Fear of Heights - Acrophobia

One of the most common phobias, Acrophobia or Allodoxaphobia is the extreme fear of heights which effects the quality of life.It is considered as a hyper reaction to normal response to fear. A person with this disease gets panic when they reach heights. when it gets severe the person might restrain from climbing to heights or even going to a flat which is on top level. An Acrophobic might experience dizziness or feel like spinning when he reach height and might get confused witht he disease `vertigo'.
Symptoms of Acrophobia
A person with Acrophobia on reaching heights will experience
Severe anxiety
Losing sense of balance trying to cling to some thing, descending at the spot, crawling, kneeling etc.
Breathlessness
Heart palpitations or anxiety attack
Dizziness
fear of dying
Excessive sweating
Shaking
Nausea
Dry mouth
Inability to speak or think clearly
Might cry or yell out
Causes
The phobia is caused by extreme fear of injury or death caused by a fall. At times a bitter childhood exerience may be the reason. Phobia is created by unconcious mind.
Treatment
Panicking caused at heights can cause extreme danger and hence treatment is very necessary. CBT or Cognitive-behavioral therapy is the most common treatment. patients are taught to regain emotional control and to stop panic reaction under situations. Exposure Therapy ie. Exposing to heights is the most common solution.Virtual Reality Exposure in which patient is exposed to similar situation by way of computer generated three dimentional virtual image is another more effective methos as it is cost and time saving. In this method Therapist need not accompany patient to on location. In early stages tranquilizers or antidepressents or anti anxiety medications are useful. A drug used for treating Tuberculosis called D-cycloserine (DCS) is effective to treat Acrophobia as it affects amygdala region of brain that governs response to fear. Therapists helps to practice specific behavioural skills for boosting confidence or stress relief techniques or relaxation and thus to implement it in real life situations. Hypnotherapy is yet another method. A person who is phobic need to know more about the issue and try himself to get out of the situation.Medication, Positive thinking and gradual desensitisation also helps. Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Hypnotherapists, primary care physicians, Councelling centers, clinical social workers, etc can help to recover from phobias. Most important is that the details of the disease is to be conveyed to the therapist in all aspects and patient must have faith in therapist.
Alternative Medicine
Herbal and Homeopathic medicines are also seen effective in teating Acrophobia. Herbal medicines maintain the nerves in good condition and thus gives a positive outlook. Homeopathic medicines help to cure the symptoms ans there by reduce the risk of panic attack due to phobia. Verti-Free, PureCalm are homeopathic medicines that support inner ear balance.
Links
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14975783
http://www.naun.org/journals/mcs/mcs-61.pdf
http://www.vrphobia.com/heights.htm
http://www.allaboutskyscrapers.com/acrophobia.htm
http://www.remedies4.com/download/natural-help-for-acrophobia.pdf
http://stanford.wellsphere.com/wellpage/treatments-for-acrophobia
http://www.changethatsrightnow.com/acrophobia.asp?SDID=139:1339.
http://www.emotrics.com/people/milton/papers/compareworlds/
http://www.fitsea.com/healthy-informations/acrophobia-symptoms-causes-and-treatment/216/
http://www.simplephobiasguide.com/fear-of-heights-phobia.php
http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/inst_reports2.cfm?article=4698
http://www.spwickstrom.com/acrophobia/
http://www.medhelp.org/tags/show/25051/Acrophobia?middle_panel=users
http://stanford.wellsphere.com/wellpage/symptoms-of-acrophobia
http://www.way2hope.org/Illnesses/acrophobia-fear-heights.htm
http://www.psychologistanywhereanytime.com/phobias_psychologist_and_psychologists/psychologist_acrophobia.htm
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9944
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-acrophobia.htm
http://phobias.about.com/od/introductiontophobias/a/acrophobiaprof.htm
http://www.nativeremedies.com/ailment/natural-remedies-for-acrophobia-treatment.html