Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Acrophobia, also known as hypsophobia, is an extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is not particularly high up. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort, that share similar causes and options for treatment.
The term is a piece of computer humor entered into the 1981 The Devil's DP Dictionary. [48] Anatidaephobia – the fictional fear that one is being watched by a duck. The word comes from the name of the family Anatidae, and was used in Gary Larson's The Far Side. [49] Anoraknophobia – a portmanteau of "anorak" and "arachnophobia".
Specifically for acrophobia, in-vivo exposure (exposure to real-world height-scenarios while maintaining anxiety at controlled levels) has been shown to significantly improve measures of anxiety in the short-term, but this effect decreased over a longer term.
Impairment is defined as an inability to complete routine tasks, whether occupational, academic, or social. For example, an occupational impairment can result from acrophobia, from not taking a job solely because of its location on the top floor of a building, or socially not participating in an event at a theme park.
Studies have shown that people with acrophobia and/or an extreme fear of falling have higher scores of SMD, or space and motion discomfort. These are physical symptoms elicited by visual or kinesthetic information that is inadequate for normal spatial orientation. Space and motion discomfort arises when conflicting information is detected among ...
Press photographer on the transmission tower in Königs Wusterhausen, Germany, 1932. To have a head for heights means that one has no acrophobia (irrational fear of heights), and is also not particularly prone to fear of falling or suffering from vertigo (the spinning sensation that can be triggered, for example, by looking down from a high place).
The usual definition of a -phobia is that its an abnormally debilitating fear of something. That would imply that not everyone has it. Everyone could have a fear of heights, but only a subset would have acrophobia. This seems to be covered in the first sentence, at least. (John User:Jwy talk) 19:42, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
Height is related to body image and does have an effect on the cognitive process. A study done involving spatial attention showed that people who were unhappy with their height were prone to looking quicker to short-associated words and tried to avoid attention to tall connected words because they could illicit negative feelings.