What is acrophobia? ... About one in three people say they experience some discomfort or distress when exposed to heights. But not all of these ...TogglenavigationStarttypingtosearchHealthFamily&RelationshipsWork&PerformanceLearning&DevelopmentSocietyHome>RepublishedContent>Health>Acrophobia,orwhyaresomepeopleareafraidofheightsHealthWhydosomepeoplefearheightsevenwhentheyknowtheyaresafe?iStock,comIfyou’veeverfeltyourheartraceasyoulookeddownfromthetopofatallladder,you’renotalone.Butforsomepeople,theirdistressisfarmoreserious.Simplythinkingaboutclimbingaladdercanleadtointensefearandanxiety.Thesearetheroughlyonein15peoplewhohaveafearofheights(acrophobia)atsomepointintheirlives.So,whatleadssomepeopletofeelanxiouseventhinkingaboutclimbingtheladder?Andothershappilyclimbupontotheroof?Whatisacrophobia?Aboutoneinthreepeoplesaytheyexperiencesomediscomfortordistresswhenexposedtoheights.Butnotallofthesehaveacrophobia.Thetermacrophobiaisreservedforpeoplewithextreme,irrationalandpersistentfearsofheightsandsituationsassociatedwiththem.It’soneoftheso-callednaturalenvironmentphobias,whichalsoincludeafearofthunderandlightening(astraphobia)orwater(aquaphobia).Peoplewithacrophobiaoftenavoidsituationswheretheywillbeexposedtoheights.However,thisisnotalwayspossible.Whenfacedwithheightsoranticipatingthem,theirsympatheticnervoussystemisaroused,asifpreparingthebodyforanemergency.Thisarousalhelpseitherapproachorescapefromathreat(commonlyknownasthefight-or-flightresponse).Theymayexperiencevertigo(amovingorspinningsensation),increasedheartrate,shortnessofbreath,sweating,anxiety,shakingortrembling,andnauseaoranupsetstomach.Afight-or-flightresponsecanbeadaptiveindangeroussituations,becauseitcanhelpusrespondtodangeroussituations.Butinpeoplewithacrophobia,thisresponsecanoccurwhennodangerispresent.Forinstance,somepeopleareextremelydistressedwhenthinkingaboutheights.Therearetwomainperspectivesabouthowacrophobiadevelops.Broadly,fearsandphobiasareeitherinnate(evolutionaryperspective)orlearned(behaviouri