Overcoming vertigo

[Dunmurry]

Has anyone got any advice on how one can overcome fear of heights? Some people can fly in planes, yet do not like high cliffs or bridges. Is there any way for someone who ahs this fear to be able to go to high places?

[dantheman]

Well, vertigo isn't quite the same as a fear of heights (agrophobia?). Vertigo is the physical feeling of dizziness one gets when at any kind of height, and the worse the affliction, the lower the height needs to be.

If you went to the top of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and got dizzy, you probably experienced vertigo. If you get dizzy every time you step into an elevator going up, then it's time to see a doctor.

Vertigo itself isn't necessarily something that can be "cured," although there is medication available. And there are degrees of vertigo, too. I was diagnosed with what they called benign positional vertigo. "Benign" because it was basically harmless, just an occasional nuscience, and "positional" because it occurred when I moved my head. They prescribed a drug called Antivert, and it seemed to help. Don't have much of a problem with it at all now.

[MovieMogul]

(1) Grab a small stepladder
(2) Take one step at a time: "I look up, I look down. I look up, I look down."
(3) Get dizzy and fall into Barbara Bel Geddes' arms.

Hmmm, maybe not the best suggestion.