[Closed] Overcoming a healthy fear of heights...

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is one way. Basically go somewhere scary, get some fear, then stay there until you get used to it and the fear subsides. Then repeat. There's a bit more to it so maybe do some reading up but thats the idea.

No such thing - it's the short sharp stop at the bottom you need to be scared of

Go to an indoor rock climbing wall and have a go on the ropes?
You'll soon get over the fear.

Done abseiling and indoor climbing and I still freeze on exposed roads and ridges.

I'd love to ride in Alps etc but probably never will..

Basically go somewhere scary, get some fear, then stay there until you get used to it and the fear subsides.

Well if there's enough of a drop the chances of me moving particularly quickly are nil so that might work!

I have though of going climbing, but figured it would be better to be out on rock than an indoor wall. I don't get scared on indoor walls at all.

I can arrange for you to work with Mattbee for the day.......

Try Rock Climbing. My wife was scared of the smaller walls until I took her on the bigger ones. She was fine on the smaller ones after that and the bigger ones stopped worrying her when she realised she was safe.
Also there is nothing wrong with having a healthy fear of heights. I have climbed up 300m sheer cliffs and sat on the edge at the top and not been scared. But if I had walked to to the top and tried peering over i would be a lot more cautious than if I had climbed up. Its that fear that stops us doing silly things sometimes and keeps us safe. Its when you stop having that fear and get complacent when you need to start to worry.

Healthy fear of heights sounds a good thing....

Has anyone overcome a fear of heights?

I found when I was around them a lot (working in the mountains) it helped massively.

Doing Crib Goch twice in two weeks had me crawl over the first time, walk the second.

At the moment heights scare me silly. I should probably go riding in Spain for a few days.

Nowt wrong with a healthy fear of heights. Recently I froze abit on the edge of a 1,000ft drop at the side of the road. Mr head just went. I stopped, paused looked at my son on the backseat and sorted it out.

I have climbed up 300m sheer cliffs and sat on the edge at the top and not been scared

You might not have been scared but my palms are sweating just from your description.

I don't like heights but it's more a psychological thing for me; I sometimes get a feeling that I might just suddenly and without any seemingly rational input to it just walk off the edge / climb over the parapet.

I'm doing Go-Ape at the weekend - my daughters have been pestering and now they're both old enough and tall enough, we've booked it. I know at some point I'll get the fear, especially because while I can rationalise the safety angle of being harnessed up and connected to a safety wire, on any I've done before they have a running pulley safety mechanism. This has a double clip on system and the fear will come over having it in my hands to just unclip both and step off.

Go ape is ace, you start small and get bigger before you know if you're up in the canopy. Try not to look down to much, just concentrate on the task at hand.

Friend took up climbing with the sole purpose of overcoming his fear , seemed to work

I went through a spell when I got back into rock climbing after a long layoff... I'd get the fear on easy routes, being top roped, seconding etc. It was grim because I used to climb to a reasonable level. In the end the only thing that helped was just climbing more, starting easy and building up gradually to harder, more exposed stuff. I toyed with giving up on numerous occasions as I had a real love-hate relationship with it for a while, but glad I stuck with it. Just keep getting out there, but build up slowly.

Healthy fear of heights sounds a good thing....

I've managed to downgrade mine to a healthy respect, but generally it was the unroped bits of climbing - sea cliff approaches and various descent routes = that scared the shit out of me.

So in that sense I don't think roped climbing helps all that much.

Are we talking about a fear of relatively safe positions - wide paths quite near drops, or of proper scrambling, narrow ridges etc?

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See if I did that ^^ I'd feel compelled to fall forward.

Done abseiling and indoor climbing and I still freeze on exposed roads and ridges.

I'd love to ride in Alps etc but probably never will..

+1 I actually have a fear of falling, which restricts me on bridges, road mountain cycling - although I can cope with MTB without a thought. During my lifetime I have CBT, TFT, Hypnosis (twice), behavioral therapy and exposure therapy.

The latter has worked on several minor motorway bridges which previously I didn't drive across, the latest hypnosis helped me across a couple more. But I still can't stand flying nor will I drive over the Dartford/Severn bridges.

In short try all the above, one of them might work for you, all of them might not.

I wouldn't claim to have conquered my fear of heights but I'm much better than I was and generally it doesn't stop me from doing stuff. I found that exposing yourself to heights normalises them and get you used to them If you can do it in a way where you can do things at your own pace then you can get used to heights.

There's a guy in the Peak District who runs a well-regarded course to help people overcome fear of heights.

This one: [url= http://www.will4adventure.com/overcome-your-fear-of-heights/ ]http://www.will4adventure.com/overcome-your-fear-of-heights/[/url]

I found when I was climbing lots I simply got used to the exposure and started viewing it as exciting. I think part of the problem is that we're not used to the looking down at things perspective, mostly we look up at stuff, so it always looks further down than it does up, if that makes sense.

Come to work with me for the day...

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Don't look down, seriously. Also got dragged round various GoApes by the kids and it does work to stay focused on head height, no peering.

Although not so much on the 'parachute' where you walk the plank to a 60ft freefall until a wire on your back kicks in for the last 10ft. In those circumstances close your eyes.

Never had a fear of heights, dangled my feet over the edge of the cliffs of moher and the Grand Canyon, done a fair bit of scrambling on some exposed ridges (buachaille etive mor for example), but was in Zakynthos last week and completely wimped out at the top of Navagio beach, couldn't get anywhere near the edge. Just had a really strong feeling of dread I found it difficult enough to watch anyone walking close by.

First time I did Advanced Climber training I swear I was leaving finger prints in the Steel! Time and repeated climbing ease the fear but the occasional pole strap "settlement" moment can be very refocusing.

I have a fear of edges rather than heights per se. Quays, tops of buildings, cliffs etc. i have never had a problem climbing masts, using ladders etc.

Anyhow, I found when I first started mountain biking this was restricting my progression on some routes, but as has been mentioned above, repeated exposure has reduced my discomfort to the point I didn't have a issue with the Col,de Cou Ridge ride on the other thread. Although to be fair, it looks worse in some ways on the video-whenyou are there it doesn't seem quite so much of a knife edge

Who did you train with Ming?

What you need to do is figure out the height of things or type of exposure you want to be comfortable with. Now go find somewhere three times as high or exposed and have someone to help get you there (safely of course). Spend as much time there bricking yourself as you need to make the thought of the lesser stuff tolerable. Without too much delay go try out the things you want to do but previously couldn't. Should be a lot easier now.

I work on chimney stacks a lot and regular exposure deffo helps with heights.

A healthy fear is good though...

Went to climb a huge electricity pylon last year with a mate before it was wired up. Good solid pegs all the way up, it's just a big ladder innit? We both got about half way up, got attacked by severe heebiejeebies, and had to retreat - humbled. 😉

Also had a go in one of these and couldn't bring myself to boom it right out.
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Is it your own ability which scares you ? Do you not trust the safety equipment you are relying on ?

I used to really hate heights, now I just hate them 😀

But joking apart, I have got more comfortable with them as it was a big phobia. I started by going up Blackpool Tower then standing on Scammonden Bridge over the M62 ( didn't stay too long as I didn't want anyone to call the cops thinking I was going to jump....)

When I was having work done it home I had a 3 teir full scaffold on the gable going to the pike and I eventually got the guts to go to the top. Hated it, panicked, sat on the boards with heartrate about 200 bpm. My mate was already on the teir rebuilding the chimney. He just said to me " oh you're here now ya big girl, now you've done it, go and put the kettle on and bring me brew here "

I still hate ladders. Think it's just my faith in me setting the thing up. When my mates been up the ladder I'm happy to go up but I just hate them.

I will get over it though. I've come this far.

Exposure definitely helps. I still have a fear of heights but can cope with most normal stuff nowadays after years of ski lifts and being in the mountains.

I managed to do a tandem skydive from 12000ft and a bungy from the original bridge in NZ, but when I'm away snowboarding, every time the bloody chair lift stops I absolutely shit myself!!

I'm not phased by hanging from a rope 150m in the air but I absolutely hate ladders.