What Is the Treatment for Acrophobia?

Fear of heights is also known as fear of heights. The basic symptoms of fear of heights are dizziness, nausea, and loss of appetite. Foreign survey data show that 91% of people in modern cities have experienced symptoms of fear of heights. 10% of them are clinically high. They have to do everything they can to avoid the "emergency" of fear of heights. They dare not take transparent elevators, and they dare not stand on the balcony. They cannot stand the height of the fourth floor, let alone fly.

Basic Information

nickname

Phobia

English name

acrophobia

Visiting department

Psychiatry

Common symptoms

Dizziness, nausea, loss of appetite

Causes of fear of heights

Genetic factor

Phobia is highly familial.

2. Quality factors

The pre-illnesses of the patients were mostly timid, shy, passively dependent, highly introverted, easily anxious, fearful, and compulsive.

3. Physiological factors

People with phobias have increased alertness in the nervous system, and they are sensitive, alert, and over-awakened.

4. Psychosocial factors

There may be some kind of mental stimulus when the first onset occurs, and the data show that nearly two-thirds of patients actively trace back to something related to their onset.

Clinical manifestations of fear of heights

The basic symptoms of fear of heights are dizziness, nausea, and loss of appetite. Dizziness can cause the body to lose balance, and people standing high at this time become very dangerous.

Diagnosis of fear of heights

1. In line with the common characteristics of neurosis.

2. Taking phobia as the main clinical phase, it meets the following points:

(1) There is strong fear of certain objects or situations, and the degree of fear is not commensurate with the actual danger.

(2) Anxiety and autonomic symptoms during the attack.

(3) Repeated or persistent avoidance behavior.

(4) Knowing that fear is excessive or unnecessary, but cannot be controlled.

3. Avoidance of fear situations and things must be or have been a prominent symptom.

Treatment of fear of heights

Phobia is a simple phobia among phobias. If the impact on your work and life is small, it may not necessarily require treatment. If you want to treat, there are 4 kinds of therapies that work better.

Behavior therapy

(1) Systemic desensitization therapy allows patients to learn to self-treat through systemic desensitization. The purpose is to eliminate the conditional connection between terrorist stimuli and terrorist reactions, and to counter the avoidance response.

(2) Exposure therapy is also called full irrigation therapy. It is a rapid behavioral therapy that encourages the client to directly contact the situation that causes horror and anxiety, and persists until the feeling of tension disappears.

(3) Exercise therapy The human body is responsible for controlling the elements of balance-vision, inner ears and muscles, which can only function normally through activities. If we sit still all day and keep our eyes only on computers and other objects, the balance function of the human body will decline.

(4) Shock method There is a method called "shock method" for the treatment of "phobia", which is more effective. The specific operation method of the "impact method" is to inspire the correction subject to imagine that he is at a considerable height and the height is still rising.

Phobia is a type of phobia, and as long as it is treated, it can be cured. The following four points are the twelve-character principles for the treatment of fear of heights. Long time: Let the patient stand at a height that can cause terror, for at least 30 to 45 minutes. Especially when starting treatment, let the patient persist for enough time to reduce the degree of terror by 50%. Gradually: Don't set high goals for the patient at once, start with easy goals and gradually turn to difficult ones. Regular: One exercise is not enough to eliminate fear. So each process needs to be repeated many times until the feeling of fear is completely gone. Completely: When exercising, ask the patient to concentrate and not think about anything else. Because diverting attention can reduce fear, it is not conducive to the complete elimination of fear.

2. Drug treatment

Strictly speaking, there is no drug to eliminate fear, but anti-anxiety drugs and propranolol, etc., have good effects on the physical symptoms of phobia, and can eliminate autonomic nervous reactions and reduce alertness.

Prognosis for fear of heights

The prognosis of childhood onset is good, and after 5 years basically recover or remission. Adults have a better prognosis for single phobia and a worse prognosis for generalized phobia.