Any ideas on how to overcome a fear of Heights?

Go to the Sears Tower Sky Deck

Think safety, once you are aware that you are not in any danger, just try to take it one step at a time, build your confidence up slowly.. The more you know the less you’ll worry.

@cruiser , are you kidding? I about had a stroke going up on the Top of the Rock at Rockerfeller Center in NY…..I’m okay as long as I dont look over the side now, but glass floors…Oh man, I know in my head that it’s safe or it wouldn’t be there, but I’m scared I would freeze up and curl into a little ball and be moved to a new home with padded walls and jackets that make me hug myself! Probably a good Idea though. @Scooby I do try to, I know that I’m not in danger and I repeat that in my head all the time, but it doesn’t make my knees not buckle…I hate that creepy cold feeling down my neck… uhhhhh

@Fairylover78 You would still have a great view curled up in a ball on the glass floor! It will cure you after that! I guarantee it! Well maybe it will!?!

@Cruiser Yeah a great view of the back of my eyelids!! See you were scared I was gonna ask for my money back if it didn’t work weren’t ya? That’s why you switched from Gauranteed to a Maybe

Maybe recognize it’s a rational thing to be scared of heights and thantry to work up to higher places slowly? When I was a kid I had no fear of heights. I did a lot of carpentry work, roofs etc. for a local handyman. I always was the one too stupid not to refuse to work right on the edge of the roof, hanging off the side of the building to finish the last few shingles, etc. I always figured if I had to I could jump to the ground. Stupid kid.

@Fairylover78

You may need to invest in some callipers to help keep your knees straight :-/
( JOKE).....I know it’s no fun but try to persevere, it’s the only way to overcome it… get yourself a neck warmer too ;-)

Literally, one step at a time.

I don’t know how disabling your fear is. For some, the thought of a stepladder is too much to face. If a stepladder is too much, then try a simple sturdy stool. Step on it and get used to the feeling of “that high”. Enjoy and validate that you were able to do that. Tomorrow, two steps on the ladder, or actually get a ladder.

A fear of heights is rational. Falling from even a moderate height can kill you. So have a healthy fear and respect for gravity. But don’t let that fear and respect stop you from… another step.

Before I was even old enough to mow a lawn my father had me climb onto the roof of a lakeside cottage with him with a creaky old wooden ladder. (It must have been 50 years old already.) He pulled the ladder up onto the roof with us, and from there he spanned a drop of another 50 feet to a huge tree branch about 25 feet farther up and ten feet from the house.

The ladder being too frail to support his weight over a span like that, he told me what to do. He tied a string to my belt, then had me look up—only up—and take a step at a time. He footed the ladder the whole way, and talked me quietly through it: one step at a time; take it slow; look up. When I got to the branch, he had me pull the string, which pulled up a rope. Then he had me tie the rope around the branch, and from then on and for the next 20 years we had the bitchinest tire swing you ever saw.

Have someone you trust with your life at the foot of the ladder, just telling you quietly: you can do it; one step at a time.

@CyanoticWasp, thanks for a serious answer to a serious question. I don’t have a paralyzing fear of heights, but because of a number of falling experiences, I’m nervous these days about getting any distance off the ground. One of the worst was falling backwards off a fairly high stepladder, with the middle of my back landing squarely on a bookcase. How I escaped serious injury I’ll never know.

@CyanoticWasp Thanks, great advice… I Have to use a 2 step stool for just about everything at home, I can’t reach the cabinets…and I’m ok taking the steps up, that part doesn’t scare me…It’s like in Highschool I could run up the bleachers, no problem! But it’s the coming down part that really gets me, even on my step ladder, I can’t look down, I just know 2 steps will get me back on solid ground. My husband and I love to Hike, he’s fearless and climbs ledges and runs across logs ect… I tried once to cross a log that was only about 4 feet from WATER and I got one step, froze up, my knees buckled and I couldn’t even back off the thing, he was really sweet and tried to talk me through it, but eventually had to come back across and help, it was over water for petes sake, but I freaked, I knew I wouldn’t get hurt, but it just disabled me… The thing is I WANT to be able to go and romp around and have fun, the thought of it is exciting, but I can’t seem to control my bodies reaction to it.

@Fairylover78 what you’re describing isn’t just a fear of height, though, with the log-crossing thing. That’s also balance and the worry about slipping off the rounded surface. I know; I’ve done that, too. (And your husband knows to make it a fairly quick dash across, because that’s actually a better way to do it.)

So for that I’d recommend practicing walking sidewalk curbs and logs placed on the ground. You might still twist an ankle as you learn techniques—and occasionally fail—but you’ll gain confidence, too.

In construction, I once had to climb a building structure (I seldom have had to do this) by the stairs—with the handrails not yet installed. Even though the stair treads are four feet wide and you can walk up and down them all day not using handrails, when the handrails just aren’t even present, I feel “different”. Scared. So I still do it, but a lot slower.

And at the top of the building, even while walking on the surface of a main support beam that’s three feet wide by itself—as wide as a sidewalk, and who has trouble walking on a sidewalk?—I mince my steps. Yeah, I’m afraid of heights, too, and always have been.

@Cruiser that might not be such a bad idea. I overcame my fear of heights when I visited the CN Tower in Toronto, and walked on their glass floor. It was disorientating to say the least, but I have never been afraid of heights since then.

Some people recommend full immersion – others suggest that you take it in little steps. I have not found either method successful in getting over my irrational fear of spiders, so I can’t recommend anything for you. Have you tried hypnosis?