I'm not talking about feeling a bit queasy or uncomfortable because you're up the top of the Sky Tower in Auckland and you're walking on the glass floor looking down. That is definately NOT acrophobia, that's not even a fear of heights, that is relatively normal.
No, a person suffering from acrophobia wouldn't even be able to make it to the entrance to the elevator on the 3rd floor of the building.
A formal definition of acrophobia is this:
"Acrophobia is an extreme or irrational fear of heights. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort that share both similar etiology and options for treatment.
Acrophobia can be dangerous, as sufferers can experience a panic attack in a high place and become too agitated to get themselves down safely.
"Vertigo" is often used, incorrectly, to describe the fear of heights, but it is more accurately described as a spinning sensation, which may be caused by looking down from a high place, as well as by some other stimuli. Vertigo is qualified as height vertigo when referring to dizziness triggered by heights."
So in reality what does this mean?
An extreme fear of heights is a debilitating phobia, people don't realise how much so until they are affected by it themselves, or like me, has a partner with this phobia. There are so many things people take for granted that we can't do such as go to the movies at the mall, park in a car parking building (do you know how frustrating it is trying to find a park on the street in the pouring rain!), stay in hotels, visit friends and family at the hospital - this is a big one - my partner couldn't say goodbye to his grandfather because he was on the 7th floor of the hospital.
That is the sad reality of having acrophobia. There are so many more examples of how life is limited by this horrible phobia but I don't think it would help anyone by listing them all.
What I ask from people is that you don't say you are afraid of heights when in reality you're not. There is something quite demoralizing when you hear a group of people talking "oooh I'm so scared of heights, I couldn't look down when I was about to bungy jump, it was soooo scary, I hate heights!"
It's like a size 6 girl going on to the size 24 girl about how fat she is, don't you hate that!
As always, I would be most interested to hear from others that suffer acrophobia / acute fear of heights (especially if you have overcome this!)
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