One of the most common phobias is the fear of heights. Do you suffer from this fear? Have you done anything to try and overcome it?
Share why if you wish.
Are You Afraid Of Heights?
Asking — and answering — life's interesting questions
One of the most common phobias is the fear of heights. Do you suffer from this fear? Have you done anything to try and overcome it?
Share why if you wish.
I am terribly afraid of heights. I hate heights even more than I hate the music of Tom Petty (there’s something about his nasal voice that grates on my nerves). Years ago, I had a terrifying experience.
I was visiting a friend of mine who lives in Colorado. We decided to take a drive up to the top of Mt. Evans, a 14,000+ foot mountain that is the highest paved point in North America. She had just been there with her family a few weeks earlier and had a wonderful time, and she suggested it as a fun touristy thing to do.
I hadn’t realized just how extreme a fear of heights I had until we started our ascent. The road to the top was twisty and winding, and had no shoulder to speak of. Out the passenger window, you couldn’t even see the side of the road, just a drop off merely inches away.
My friend could sense my distress, so she suggested I not look off to the side, where I imagined that any slight swerve would send us tumbling down the mountainside. Instead, she offered, why didn’t I focus on what was ahead of us?
That wasn’t any better, though. The road hugged the mountain, which meant it was constantly turning away as we were driving. So in front of us was nothing but the sky. It was a beautiful, clear day, but that just meant that out the windshield ahead of us was nothing but blue. It didn’t make me feel any more secure.
At this point, I was white-knuckling the armrest in the SUV. I think I would have felt more comfortable in a vehicle that didn’t take up so much of the road.
To help me try and stay calm, my friend offered to play some music on the radio. Music helps calm the savage breast, as the saying goes. She turned on the radio, and of course I immediately recognized the voice that I couldn’t stand, Tom Petty. “I’m free….” he crooned. “Free falling!” I insisted we turn off the radio immediately.
We eventually made it to the top in one piece, and I had to spend several minutes lying on the ground before I started to feel safe again. We still needed to drive back down, but this time, the mountain’s edge was out the passenger side window, and while I imagined we could easily plow into the rock face, that seemed preferable to tumbling thousands of feet off the side, so overall, going down wasn’t as bad as going up.
Luckily, this experience didn’t dissuade me from riding my bicycle across the U.S., including through the Rocky Mountains (this time in Idaho/Wyoming). Even though I biked through some mountain passes at some pretty high elevations and on narrow, twisty roads, I never experienced any fear of heights on the bike trip, thankfully.
My answer I find strange. I’ve parachuted from a small plane before and loved the experience. But put me on a ferris wheel and I’m freakin’ out.
Yes. I get very disoriented and I get terrible vertigo when looking down from any high place.