I do not fear heights. I love them. Roller coasters. Sky drops. Winding bridges. You name it, I love it. There's a certain adrenaline rush a person can get from scaling heights (that's probably why so many people love climbing hills and mountains.) All of that being said, this scene right here? Anxiety. Sheer painful (albeit comedic) anxiety. Every time I see someone dangling out of a window or over a roof in a movie, even one that reaches the very height of silly, I get incredibly anxious for the main character.
Jimmy Stewart gets it. Acrophobia is probably one of the most reasonable, and almost primal phobias a person can have. When you're afraid of the dark, it's the unknown that scares you the most. But heights? It's because your brain can probably play out a hundred thousand scenarios of just how brutal and grisly an accident could be if you fell. No matter how safe you may actually be.
It doesn't just stop with panic attacks. Acrophobia can be so intense, that a person becomes paralyzed, or stricken by extreme vertigo. The danger of this fear is that in some cases, being unable to control your body or force yourself to move may very well get you killed (say you're walking on a narrow perch or driving around an old road on a steep hill. Panicking isn't going to help.) Luckily, as with all phobias, psychotherapy, medication, exposure, and even meditation can help to ease the worst of your fears. Just remember. Don't look down.
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