I’m not particularly scared of heights - I’ve done my share of climbing up cliffs, I can lean over railings on the top of buildings, climb into the crow’s nest of a ship, all without distress.
Recently, however, when I’m up at great heights, I don’t feel fear, but I get a weird tingling feeling in my feet, which goes up into my abdomen the further I lean out. Does anyone else experience this, and if so, what is it?
Further info: a couple of years ago I went on a fairground ride that hauls you up about 30 metres and drops you straight down, with a big electromagnet at the bottom to catch you. I went on a similar ride at Astroworld when I was much younger, and totally loved it. But this time my reaction was different: I experienced true, visceral terror - the hairs on my head stood up straight, like in a cartoon. The weird feeling only really began after this incident. Could this be connected?
I don’t know the answer jjimm, but I’ve had a not-quite-the-same-but-similar sensation. I’ve always been a fan of roller coasters and such, and I’m quite familiar with the ride you mention at Astroworld. The (I think it’s called) Big Shot at the Stratosphere is a staple of my visits to Las Vegas.
But I have in recent times experienced a (what?) tingling(?) sensation in my legs when presented with situations that involve falling. It hasn’t prevented me from enjoying a roller coaster, or whatever, but I’ve certainly noticed it.
I’ve a vague, never articulated, feeling that it has something to do with aging. While I certainly don’t feel decrepit, and am usually as much up for jollies as the next, I have had experiences in latter times that have forced me to acknowledge that I’m not quite as malleable as I was at 20 (I’m 50 now).
Wisdom is forced to legs in times of need? Or maybe it decided you needed abject stupidity, as wisdom apparently failed to keep you from the situation.
Anyway, I would vote for either simply a change in perspective, or maybe altered blood flow. I can see panic and adrenalin bringing more blood to your head and upper body. There might also be an evolutionary explanation, where if you were a zillion miles in the air a monkey would need all the blood in the upper body… but hindsight is 20/20, so who can say?
