestimating the distance in the vertical direction. The California State University research group in the United States believes that people who are afraid of heights are obviously overestimating the distance in the vertical direction, and there is a deviation from the actual distance, and the greater the deviation of the distance judgment, the stronger the fear of heights. Standing on the roof of a 30-meter-high building, the first reaction of people who are afraid of heights is to judge that the location is far higher than 30 meters, and then have a normal sense of fear of this situation.
Can the fear of heights be overcome?
OK! Don't shy away, adapt gradually
Is there a way to overcome the fear of heights? Should I cure my fear of heights? This is a concern for many people. Dr. Zhang Haisheng gave the method of "not avoiding, slowly exposing and adapting".
"In clinical clinics, there are not many people who go to the doctor because of fear of heights, because they avoid the object of fear, and the impact on life is relatively small. If you want to overcome, don't avoid the object of fear and slowly adapt. ”
"But fear of heights is different, it's pathological and needs treatment." Dr. Zhang Haisheng said, "In the treatment of phobias, the more clinical use is 'systematic desensitization therapy'. ”
Dr. Zhang Haisheng explained that for patients with fear of heights, systematic desensitization therapy is mainly to induce patients to slowly expose the anxiety and fear of fear of heights, and to combat this anxiety through psychological relaxation, so as to achieve the purpose of eliminating anxiety or fear. This method is staged, relatively gentle, so that patients have a gradual tolerance to the high stimulation of the outside world.
There is also a kind of full irrigation therapy, also known as exposure therapy, that is, to let the patient directly enter the high environment that makes him most afraid, without any relaxation training, and quickly correct the patient's misconception of high stimulation, so as to eliminate anxiety and fear. Among them, it is divided into real scene exposure and imaginary exposure, and some domestic hospitals have carried out VR combined biofeedback technology. Of course, which method to use requires a professional doctor to formulate a plan according to the actual situation.
In addition, there is drug treatment, the needs of some special occupations, such as "Spider-Man", if they are afraid of heights, then taking anti-anxiety drugs before taking up work can help reduce discomfort symptoms. After adapting again and again, because of the regularity and familiarity of the work, and then go up to a certain height, it is not considered to be an external threat, and there will be no more discomfort.
(In order to protect privacy, the patient in this article is a pseudonym)
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