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libabiss
May 11, 2007, 02:45 PM
I have a fear of heights
I am about to go to a place with high rope courses that we are expected to do.
If anyone has any tips or ideas that can help me manage I would really appreciate it.
Thanks. :)

gypsy456
May 11, 2007, 04:16 PM
Keep breathing and don't panic!

Good luck !

Auttajasi
May 11, 2007, 11:25 PM
How high is the rope course?
Anyway, there are two types of fears: rational fears and irrational fears.
Rational fears are the ones that emerged because of experience. Example: Someone who has actually been bitten by a snake probably has a rational fear of snakes.
Irrational fears are the ones that are not backed by experience. Example: Most people that are afraid of spiders and heights.

I am guessing that you have not had a horrible experience related to height like falling from a tree or something. This means that your fear is probably unfounded. I'm not trying to invalidate your fear of heights because it is pretty common. I would be more worried about a person that doesn't experience anxiety looking over the edge of a big cliff.

Here is the bottom line:
There will be experts at the rope course supervising the entire time (right?).
You will do fine.
There is a therapy that is commonly used with people who have fears. It's called exposure therapy. A person who is afraid of clowns will start by looking at pictures of clowns. Then, they will probably hold a clown wig or nose. Then, when they are ready, they will sit down and have a conversation with a clown. A type of exposure therapy is flooding. This is where you throw this same person immediately into a room full of clowns without slowly exposing aspects of the clowns to them. In a way, this is the type of therapy that you will be experiencing on the rope course. When you successfully complete the rope course, I would bet "the farm" that you are less afraid of heights than before. Let us know how it goes for you and Good Luck!