It’s totally normal for heights to make you feel apprehensive or queasy.
Because of the intensity of this fear, people with acrophobia often avoid any situation that involves heights.
At a Glance
Acrophobia can cause emotional, physical, and behavioral symptoms.
Verywell / Madelyn Goodnight
This fear may be related to some other conditions, including vertigo and other phobias.
Fortunately, acrophobia is very treatable.
Exposure therapy and CBT are the two most common ways to help people overcome their severe fear of heights.
Symptoms of Acrophobia
Emotionally and physically, the response to acrophobia is similar to any otherphobia.
Common reactions include descending immediately, crawling on all fours, and kneeling or otherwise lowering your body.
You may put off home repairs for fear of using a ladder.
You might avoid visiting friends' homes if they have balconies or upstairs picture windows.
This avoidance can interfere with your ability to function in your daily life.
Acrophobia can induce feelings that are similar to vertigo, but the three conditions are not the same.
See a doctor for tests if you experience vertigo symptoms.
Bathmophobia
The fear of slopes and stairs, called bathmophobia, is sometimes related to acrophobia.
Although many people with bathmophobia have acrophobia, most acrophobia sufferers do not also experience bathmophobia.
However, climacophobia may occur in tandem with acrophobia.
Aerophobia
This is the specific fear of flying.
How Common Is Acrophobia?
You might avoid situations, people, experiences, or opportunities because of your fear.
What Causes Acrophobia?
Acrophobia seems to be at least partially ingrained, possibly as an evolutionary survival mechanism.
Nonetheless, most children and adults use caution but are not inordinately afraid of heights.
Acrophobia, like all phobias, feels like a hyper-reaction of the normal fear response.
This may be a learned response to a previous fall or a parent’s nervous reaction to heights.
Research also indicates that irrational fear of falling plays a greater role than the perception of height.
The condition also frequently co-occurs alongside other psychiatric conditions, including anxiety and depression.
Instead, this condition would be diagnosed as a specific phobia.
With regular exposure, their anxiety eventually declines.
Traditionally, actual exposure to heights is the most common solution.
However, a research study published in 2017 demonstrated that virtual reality may be just as effective.
The drugD-cycloserinehas been in clinical trials for anxiety disorder treatment since 2008.
Regular exercise can also help.
It’s normal to be a little apprehensive about heights, especially when they are extreme.
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