I don’t think “spatial disorientation” is the right term - I think that’s more a pilot thing, correct?
I’m trying to figure out what the comparison is between getting freaked out from looking down at the ground from a height of 2,000 feet (like these brass ball guys climbing a radio tower), and what “makes it okay” looking down at the ground from an airplane window at 35,000 feet.
Granted, I’m sure there are plane passengers who refuse to look out the window - fair enough. But it seems like there’s gotta be some word or term that describes the difference “in the pit of your stomach” from the two scenarios. Even sitting here on my couch watching that youtube video above makes my nerves run wild.
I believe this forum’s family-tree traces its origins back to Chicago, correct? At least - as of 2013 - the Sears (ok, Willis) Tower had the corner where you could actually walk on glass outside the edge of the rest of the building, look past your shoes, and see the ground below.
I’m a guy that’s skydived out of airplanes before, and the thrill of that “Tower Walk” lasted for maybe 30 seconds, and then my work there was done. Fortunately I hadn’t eaten right before.
Is there some way to describe the differences between the two scenarios? Surely this has been discussed before - if so, please point me to that thread. Thanks!
One difference is that looking out of a tall window, you still see what you would normally see, just a lot farther away. Therefore it’s familiar, and relateable, and able to scare you. But looking out of an airplane is so unnatural that you can’t connect it to normal life. Therefore it doesn’t hit you where you live.
Whatever it is, I have it. I too have jumped out of an airplane several times; I felt fear, but it was normal fear. If I take the elevator at work to the fourth floor, it’s all I can do to walk out of the elevator doors rather than falling to my knees and crawling out. I never know what will trigger my can’t-move-want-to-vomit acrophobia.
The acrophobia hit big time when I rode the elevator to the top of the Empire State Building, but didn’t bother me at all when I rode to the top of the Twin Towers (before, of course).
(It’s not just elevators that set off the acrophobia.)
It’s interesting to learn that others suffer from selective acrophobia.
There is no word for that. There are words for freaking out from 2 feet up to 1723 feet, and not freaking out from 900 feet to 29107 feet. None of the other altitudes have been given specific words.
I think most of acrophobia has to do with the change in perspective for normally recognizable objects. When you are in an airplane looking down everything on the ground is basically 2D, not triggering the fear response from lower altitudes where vertical lines and surfaces are seen at unfamiliar angles.
A lot of it is just intuitive risk assessment. I’ll be more afraid at the top of a really tall ladder than in an airplane, because I instinctively assess the risk of falling of a ladder as far higher than the risk falling out the window of a plane.
IMHO, fear of heights and fear of falling are two separate and unrelated things.
^^^ This. I have no problem being on my ladder or (low pitch, one story) roof, but the transition freaks me out a little (didn’t when I was younger
There is a trail up the face of a bluff that I have problem with (mostly it is stairs) except for one segment where there is no railing. Even though it is maybe 20 feet and mostly flat it freaks me out (going down it is even worse)
I have no problem flying at any height (Private pilot) or inside any building or even on the rooftop bar (4 story building)
So my freak-out-ness depends on
The concept of l’appel du vide might be relevant here too.
Looking through an aircraft window, jumping out is phyically out of the question.
Looking downwards from say the top of a curtain wall or a tower, the question occurs to me: what if I suddenly became insane for the few seconds it would take?
Isn’t this just vertigo? When you’re inside a plane you’re nice and safe and inside the plane; when you’re looking down from the tower, you’re out there and not looking through a window.
I think that’s part of it, but I can get vertigo looking out the window of a skyscraper even when I know that the window doesn’t open and there’s no way I could fall even if I wanted to. I think just the fact that you can see the structure you’re standing on is what makes a difference. That triggers instinctive fears of falling over the edge that you’re standing near. On a plane, without seeing any ledge or other structure that you could fall off, it doesn’t trigger that instinctive fear. There’s no relevant instinct because there’s no natural situation that’s anything like that experience.
Vertigo is one thing, fear of heights or fear of falling can be another thing altogether. I think they may all trigger for the same reasons at times, but like any phobia they can be triggered for all sorts of reasons.
I know mild vertigo is my problem, I’ve learned not to look down to avoid most problems, but it also required developing the ability to overcome the anxiety and push upward and onward, though cautiously.
I read somewhere long ago that it’s being able to see a line connecting where you are to where you’d land that’s most of the trigger for being acrophobic rather than an absolute height thing. Which actually makes sense, and I’m more scared of a hundred foot drop off a cliff or bridge than being a hundred feet up (and rising!) in a hot air balloon, probably because there’s nothing for my brain to measure against to assess my threat level if I fell. I’m even less scared going higher on a rope swing than sitting on the branch the rope is tied to–I’m not sure what’s making this work but I’ve tested myself in a shit ton of situations involving heights and sure enough, the line thing does make a big difference in my paranoia levels.