View through the glass floor of the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada. A person with acrophobia might suffer a Panic Attack or be immobilised by such a view.

Acrophobia (from Greek ἄκρος, meaning "summit") 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. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2048 × 1536 pixel, file size: 863 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The name of this image (or all images in this article or category) is misspelled, incomplete, misleading, cryptic, or does not conform to an established naming... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2048 × 1536 pixel, file size: 863 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The name of this image (or all images in this article or category) is misspelled, incomplete, misleading, cryptic, or does not conform to an established naming... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Panic Disorder. ... Fear is a powerful biological feeling of unpleasant risk or danger, either real or imagined. ... Height is the measurement of distance between a specified point and a corresponding plane of reference. ... Specific phobia is a generic term for any kind of anxiety disorder that amounts to an unreasonable or irrational fear related to exposure to specific objects or situations. ...

Acrophobia can be dangerous, as sufferers can experience a panic attack in a high place and become too agitated to get themselves down safely. Some acrophobics also suffer from urges to throw themselves off high places, despite not being suicidal. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Panic Disorder. ...

"Vertigo" is often used, incorrectly, to describe the fear of heights, but it is more accurately described as a spinning sensation, which may be caused by looking down from a high place, as well as by some other stimuli. Vertigo, a specific type of dizziness, is a major symptom of a balance disorder. ...

Causes of acrophobia

Traditionally, acrophobia has been attributed, like other irrational fears, to conditioning or a traumatic experience involving heights. Recent studies have cast doubt on this explanation^[1]; 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. Classical conditioning (also Pavlovian conditioning, respondent conditioning or alpha-conditioning) is a type of associative learning. ... Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... See also Extreme value, Extreme sports, Extremophile Extreme was an American funk metal / hair metal / hard rock band which achieved popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. ...

This extreme fear can be counter-productive in normal everyday life though, with some sufferers being afraid to go up a flight of stairs or a ladder, or to stand on a chair, table, (etc.). Stairs, staircase, stairway, flight of stairs are all names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps. ... For other uses, see Ladder (disambiguation). ... Typical Western wooden chair A chair is a piece of furniture for sitting, consisting of a seat, a back, and sometimes arm rests, commonly for use by one person. ... A wooden dining table and chairs. ...

Another possible contributing factor is dysfunction in maintaining balance. In this case the anxiety is both well founded and secondary. According to the dysfunction model, a normal person uses both vestibular and visual cues appropriately in maintaining balance. ^[2][3] An acrophobic overrelies 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. ^{[4] [5]} It has been suggested that Equilibrioception be merged into this article or section. ...

Popular culture

• Vertigo — a film by Alfred Hitchcock in which detective John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart), a police officer, feels vertigo and becomes acrophobic after losing his partner in a high fall.
• Monk — Adrian Monk has acrophobia.
• High Anxiety — a spoof by Mel Brooks in which the main character, a leading psychiatrist, is acrophobic, but throughout the film the disorder is medically referred to as "high anxiety"
• In The Muppet Christmas Carol, Rizzo the Rat claims that he is acrophobic.
• Bill Engvall is acrophobic

For other uses of the word, see Vertigo. ... This article or section includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an iconic, Academy Award-winning American film and stage actor, best known for his self-effacing screen persona. ... A police officer is a warranted employee of a police service. ... Monk is an Emmy Award winning television show about the private detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub), afflicted by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and multiple phobias. ... Information Gender Male Age 48 Occupation SFPD Consultant Title Mr. ... High Anxiety is a 1977 comedy film directed by and starring Mel Brooks. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that studies and treats mental and emotional disorders (see mental illness). ... High Anxiety is a 1977 comedy film directed by and starring Mel Brooks. ... The Muppet Christmas Carol was the fourth feature film to star The Muppets, and the first produced after the death of Muppets creator Jim Henson. ... Rizzo the Rat is a Muppet, performed by Steve Whitmire. ...

References