Ask HN: Any tips on overcoming fear of heights? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Any tips on overcoming fear of heights?

16 pointsvoisin31 comments

How I overcame my fear of heights: indoor bouldering.

You can pace yourself with respect to the height you’re comfortable experiencing. It forces you to learn to fall safely. Most importantly, it progressively associates a positive outcome (route completion) with height.

Came to say the same. I joined a climbing gym and its done wonders. Slowly but surely it's making me a lot more comfortable with heights.

Heights don't scare me. It's the risk of falling from greater heights and being less in control of mitigating that outcome. Like others have said in the thread, trusting the gear makes most of the difference. I'm always iffy on a roof unless I have a harness, because well, it's not that hard to fall off!

People who have an fear of heights can't go near a window in a high-rise building, for instance.

"Iffy on a roof, if I don't have a harness" sounds like no fear of heights.

To be fair I "get iffy" when i look down!

I think it depends on your level of fear. For me, I don't like getting on 2 story roofs, especially the transition to/from the ladder. If I have a safety system then I don't care. More experience also helps.

If it's still a problem even with a railing, safety system, etc, then I would think some sort of therapy or controlled exposure might help.

For me, it was when I had to climb a metal structure for work. I didn't want to be afraid in front of my peers.

My palms still get sweaty, but mentally I have no irrational fear anymore. As long as think the harness is good, I'm okay.

I don't think it's so much that I got over the fear, just that mentally I know that the equipment has me and I'm not going to fall to my death.

I went tandem skydiving for the first time. I think I felt afraid, but I just decided to go through the motions.

As corny as it sounds, I think it's just mind over matter. Know that you're capable of doing whatever simple thing is required, and knowing that the bridge railing, safety harness, etc is going to protect you.

If you can stand on a bridge 1 foot in the air, you can stand on a bridge 1,000 feet in the air. If you can balance on a beam 1 foot off the ground, you can balance on a beam 100 feet off the ground. If you can climb a rock wall 6 feet high, you can climb a rock wall 600 feet high.

>For me, it was when I had to climb a metal structure for work. I didn't want to be afraid in front of my peers.

Interesting, displaying fear in front of your peers was a worse outcome than the perceived risk of heights.

Same. I was afraid of heights until I worked in a warehouse. Standing on the forks of a hi-lo, changing lights in the ceiling...

I woke up 13 years ago and decided I could never go on a plane again. Before that, I used to fly often for work.

13 years and I've not been able to visit any countries that I'd love to visit. It's shit. There is no advice that can help me.

How about take a ship?

So far I've taken trains and the EuroStar... but options are limited there.

It's not easy to get to Japan from the UK, for example!

I don't believe it has changed too much over the years. I once planned a trip from Australia to Europe via Japan and the Trans-Siberian railway. The jump from Japan to the 'World Island' and vice-versa was a ferry between Northern Japan and Vladivostok.

In my case, I wanted to travel at a time when that ferry wasn't running. I ended up flying after all.

There is more detail buried in there; changes like this don't happen without a reason. It may be inadequately examined, but it's in there.

You could probably use a VR headset to habitualize yourself to the sensation of height.

Indoor rock climbing! Many cities have rock climbing gyms that offer top-rope or autobelay climbing that prevents you from falling if you slip off a hold. I climb actively and while I've never had a fear of heights, several of the people I climb with had a terrible fear of heights when they started climbing. In fact, after a few climbs the (now slightly diminished) fear of heights can often be what keeps climbers coming back.

Indoor bouldering is also a great way to get started. I'd avoid anything outdoors as a beginner, also lead climbing is probably not your best bet.

Can you give us more details of what situations you have difficulty in or want to conquer? When I was younger I enjoyed working at height, now I am in poorer shape and am nervous in more situations. Try acclimation, slowly pushing the envelope. Make sure you understand, not just on a theoretical level, that if you can feel confident at three feet, thirty feet only requires a bit more care, nothing more. And remember, it doesn't hurt to fall, it's just the sudden stop.

Sure, and I appreciate your interest for context. I’ve recently relocated for work to a beautiful city in the mountains and I am regularly in areas where I see grand vistas. This is very different from where I grew up which is incredibly flat. So in the face of these vistas, which include huge valleys and drop offs (unavoidable, as these views are often from the main highways!), I often have feelings of lightheadedness and falling. I believe this is vertigo. I don’t want to avoid these views - I want to conquer the feelings to I can enjoy them the same way my family does! Appreciate all the comments to this post.

Fun fact: I know a guy that has a phobia of flat open spaces.

Okay, vertigo is tough. Tougher than fear that results in "locking up", from what I have observed in others. I have one friend who has issues with vertigo, has seen a doctor, and never found a solution. Others have told me that keeping the ground near them in view helps to maintain perspective - sometimes even sitting on the ground while letting their brain adjust to the terrain. I'm certainly no expert, but hope you can learn to enjoy the vistas.

exposure therapy, slowly but steadily increase your exposure to the phobia, be kind and gentle with yourself and celebrate every step until you're rid of it

Go ride a rollercoaster or 5.

I did it the other day, it was intense. The hardest part is the anticipation. Once you're stuck and experiencing it and realize there's no backing out you just let it happen. Also you're experiencing a lot more than heights so it makes it easy to get over that part. Do that a few times and you'll condition yourself. That's what I'm going to do.

Bungee jumping. It sounds stupid but after that I realised I wasn't scared of heights, I'm actually scared of falling, really scared.

For me it’s a mind game. I remind myself that I trust the gear and I trust myself to be responsible using it. The gear can be a ladder or a harness or a structure. If don’t actually trust the gear then I’d like to think that I have will to refuse no matter if there is peer pressure.

Do a few tandem free-fall parachute jumps.

I have a reasonable fear of heights. And I thought that I'd 'freeze' at the plane's doorway. No such thing. It was literally a breeze. So much so that I immediately wanted to repeat the experience.

I have a fear of heights that I cannot control. It terrifies me. I jumped multiples times from planes (solo, not tandem), however it doesn't seem to help.

If you’re receptive to hypnosis you might give it a shot.

Get a pilot's licence. You'd be surprised how many pilots got into it specifically because of this.

Didn't make a difference for me at all. I'm a pilot, did some basic aerobatics, no problem at all. Paragliding did scare me a bit at the beginning, but I got used to it after a while.

Standing up on the roof of my house is still giving me problems.

If you are not harnessed while on the roof, experiencing fear is completely natural. Understanding your limits and risk factors are a key factor.

Go climb Mount Olympus in Greece. Good scrambling the last 1 hour.

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