I fear heights.

I was leading a climb up Mt Baker two years ago when we came to a snow bridge spanning a glacial crevasse so deep I could smell chinese food cooking. I scurried across then took up the slack to protect the next climber on our rope team, an ER Doc with no previous climbing experience. He paused before starting, looked down into the blackness and drew a long whiff of chow mien. His feet shuffled back and forth but his body did not advance. I’d seen this before. 

“The bridge will hold,” I shouted. “I just crossed it. Super solid. Totally bomber.” He leaned forward, then straightened and tried again yet remained immobile. “There’s no shame in crawling across,” I offered, though actually there is a lot of shame in it. He dropped to hands and knees, proceeding at a speed so cautious as to amplify the risk of collapse by ten fold. 

Like most fears, a fear of heights originates from our catalogue of self preservation measures. It activates a valuable sense of caution when the risk of injury or death is present. In and of itself, a fear of heights is not a bad thing. But for some this fear can manifest in an irrational form, like being afraid to ride an escalator or to meet a friend at her office on the ninth floor. For most of the Sardine Safety nation this is not a problem, but one reader confessed this affliction recently and so, for the sake of all who suffer silently, I will take it on.

Do something about it.

First off, those who suffer from a severe fear of heights should do something about it. A lot of joy is robbed from a person’s life as they miss out on various activities which in fact present little or no risk at all. What’s worse, the regular presentation of fear can have real psychological and physical costs. So here are some do’s and don’ts offered by the folks who treat this disorder. 

Don’t try a self-imposed shock therapy by forcing yourself to do something that scares the hell out of you, like sky diving or riding a roller coaster. Though you will survive the experience the people who talked you into it won’t, and it is likely your phobia will end up worse than ever. 

Do try to understand your triggers. Do you experience this fear in situations not involving heights? You may just suffer from a general anxiety disorder. Is the context consistent with a bad experience? For instance, did your older brother talk you into jumping off the carport roof using a common umbrella as a parachute when you were 6 and now you feel fearful every time you stand at the edge of a carport roof? 

Do consider the actual likelihood of your feared event. Those with milder forms of a phobia can sometimes be helped by fact-based considerations. The Insurance Industry Table of Mortality Risk sheds a bit of light on this topic. Lets take one specific example; death by falling from a ladder or scaffolding. In America, your odds of dying by this means is 1 in 752,000 for any given year. That’s about the same likelihood as drowning in your bathtub. Do you ride a motorcycle? You are five times more likely to die in a motorcycle crash. If logic has any say in the matter you should either stop fearing falling from a ladder or start fearing your bathtub  …and a long list of other things.

Do consider the probable outcome of the feared event. The vast majority of falls off a ladder end up with a bruise, not death. You can handle that. 

Do practice safety. With proper use there is no reason to fear falling. Remember, as with boating and sex, three points of contact should be maintained at all times.

Do relax. Mindfulness exercises like meditation or yoga help to quiet the niggling voices of neurosis.

Do consider cutting down on caffeine. High levels of caffeine consumption have been shown to aggravate people’s acrophobia. 

Do experience your fear …in tiny escalating increments. You might chose a tall building and see how close you can get to the first floor window before your fear engages. Take one step back, practice your relaxation technique for five minutes, then see if you can manage to move one step forward. In this fashion you may be able to move up, floor by floor, chasing your fear skyward. 

Virtual reality has opened up promising therapies in the treatment of various phobias, allowing patients to experience visual stimuli that might otherwise trigger their fear while knowing they are in no real danger and enjoy the coaching voice of a trusted support person. Click here for a great article on this. 

Do consider seeing a Therapist. You don’t have to feel this way. Many like you have been cured by the careful guidance of a trained therapist. Here is an article on acrophobia on the Good Therapy site. You will see a search feature on the right hand side that allows you to enter your zip code and find a list of credentialed therapists in your area. 

You can beat this thing! I promise! I am so confident that I will wager $100 on it. That’s right. If you do all of the above and die having still not shed your fear of heights I will pay you $100. No one has yet come to collect.