Acrophobia (from the Greek: ἄκρον , ákron , meaning "peak, summit, edge" and φόβος , phóbos , "fear") is an extreme or irrational fear of heights. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort that share both similar etiology and options for treatment.
Acrophobia can be dangerous, as sufferers can experience a panic attack in a high place and become too agitated to get themselves down safely.
"Vertigo" is often used, incorrectly, to describe a fear of heights, but it is more accurately a spinning sensation that occurs when one is not actually spinning. It can be triggered by looking down from a high place but, this alone, does not describe vertigo. True vertigo can be triggered by almost any type of movement (e.g. standing up, sitting down, walking) or change in visual perspective (e.g. sqatting down, walking up or down stairs, looking out of the window of a moving car or train). Vertigo is qualified as height vertigo when referring to dizziness triggered by heights.
Causes
Traditionally, acrophobia has been attributed, like other phobias, to conditioning or a traumatic experience involving heights. Recent studies have cast doubt on this explanation; fear of falling, along with fear of loud noises, is one of the most commonly suggested inborn or non-associative fears. The newer non-association theory is that fear of heights is an evolved adaptation to a prehistory where falls posed a significant danger. The degree of fear varies and the term phobia is reserved for those at the extreme end of the spectrum. It has been argued by researchers that fear of heights is an instinct found in many mammals, including domestic animals and human beings. Experiments using what are known as "visual cliffs" have shown human infants and toddlers, as well as other animals of various ages, to be reluctant in venturing onto a glass floor with a view of a few meters of apparent fall-space below it. While an innate cautiousness around heights is helpful for survival, an extreme fear can interfere with the activities of everyday life, such as climbing up a flight of stairs or a ladder or even standing on a chair.
A possible contributing factor is dysfunction in maintaining balance. In this case the anxiety is both well founded and secondary. The human balance system integrates proprioceptive, vestibular and nearby visual cues to reckon position and motion. As height increases visual cues recede and balance becomes poorer even in normal people. However most people respond by shifting to more reliance on the proprioceptive and vestibular branches of the equilibrium system.
An acrophobic, on the other hand, continues to overrely on visual signals whether because of inadequate vestibular function or incorrect strategy. Locomotion at a high elevation requires more than normal visual processing. The visual cortex becomes overloaded resulting in confusion. Some proponents of the alternative view of acrophobia warn that it may be ill-advised to encourage acrophobics to expose themselves to height without first resolving the vestibular issues. Research is underway at several clinics.
Treatment
There have been a number of promising studies into using virtual reality as a treatment for acrophobia.
See also
- List of phobias
- Vertigo
References
- ^ Menzies, RG; Clarke, JC. (1995). "The etiology of acrophobia and its relationship to severity and individual response patterns". Behaviour Research and Therapy 33 (31): 499–501. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(95)00023-Q . 7677717 . http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7677717&dopt=Abstract . Retrieved 2007-09-10 .
- ^ Gibson, E. J.; Walk, R. D. (1960). "The "visual cliff"". Scientific American (202): 67–71 . http://www.wadsworth.com/psychology_d/templates/student_resources/0155060678_rathus/ps/ps05.html . Retrieved 2007-12-04 .
- ^ Furman, Joseph M (May 2005). "Acrophobia and pathological height vertigo: indications for vestibular physical therapy?". Physical Therapy . http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Acrophobia+and+pathological+height+vertigo:+indications+for+...-a0140560534 . Retrieved 2007-09-10 .
- ^ Jacob, Rolf G; Woody, Shelia R; Clark, Duncan B. et al. (December 1993). "Discomfort with space and motion: A possible marker of vestibular dysfunction assessed by the situational characteristics questionnaire". Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment 15 (4): 299–324. doi: 10.1007/BF00965035 . ISSN 0882-2689 . http://www.springerlink.com/content/x84403511772np14/ . Retrieved 2007-09-10 .
- ^ Brandt, T; F Arnold, W Bles, T S Kapteyn (89). "The mechanism of physiological height vertigo. I. Theoretical approach and psychophysics". Acta Otolaryngol (5-6) .
- ^ Whitney, SL; Jacob, Rolf G; Sparto, BG (May 2005). "Acrophobia and pathological height vertigo: indications for vestibular physical therapy?". Physical Therapy 85 (5): 443–458. ISSN 15842192 . http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=15842192 . Retrieved 2007-09-10 .
- ^ Emmelkamp, Paul; Mary Bruynzeel, Leonie Drost, Charles A. P. G van der Mast (1 June 2001). "Virtual Reality Treatment in Acrophobia: A Comparison with Exposure in Vivo". CyberPsychology & Behavior 4 (3): 335–339. doi: 10.1089/109493101300210222 . ...
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