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It is instinctive for people to dislike exposed situations where there is little or no protection. In 1960, two psychologists Gibson and Walk demonstrated that babies and infants are naturally cautious with heights even when there was no danger so to an extent, the ‘fear’ is hardwired into our unconscious mind which intuitively knows, it’s just safer to avoid heights. But for a significant percentage of the population, their fear is so intense it triggers a panic attack and freeze.
Interestingly, the fear of heights (acrophobia from the Greek. ‘akron’, meaning peak), affects many more women than men. Their caution around heights can be so extreme it gets the better of them because they will not climb a ladder or go up a flight of stairs. Even the thought of travelling up an escalator fills them with dread.
Living with acrophobia can be debilitating; moreover, in a real life-threatening situation, such an extreme overreaction is likely to place themselves and others in danger.
Hypnosis helps by changing the link between the fear a situation triggers, with thoughts and feelings of comfort and security, thus modifying previous responses to bring about the desired effect.