Do you have a fear of heights?
By sharra1
@sharra1 (6340)
Australia
December 8, 2008 12:19am CST
I cannot stand on the edge of anything without fear and I remember falling once and not being able to see the ground. I was hanging off a tree branch and my mother was too busy laughing at me to tell me that my feet were only a foot off the ground. I just thought she was being so cruel.
What about you? Can you handle any height or are you afraid of them?
10 people like this
74 responses
@thebohemianheart (8827)
• United States
10 Dec 08
I am terrified of heights. There is an exit I have to take to get to my house, coming back from my Mom's. It is an over pass, with several over and underpasses under it, AND it curves. My palms get a little sweaty every time I have to take that exit. I have been driving that road for at least 30 years, and it still scares the crap out of me.
We went to San Francisco to visit a friend. She lived in Berkley, which is just a short distance, (over the Golden Gate Bridge)to the "Big City". She just had to give us a tour of San Francisco, and of course, we had to take the bridge to get there. I sat in the back seat of the car, with my eyes closed, all the way across.
I can be in high places, but I sure as hell don't LIKE being there!
2 people like this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
10 Dec 08
Oh dear I do not like driving near anything like an edge or cliff or anything scary. I think your highways are scary just looking at them with all those raise bits and so on. I like my roads on the ground. I can just handle bridges if I don't think about how high I am.
I have been told that is a lovely bridge but I would be terrified it would collapse when I was halfway across. Ooh that is scary just thinking about it.
3 people like this
@thebohemianheart (8827)
• United States
10 Dec 08
We call the one road in my area The Spaghetti Bowl, because that is kind of what it looks like with all the roads going over, and under, under and over.
The Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful, as long as I am looking at it from solid ground.*L*
2 people like this
@balacancer22 (1148)
• India
14 Dec 08
I really am afraid of heights if the support for me is not there and other than i'm not afraid of heights,but i feel a little pinch in me when i get to heighty places and once when i went to the highest point in asia i was even though a little scared about the place i really enjoyed seeing the birds view of how asia could be seen from there..it was the most beautiful experience of my life...happy mylotting...
2 people like this
@balacancer22 (1148)
• India
14 Dec 08
You have relly got on to my comment and that exactly is what i meant and i tell you,you should really visit one of these places to have a really good view of the things that is around and you could really enjoy it if its nature made,but wherein man made structure you cant get such beautifull experiences and hop you do it some day..happy mylotting...
1 person likes this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
14 Dec 08
Hmm I think I know what you mean. I can crawl to the edge and look down but I cannot stand near the edge as I am way too afraid of falling. In abseiling you have ropes around you so you can step over the edge and go down. I tried that but one cliff was too high for me to cope with.
Is that what you mean or have I missed it? Yes the view from heights is really amazing.
@gtdonna (1738)
•
14 Dec 08
Sharra welcome to the Acrophobia club. I do not like heights at all, and more so, I really, really do not like flying to the point that if I have to fly for whatever reason, I do not sleep for two days before my trip, this way when I board the airplane, I can instantly go to sleep and wake up just as the plane is landing...that is how bad my fear is
2 people like this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
14 Dec 08
Oh dear I do not like flying at all but I can cope if it is a big plane. I really hate the little ones where you can feel the aeroplane. I have flown in one once in the country and I was scared the whole time. The smaller the plane the more scared I am.
I cannot sleep on a plane very well at all.
1 person likes this
@walijo2008 (4644)
• United States
12 Dec 08
I'm so afraid of heights its not funny. I keep having this dream that I'm standing on the edge of a hill, and I'm afraid to look down because I know I will fall if I do. I can't even look out over a flight of stairs without feeling queasy...lol. Its awful, that means I can't ride anything that goes up in the air, even just a little bit, without getting dizzy, like an amusement park ride.
2 people like this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
13 Dec 08
I was like that when I was in my 20's but I tried to force myself to do things that challenged my fear. I never really got over it but I did learn to use things I could convince myself was safe.
I can use roller coasters but not the ones that drop and I am not very good on water slides. I can use ladders a little if I can keep my breathing from panicking but I am terrified of falling.
1 person likes this
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
8 Dec 08
It depends. I worked construction for a few years and I have walked on top of buildings and walked where there isn't floors but, I hate slow moving roller coasters. We have a park not far from here that the coaster stops at like 300 feet in the air for several seconds and that scares me lol Most generally I am not afraid of heights as long as the conditions are right.
2 people like this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
9 Dec 08
Wow scary. I can do roller coasters where I am all strapped in but I am scared walking over frames of buildings. Oooooh you are so brave! I could never work in construction.
Isn't it funny how we are all scared of heights but different types of heights are ok? I can handle some heights that others cannot but a little fall from a tree terrifies me.
1 person likes this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
18 Dec 08
But when I was growing up every job was a man's field, even working in the office I worked with men who were furious that we now got the same pay and kept telling me how superior they were.
I hated work in my youth as it was impossible to find a good job. Still I suppose its worse in construction.
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
9 Dec 08
Brave? No I think it's more like stupid working in "a mans field" with men that hate a smarter woman who was the boss lol
It is very strange that there is a vary in height fear.
1 person likes this
@kat_princess (1470)
• Philippines
10 Dec 08
Most of the time,I'm afraid of height.Geez!I don't think I would like to ride on a plane anymore.
2 people like this
@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
9 Dec 08
I would scare the pants off of you!! I love heights, have been known to take chances. I used to scare my mother!! LOL
I am MORE cautious these days, only because of a bad knee, as I fear twisting it funny, so I do not climb like I used to, otherwise I would be up high more often. LOL
2 people like this
@bellis716 (4799)
• United States
10 Dec 08
I was never afraid of heights until I became a senior citizen.
That must be nature's way of reminding me that I'm now more suspectable to fractures.
2 people like this
@Barb42 (4214)
• United States
8 Dec 08
I'm scared of heights of some sort. I remember going to see a basketball game my grandson was in a few years ago. The gym was one of those where you had to go down from the top to the seating. It was HIGH. Well, I had to go to the bathroom. I got up the steps fine, but I thought I was going to die, having to walk around the upper part of the court to get to the bathroom, since it was all open! I had to literally hug the wall to get there. Now, coming back out and around to go back down the steps wasn't bad. But I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I got up there and first started around the floor! I tried my best not to look to my right to see the floor!
1 person likes this
@Barb42 (4214)
• United States
12 Dec 08
Well, the area was very wide and the rails were over the court, which was way down! I tried clinging to the walls and almost passed out! There was just too much space there. I kept saying Lord help me out of this. I think that's the worse I've been. Usually, when the court is built like that, the area open isn't wide. I know the new gym at my grandchildren's school is huge, with 2 sets of seats on both sides, with a walk way in between and that never made me nervous at all. But that particular one was very scary.
1 person likes this
@mojcica (1511)
• Slovenia
9 Dec 08
Hi Sharra1,
just like you I fear heights, not the heights itself, I can stand on the edge and look down as long as there is a fence or something in front of me, so i feel safe. Its not like Im afraid looking down. But i cant stand on the edge or as you said climb trees or anything that makes me feel unsafe..I need some securitiy then its not such big of a deal.
2 people like this
@connieconstance (134)
• China
11 Dec 08
Well, I have a fear of heights too. When I stand at a place with is 20-30m above the ground and look at the ground, I will feel dizzy and my hands and feet become cold. So, I am afraid of heights. I am afraid of falling off, in fact that won't happen at all. But I can't control myself not to get that bad feeling. My freind told me that I can overcome it if I try to adapt to heights, step by step. At the begining,go to the place which is 15m above the ground and see the ground below, until the fear goes away. Then, try the 17m above the ground. Do it like that, after many times, a fear of heights will go away. Now, when I have the chance, I will stand at a high place, look at the ground ,and feel better now.
2 people like this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
12 Dec 08
I think that is natural. Our internal awareness of danger. I am glad you are not afraid that is a good way to be. I struggle to overcome mine all the time but will power can only win a little bit. There are some things I cannot do no matter how hard to try and will myself to.
2 people like this
@EmeraldLakeMist (5)
• China
8 Dec 08
i am not afraid of high place . because my dad taught me climb tress when I was yong. my friends call me monkey always. Haha~
1 person likes this
@EmeraldLakeMist (5)
• China
14 Dec 08
if you want overcome it ,i suggest you trying stand on a high place that you can abide and oversee. you can increase height a few day later. i think you will succeed.
1 person likes this
@James72 (26790)
• Australia
8 Dec 08
I used to be many moons ago sharra, but a tandem skydive overcame that fear quick smart! Nothing helps to conquer a fear of heights faster than being thrown out of a moving airplane at 12,500 feet! 
It was one of the best things I have ever done and although I sometimes get overly cautious when I am standing somewhere that is at a great height and looking down, I do not have a fraction of the fear I once had. I can't help but admire your Mother's sense of humour too I'm afraid! 
It was one of the best things I have ever done and although I sometimes get overly cautious when I am standing somewhere that is at a great height and looking down, I do not have a fraction of the fear I once had. I can't help but admire your Mother's sense of humour too I'm afraid! 1 person likes this
@James72 (26790)
• Australia
8 Dec 08
It is said that there is a split second of reasoning that needs to be overcome in situations like these. If you can identify that moment and move through it rapidly before it kicks in, anything is possible! This is what I did myself when I skydived. SUre I was strapped to someone else but it still took some courage from my end to allow myself to be led willingly out of that plane!
1 person likes this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
8 Dec 08
Yes well that is what Grandpa_Lash says as well. He reckons he would have been laughing himself silly. I have dreamed of sky diving but am not sure I would not get cold feet at the last minute.
I went abseiling once and I did two but I could not do the big one. I just looked at the edge and my fear beat my nerve and I have never tried again.
2 people like this
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
11 Jan 09
Not only can I handle heights, I love them and seek them out and have done so ever since I was a small child. At age two, I clearly remember telling my parents that I wanted to go "west" until reaching some mountains and that I wanted to go up them.
When I was around seven, I had a childhood illness, chicken pox, I think and was a bit delirious, and snuck out and climbed up on top of the roof and was happily looking down from the edge when my mum noticed I was missing and came out looking for me. She was calling my name and when I shouted down that I was "up here" the poor thing went hysterical.
In college we were supposed to trade bunks in the dormitory, so that nobody "had" to be on the top all of the time. My roommates were all afraid of sleeping on top, so I traded off with each of them in turn and got to have the top bunch all year long. I would never buy a single story house and always live in upstairs condos.
Oh, yes, and I love to fly!
1 person likes this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
11 Jan 09
I think that is excellent. I am glad to hear that you love heights. There is always a need for someone to take that top bunk or be the lead person in a climbing expedition you sound like you could do that.
Climbing on the roof at 7 I am impressed. I have never climbed on a roof and have no wish to go up. I can go up but I have real trouble coming down again. When I look down to find the ladder and see where the ground is I freeze and have trouble overcoming it.
1 person likes this
@suruchi86 (1873)
• India
27 May 09
Yes, I must admit frankly that I also have this phobia. I always fear of tripping whenever I'm looking down from a high place.
1 person likes this
@trisha_nava82 (1379)
• United States
12 Jan 09
I love being in high places. My husband on the other hand cannot stand being in high places. Thats why it is so hard for me to try and drag him to come and ride a roller coaster with me.
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
13 Jan 09
That must be hard when you want to do things together. My partner has no problem with heights and that leads him to encourage me to try things that I normally would not.
It can be very helpful to have a someone helping and encouraging you to try things that scare you. With his support some things do not seem quite so scary.
@maygodblessu44 (7336)
• India
15 Dec 08
Hello my dear sharra1 Ji,
Off course in normal manner, I can do that, as I come from eplace, where Holi river Ganges flows 12 months, so we were very much fond of standing at teh edge of top floor and jump into flowing river. But as i am circus man. i would not try. I was very much afraid to look on left, while we were climbing in Sri-Nagar area and for taht matter any Hill-tops. It is a natural thing. I was also afraid to go very near to the edge of jatty-staemer, when we went to watch Niagra Fall in US. I do not thing, it can be taken as -ve pont in any one's life. i feel it is a natural. may God bless you and have a great time.
1 person likes this
@maygodblessu44 (7336)
• India
12 Jan 09
Hello my friend sharral Ji,
There is nothing wrong if one or even you can not view deep down from hill-top orconcentrate yourself. This is not weakness. This is counted natural thing about a person. it is not necessary, if one can do, why not others. So just do not worry. May god bless you and have a great time.
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
9 Jun 09
Yep not looking down works for me sometimes. I am fine on other types I get more nervous the higher I go. I once nearly had a nasty accident when painting the roof edge. I was terrified but my father offered me a good amount of money to do the job so I braved it. There was one place where I could not get a really secure footing for the ladder and when I was at the top the ladder came away from the house. I was so scared the it would go over backwards and kill me but I managed to lean forwards and make it go back. I have never go that high again since then.
