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Do you have a fear of falling/fear of big heights?


Texas King
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Do you have a fear or "head" for very big heights?

 

Some extreme examples: imagine the situation like this - sitting on the steel beam of a very big height(as workers on this pic did) or sitting or standing on the edge of rooftop of some skyscraper. Can you imagine these situations and would you be ready to do it?

 

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/09/21/article-2206050-0059AA091000044C-332_964x756.jpg

 

To be fair I would not, it would be simply impossible for me.

 

The main question for you here is in the title of this thread and it does not necessarily have to do with these extreme examples I mentioned. I personally have a fear of falling on big heights.

Looking down from cliffs on mountain peaks also can be a very good example for this.

Edited by Texas King
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Honest truth here, I get vertigo and an onset of anxiety if I hold a flying kite. It first manifested itself when I was 19 or 20. It wasn't until I was teaching psychology and had invited a guest lecturer that I figured out its origins.

 

When I was five or six, my family was visiting relatives in SoCal. My dad had just returned from an 18-month stint in Vietnam, so we were just getting re-acquainted. On a visit to the Queen Mary, as we crossed the gangplank, my dad lifted me up to see how high we were above the water. But he didn't give me any warning, and I went from strolling along admiring the colors of the marine pennants to staring at the deep blue abyss from over the railing.

 

Long story short, that moment has translated into an inverted fear of heights via kite flying. :LOL:

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Yes. What I mean is, I'm afraid of heights, no way could you get me to go out on a beam like that, I'd be keeping well away from the edge of the building, in fact I'd probably stay inside! Edited by treeduck
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I ride all types of chairlifts, trams and gondolas and nothing bothers me. Ziplines, no problem.

 

 

Years ago I used to work right across the street from the World Trade Center and my office was on the 50th floor. I would get nervous if I looked out my office window and up at the top of towers.

 

I can look down but when I look up...

 

 

Here's my view when they started building of the new Trade Center building. ( 2011-12 ish ).

 

 

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w276/custom55/IMG_0497.jpg

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I never felt that I had a fear of heights, and never felt anything but sort of an adrenaline rush when in that position ..

 

When it came time to paint my house, I figured I could do it myself - so I bought a 40 foot ladder ... My house is a historic Victoria with a stone foundation and the basement is actually walk-in ( above the ground ) .. So the back of my house, with the basement and attic included, is actually four stories high ..

 

There is a lots of decoration at the top where the roof hangs over .. I think it is the fascia and soffit .. So I am up on that ladder with no problem until I get under that overhang/soffit ...

 

for some reason, the fact that there was that overhang directly over my head made me freeze and changed everything ... Then I made the mistake of looking up at it. which took things from bad to worse ..

 

This summer, I've gotta figure out how I'm going to finish up there :LOL:

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I'm not. I do indoor bouldering/belaying , and love the challenge of the climb.

 

But..

 

I was on an insulation job a few weeks ago. A barn. We were climbing on 2x6s , a good 30+ feet up.. and I was not enjoying that. No harnesses .. not fun.

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A good friend jokes that I am a believer in "sideways gravity" ! If you are at a big height, "sideways gravity" will suck you off wherever you are! I can do the Ferris wheel at Hersheypark with my kids, with very white knuckles. I didn't even try the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, though. Too many open steps and open railing, no way.
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My wife is terrified of most bridges and hates highway overpasses especially the triple variety. Living in Florida there are a lot of bridges so I tend to avoid the tall ones. If not, I don't warn her at all as it makes it worse.
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Not everyone is afraid of heights. Everyone is afraid of falling.

 

Agreed. :yes:

 

To me, a high place must be chosen carefully. I'd require instructions and some help to deal with it. Some psychological preparation.

 

I love heights and the taste of adventure and challenge, but some security is required: parachutes or something strong to hang on.

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Do you have a fear or "head" for very big heights?

 

Some extreme examples: imagine the situation like this - sitting on the steel beam of a very big height(as workers on this pic did) or sitting or standing on the edge of rooftop of some skyscraper. Can you imagine these situations and would you be ready to do it?

 

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/09/21/article-2206050-0059AA091000044C-332_964x756.jpg

 

To be fair I would not, it would be simply impossible for me.

 

The main question for you here is in the title of this thread and it does not necessarily have to do with these extreme examples I mentioned. I personally have a fear of falling on big heights.

Looking down from cliffs on mountain peaks also can be a very good example for this.

 

At this point in my life I couldn't. NO WAY. When I was younger though, I went rapelling at Boy Scout camp in '72 and in '74, and also in '74 I stood at the top and edges of a mountain [Mt. Baldy] and an out cropping, ["The Tooth of Time"] and looked straight down approx. 400 ft. A couple years later they were forced to put up restraints because a person fell off the edge. I get a funny feeling now in my 'nether regions' when I look down even from a ranch style house roof! This is what My house looked like...

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j223/OldRUSHfan/Me%20stuff/My%20memories-%20The%20house%20summer%20of%2073%20cr.jpg

 

Yup. Even THAT distance won't let me climb a ladder almost!

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j223/OldRUSHfan/Banana%20World/Weird%20faced%20banana.gif

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I have a fear of jumping, not falling. I want to fly and sometimes believe if I just try, I could. But heights don't bother me. My SO is terrified of heights. When we were at the Grand Canyon, he kept saying, "Get away from the edge!" while I was looking over and down. He wouldn't even let me go to some lookouts because he was too frightened. I wasn't but he was!
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I'm usually OK as long as I have something to hold onto. I don't like heights but as long as I feel like I'm not going to fall I'm all right.
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I'm not sure. Ski lifts, glass floor elevators, (windless) cliff side areas, etc. aren't really problems but no way would I sit on that construction site beam.

All you'd need to do is lean back a bit and you could be gone.

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I'm not sure. Ski lifts, glass floor elevators, (windless) cliff side areas, etc. aren't really problems but no way would I sit on that construction site beam.

All you'd need to do is lean back a bit and you could be gone.

What I really hate are those show offs doing those selfie daredevil type vids in which they're dangling from some crazy high building by holding on with one hand or a few fingers. Adrenaline junkies to that degree are fools.

 

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Not everyone is afraid of heights. Everyone is afraid of falling.

But I'd be less afraid of falling if I was only one foot of the ground than if I were waaaaaaayyyy up
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yes omg. i can do tall roller coasters but i can't do rides where you're suspended high up in the air. i had to grab onto a wall and not look down when i was stepping onto the glass floor inside the CN Tower, that shit was terrifying!
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I'm good with roller coasters and high places with a railing. It was different when I was younger...I would climb way up high in trees and jump off train trestles into water. F that now. Edited by Stormtron
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I don't have a fear of heights, but I have a recurring dream where I'm driving up a very high, narrow, and nearly vertical bridge, and I feel like the car is going to flip backwards. There's a real bridge that feels like that on the way to LaGuardia airport, as well as heading over the Canadian border north of Watertown,New York.

 

Filbert St in San Francisco is famous for its grade, but it's one-way downhill. Driving up that would freak me out. As it was, I bottomed out my car doing it multiple times.

 

 

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I don't have a fear of heights, but I have a recurring dream where I'm driving up a very high, narrow, and nearly vertical bridge, and I feel like the car is going to flip backwards. There's a real bridge that feels like that on the way to LaGuardia airport, as well as heading over the Canadian border north of Watertown,New York.

 

Filbert St in San Francisco is famous for its grade, but it's one-way downhill. Driving up that would freak me out. As it was, I bottomed out my car doing it multiple times.

Like this?

 

http://www.sickchirpse.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/25.png

 

This pic hasn't been altered in any way but the angle does make it look steeper than it really is. Though it is steep.

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I'm good with roller coasters and high places with a railing. It was different when I was younger...I would climb way up high in trees and jump off train trestles into water. F that now.

When I was a kid I'd look up at a tall tree and think, "That's tall. I wonder how high I can climb up it." Then I'd try.

 

These days I'd look up at a tall tree and think, "That's tall. I could really use some tacos right about now." Then I'd go get some tacos.

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