Fear of heights/falling

[Zosima]

I have searched for this particular subject but was not able to find anything.

My question goes to anybody who has or had a fear of heights/fear of falling, to those who have overcome it, and in general to those of you who have to deal with this as part of your job (as in parachuting, climbing…etc).

I’m mostly interested to hear how people have coped with this; or if you have no fear, what your mind set is going into situations that would be very hard if not impossible for people who fear heights.

I have spent some time analyzing my fear and I have come to the conclusion that it is strictly related to falling and not to heights; if you can even make such a distinction. I have never parachuted – I cannot be 100% sure – but I think that I would have no fear doing it because I know that I have a parachute, equipment that would allow me to land safely and not to plunge into death. This I think applies to everything else, I can deal with heights in any form, as long as I’m using equipment or relying on infrastructure (such as railings) that I know (or maybe “think”) will not allow me to fall. Most of the time, I would say close to 99% of the time, I can be looking down high places, and as long as there is a railing or I’m sure of the fact that I cannot possibly fall I experience no fear. This completely changes at such small heights as 6 feet if I’m forced to walk on the edge of something, and know that there is nothing holding me back from falling.

As I’m considering a career in the Army, this might prove to be an obstacle, and is something I wish to overcome regardless of how big or small of an obstacle it proves to be.

Any thoughts, tips or comments would be appreciated.

[Dominus_Potior]

I found this thread plus a couple more talking about facing ones fears, maybe my search finger is broken.
http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...read.php?t=194

[ZonieDiver]

Fear of heights! That's me.

Your assumptions, at least in my case, are correct.
Getting up to, and standing in the door of, the 34 foot tower was daunting - the first few times I did it. However, my mind was soon very busy focusing on what I needed to do (That was an unsatisfactory exit, Roster #39, recover and make another...), that it crowded those fears to the background.

Incidentally, as a kid I used to have frequent 'flying-falling' dreams. After airborne school, they soon went away.

[Ambush Master]

On a side-note.

After getting back into Jumping, after a 25+ year hiatus, I found that it is "VERY UNCOMFORTABLE" for me to watch current Videos of Jumping. I finally figured it out, that due to the quality of these videos, I was feeling uncomfortable because I didn't have a RIG ON!!! While my head was getting into the Jump (video), my body was saying NO!!!

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post a few "Helmet Cam" videos from today!!

Later.
Martin

[Dragbag036]

Everyone has a fear of some kind or another. it is what we do with that fear that makes us who we are. I have always stated " I don't fear height, but I damn sure respect it". Obviously there has been some form of conditioning early on, whether you realize it or not that gives you this feeling. For most, we get over this by training/conditioning. As in Airborne School, it is understood that many have what is the fear of the unknown. The structure of learning conditions the mind and body to understand that this is a survivable event. The Conditioned Stimuli is the training you receive on how to exit the aircraft and what to do at 100ft AGL and PLF's. The Unconditioned Stimuli is the parachute, as you did not pack it, but is is supposed to come open. In many of our cases it is the surprise or excitement that drives us to do it. We need that in the learning process. After repetitive occurrences we have what is known as Habituation. This is merely a shortened version of Cognitive Psychology, but I feel in many cases fear is a strong word. Inhibition to do something based on the unknown would be my words of choice.

[Paslode]

I do ladder work in the summer months, sometimes I am comfortable with it, sometimes I am not. Yeah, it is a fear. Same height, two different jobs, one there is no second thought and the other I am thinking about it. The more open the field of view up top the more uneasy I am. So when I feel uncomfortable I focus on what I am doing and within a short time it isn't an issue. I also find the more ladder work I do the more comfortable I become with it.

But every summer I tend to start the learning curve all over again.

[Green Light]

I don't like heights. Period. But I was a static line and HALO jumpmaster. People who know about my previous life who see me hanging Christmas lights always ask me about the seeming contradiction. For me it's easy.

First off - there's a difference between height and altitude. Altitude is your friend, height is just a storage of potential energy bled off at impact.

Just like anyone else, the pulse and adrenal glands worked overtime, especially on night jumps. I don't think I ever worried about a fatal accident. On night freefalls, I was VERY concerned about my actions and those of others when we were getting close to pull altitude. Colliding with someone else or their parachute during deployment could be fatal to both, would at least cause life threatening injuries.

What I did worry about more than anything else was breaking an ankle or leg under a good canopy. I broke ankles on two jumps, one day and one night, during my career and saw several other guys break bones.

Facing fear is part of what makes us different. We do things that scare us. We take risks. But a risk is different than taking a gamble. Jumping, freefalling, mountain climbing, combat swimming, and combat diving all have inherent risks. But they are also safe. Through training and confidence in ourselves and our teams, we turn this into experiences that we look at with pride and anticipation. Yes, we're akin to "thrill junkies" and there have been books written about our need for excitement.

But I think the QPs here will tell you it's more than that. Without the relationships with our friends and teammates, we'd be just another bunch of sky divers, SCUBA divers, and mountain climbers. I've known folks from all three of those groups and they don't hold a candle to the QPs I've known.

I've often thought that the bonds forged between QPs doing these things is why our regiment had more Medals of Honor in Southeast Asia than infantry divisions 10 times our size. Combat can be more terrifying than anything else we have done, but it seems to be where we shine. QPs have met their fears and overcome them or at least learn to control them, to use the body's natural reactions to danger and fear and channel it. Reaction times are quicker, the mind processes faster, and the body is stronger. But also, fear is fun. The rush afterwards is indescribable in polite company.

[dr. mabuse]

*

[Dozer523]

In High School I was a competitive diver. (1 meter)
I was judged on the execution of 7 dives, four were "required" (everyone had to do them) front dive, back dive, inward dive. reverse dive.
There were three optional dives. I did a twister --1 and 1/2 somersaults with 1 and 1/2 twists, a backward 1 and 1/2 and an inward 1 and 1/2. (sometimes I'd do a forward double flip.)
I was terrified of the reverse dive. -- I'd get on the board, find my spot, look at my coach, count to three and the next thing I'd know I was underwater. I can't remember ever actually doing that dive.

I had to do it , the only way to do it was just to do it, I trusted my coach cuz she taught me to do it, so I did it. I just didn't think about it.

To this day I can't even watch that dive. It is completely irrational -- no I never got hurt doing it. I did hit the board on front flips, back flips and the inwards. That did not slow me down.

[mojaveman]

When I went through jumpschool in '84 the 200 ft towers weren't working so we had to go from the 34 ft towers straight to a C-141 that was flying at about 1,000 ft. That was quite a difference. I frequently got dropped for push-ups after jumping from the towers because I had my eyes closed. After about 10 parachute jumps I started opening my eyes while exiting the aircraft and it was an awesome view.

[alelks]

I HATE heights. I'm not afraid of them but they make me VERY uncomfortable.

Here's the strange part: I've never been afraid of heights while jumping out of an airplane though. I also never even once thought twice about hanging outside an aircraft doing my Jumpmaster checks. I guess I felt safe because I knew I was safe.

Now get me up in a high building like in Las Vegas and get me close the the edge and I REALLY feel uncomfortable for some reason.

[Zosima]

Thanks everyone, ALL of your posts were helpful, reading them helped me confirm my suspicion about the nature of my particular phobia.

I now realize that it is not as big of a deal as I was afraid it might be, with some training I should be able to menage it well. I will probably start with some sort of training/conditioning immediately, try to expose myself to heights more frequently, take small steps (baby steps ).

One more month and I will finally be back in the states, and can take other steps to get myself ready for the Army.

[T-Rock]

From an non-jumper, non-QP...

I was extremely fearful of heights until I discovered rock climbing on a backpacking trip in the Linville Gorge (met some dudes from Outward Bound ~1974 and was encouraged to confront my fears).

Free soloing in my youth became a passion (late 70's - late 80's) until I fell (Cracker Jack variant - Table Rock, NC).
Hanging around the edges these days without being roped in is...well....terrrifying and stupid...IMHO

The older I get, the more "respectful" I have become of heights, maybe even a little afraid nothing over 5.8 for me


These two are/were poetry in motion - total freaks...
Dan Osman > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPSaYkVRoNk
Dean Potter > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvmzhyAygdE
One fell jumping...

Worry about someone who's not respectful of heights...

[Last hard class]

Originally Posted by Green Light

I don't like heights. Period. But I was a static line and HALO jumpmaster. People who know about my previous life who see me hanging Christmas lights always ask me about the seeming contradiction. For me it's easy.

First off - there's a difference between height and altitude. Altitude is your friend, height is just a storage of potential energy bled off at impact. .

I have never been scared on a jump. While there is an adrenaline rush, it's like everything is happening in slow motion. Total clarity.

However:

At 70' on a cliff face, I have been known to get sewing machine legs.

[Dragbag036]

Originally Posted by Last hard class

I have never been scared on a jump. While there is an adrenaline rush, it's like everything is happening in slow motion. Total clarity.

However:

At 70' on a cliff face, I have been known to get sewing machine legs.

I've experience total clarity, its like being in the matrix. Once on a jump in Malsheim, Germany, a few others on the Team had the same. It was actually kind of weird. As I pushed myself out of the helo, I could count the rotor-blades spinning. My count was in slow motion and when my shoot came open, I could hear it as the risers came to attention. As soon as I grabbed my toggles everything went back to normal. I have to believe it was because it had been quite some time since our last jump....rule 4, so our attention to detail and adrenaline was high.