Have you ever gone on a tough hike and finally made it to the tippy top of the mountain, all set to enjoy the beautiful views? But instead of feeling calm and peaceful, you felt dizzy, nervous, and scared. If that's happened to you, you might have something called a Fear of Heights.

A fear of heights can be scary and distressing. People with a fear of heights may feel scared, nervous, anxious, or have a panic attack when faced with heights. A fear of heights may also make you want to escape, run away, or even avoid heights altogether.

Having a fear of heights can be limiting. Some people only avoid extreme heights, while others avoid all heights. Avoiding heights can pose challenges to your everyday life. And it can even limit the things you can do regularly.

Dealing with a fear of heights can be exhausting and frustrating! Are you ready to face your fear of heights? In this article we’ll discuss what is a fear of heights, how you know if you have it, and what causes it. Keep reading to learn how to get over a Fear of Heights. Get relief from this phobia today!

What is a Fear of Heights?

Acrophobia is the term professionals use for a fear of heights. A fear of heights is a type of specific phobia that can be diagnosed by a mental health professional. It involves an irrational fear of heights, extreme anxiety or panic attacks, worrying about situations involving heights, and avoiding heights. Acrophobia is an anxiety disorder according to the DSM.

People with a fear of heights might avoid things like:

Climbing ladders
Walking up stairwells
Hiking
Sitting on the balcony at theatres
Driving on an overpass
Riding in a chair lift or gondola
Standing near a window in a highrise building
Rockclimbing
Crossing over bridges

Some people may only experience acrophobia when faced with extreme heights, but others can experience anxiety and panic when encountering any heights.

How do I know if I have a Fear of Heights?

Some people might feel dizzy, lose their balance, or experience vertigo if they are looking down from a highrise building or other height. These disturbances in vision, balance, and posture impact about 30% of the population according to researchers. In these situations, the person experiences a physiological reaction to the heights, which could be:

Physiological visual instability at height
Height vertigo
Visual intolerance to height

While height vertigo can include feelings of distress and anxiety, it is different than acrophobia, or the Fear of Heights. Acrophobia is characterized by an irrational fear of heights, avoidance of heights, and severe distress, anxiety, and panic.

Symptoms of anxiety and panic include:

Heart palpitations
Dizziness and lightheadedness
Nausea, vomiting, & upset stomach
Feeling hot, cold, or sweaty
Muscle tension & shakiness

Fear of Heights occurs in about 6.4% of the population and usually requires psychotherapy to improve. It is possible to have both a Fear of Heights and height vertigo at the same time. If you’re unsure if you are experiencing acrophobia, a mental health therapist can help evaluate and assess if this is a concern. Learn more about phobias and their treatment here.

What causes a Fear of Heights?

There is no single cause of acrophobia, and we often don’t know the cause of a fear of heights for sure. However, research suggests that some dislike of heights is normal for humans. Some fear around heights seems to be at least partially ingrained, maybe due to a survival mechanism. For example, falling from heights would be dangerous, and threaten our survival. Therefore being afraid and avoiding heights could keep us safe.

However, this natural hesitation or dislike of heights doesn’t explain why some people develop acrophobia. As with other types of phobias, there can be a link between past experiences and developing a phobia. For example, if someone has a bad experience falling out of a tree, or witnessing someone falling, that may increase the likelihood that they would develop acrophobia.

How to get over a Fear of Heights?

If you think you have a fear of heights, but aren’t ready to start therapy yet, you can start gradually facing the fear on your own. Here are some tips for facing your fear of heights on your own:

Start small, with something that’s only a little scary.
Look at pictures of the view from a tall building or a mountaintop.
Gradually face your fear of heights, little by little.
Slowly place yourself in safe situations involving heights.

For some people facing a Fear of Heights on your own might help reduce the anxiety and panic associated with the heights. However, it can be hard to do on your own because acrophobia can be very distressing. Seeking therapy from a mental health professional can help. Learn more about using therapy to treat phobias here.

Exposure therapy for Fear of Heights

According to the American Psychological Association, exposure therapy is a specialized type of treatment that is designed to help people face their fears. When someone is afraid of something, like heights, they tend to avoid the feared situation. While avoidance can help reduce anxiety in the short term, it can actually make the fear (and anxiety) worse in the long term.

In exposure therapy, the mental health professional will help you break the pattern of fear and avoidance. They’ll work with you to “expose” you to the things you fear and avoid safely and gradually. Exposure helps reduce fear and decrease avoidance over time.

According to the APA, exposure therapy is helpful for phobias, like acrophobia. There are different types of exposures. Your mental health professional will determine which approach is best for you.

In vivo exposure: Directly facing the feared situation, in real life. For example, someone with acrophobia might be asked to stand on a balcony or climb a ladder.
Imaginal exposure: Vividly imagining the feared situation. For example, someone with acrophobia might be asked to imagine standing on a mountaintop and describe the situation in great detail.
Virtual reality exposure: In some situations, virtual reality technology can be used when it’s not practical to practice in vivo exposure. For example, someone with acrophobia might look out of a virtual skyscraper’s window while in the therapist’s office, using technology that provides the sights, sounds, and smells of a skyscraper’s window.

While in vivo exposure is the traditional approach to exposure in the Fear of Heights, and probably the most common approach, research suggests that virtual reality exposure might be just as effective.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for Fear of Heights

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy commonly used to treat anxiety, panic, worry, fears, and phobias. In CBT you’ll work with your therapist to learn about how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact to keep you feeling anxious. Your therapist will help you identify and change unhelpful patterns in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Changing these unhelpful patterns can reduce anxiety and bring you relief.

A common approach to treating phobias includes focusing on unhelpful thoughts and taking a cognitive approach to learning how to change them, while also practicing exposures to reduce avoidance of the feared situation, object, or event. In this way, CBT and exposure therapy can be combined to help you get relief from your phobia, like acrophobia. Learn more about therapy for phobias here.

Summary

A fear of heights is also called acrophobia. It is a type of anxiety disorder. Fear of heights is scary, distressing, and can be anxiety-provoking. Whether you are afraid of extreme heights or all heights, acrophobia can impact your life.

Working with a mental health professional can help bring you relief. The best treatment for a fear of heights is exposure therapy. It involves facing your feared situation (heights) in real life (in vivo), by imagining you’re in the situation or using virtual reality. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can also help with acrophobia

To learn more about how to get over a Fear of Heights (acrophobia) in therapy, check out my CBT for Anxiety or Therapy for Phobia page or schedule a free 15-minute consultation today.

How to Get Over a Fear of Heights