Acrophobia (Fear of Heights) Symptoms and Causes - Diagnosis - Treatment - Prevention

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What is acrophobia?
Acrophobia is a mental health condition in which the individual experiences an intense fear of heights. It’s a type of anxiety disorder. A person with acrophobia experiences intense fear and anxiety when they think of tall heights or are positioned at a significant height. They often avoid situations or places that involve heights.

A certain amount of concern around heights is normal for all people, and most people are more cautious than usual when they are at a significant height. Most of us may feel uneasy or a bit shaky if we look down from a tall height, such as from a bridge. But people with acrophobia experience intense and unreasonable fear when they’re faced with heights, including everyday tasks such as climbing a flight of stairs, standing near a balcony, or parking a car in a multiple-floor parking garage.

Who does acrophobia affect?
Like other phobias, acrophobia can affect anyone at any age. Specific phobias, like acrophobia, are more likely to develop in children and become apparent in adolescents and young adults. Females are more likely to develop specific phobias.

What kind of heights are people with acrophobia afraid of?
Types of heights or situations that people with acrophobia may fear include:

Walking up a flight of stairs.
Being on a ladder.
Using a multi-level parking garage.
Being on or crossing over a bridge.
Being on a rollercoaster.
Standing near a balcony or at the top of a building.
Looking out a window of a tall building.
Since there are many kinds of phobias, they can be a little challenging to diagnose. People who have acrophobia generally fear more than one kind of height or high place. There are other phobias that are characterized by a fear of a situation that happens to involve a significant height, but the height isn’t the main aspect of the fear. As an example, if you have an intense fear of flying on airplanes (which happens at a significant height) specifically, you may have aerophobia, the fear of flying, and not acrophobia. If you’re experiencing intense fear that limits your life and experiences, it’s important to see your healthcare provider so you can get a proper diagnosis and treatment.

How common is acrophobia?
Acrophobia is one of the most common phobias. Approximately 3% to 6% of people have acrophobia.

Symptoms and Causes
What are the signs and symptoms of acrophobia?
The main symptom of acrophobia is feeling intense anxiety and fear of heights. Some people with acrophobia fear significant heights such as a tall bridge while others also fear shorter heights such as being on a ladder.

Psychological symptoms
Feeling intense fear and anxiety when thinking about, looking at or being in high places.
Fearing that something negative will happen in a high place such as falling or being trapped in a high place.
Feeling a strong desire to escape if you’re in a high place.
Physical symptoms and signs
Experiencing a rapid heartbeat when thinking of or looking at heights.
Feeling dizzy and lightheaded when thinking of or looking at heights.
Feeling queasy.
Trembling.
Having shortness of breath.
What causes acrophobia?
Researchers aren’t sure what exactly causes acrophobia. They believe that having acrophobia can stem from our natural human concern of falling from a high place and hurting ourselves. Dwelling on and worrying about the possible pain you could experience from falling from a significant height could contribute to developing acrophobia. Researchers also think that a negative or traumatic experience that involved a significant height may contribute to a person developing acrophobia.

Diagnosis and Tests
How is acrophobia diagnosed?
Acrophobia is diagnosed through a thorough series of questions about the person’s history, experiences and symptoms. Usually, you have to have had experienced persistent fear and anxiety of heights for at least six months in order to be diagnosed with acrophobia.

Your healthcare provider will likely use the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), a publication by the American Psychiatric Association, to diagnose acrophobia. Your provider will also rule out any other physical or mental health conditions that could be causing your symptoms.

In general, phobias have at least four criteria for diagnosis, including:

Intense and unreasonable fear: The fear of the object or situation is persistent and out of proportion to an appropriate level of fear.
Anticipatory anxiety: An individual who has a phobia tends to dwell on or dread future situations or experiences that will involve the object or situation they are afraid of.
Avoidance: Many people who have a phobia will actively avoid the feared object or situatio