Back Hoogtevrees Afrikaans رهاب المرتفعات Arabic اكروفوبيا ARZ এক্ৰ'ফ'বিয়া Assamese Acrofobia AST Akrofobiya Azerbaijani Акрафобія Byelorussian Акрофобия Bulgarian উচ্চতা-ভীতি Bengali/Bangla Acrofòbia Catalan
| Acrophobia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Some jobs require working at heights. | |
| Pronunciation | |
| Specialty | Psychiatry |
Acrophobia, also known as hypsophobia, is an extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is not particularly high up. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort, that share similar causes and options for treatment.
Most people experience a degree of natural fear when exposed to heights, known as the fear of falling. On the other hand, those who have little fear of such exposure are said to have a head for heights. A head for heights is advantageous for hiking or climbing in mountainous terrain and also in certain jobs such as steeplejacks or wind turbine mechanics.
People with acrophobia can experience a panic attack in high places and become too agitated to get themselves down safely. Approximately 2–5% of the general population has acrophobia, with twice as many women affected as men.[1] The term is from the Greek: ἄκρον, ákron, meaning "peak, summit, edge" and φόβος, phóbos, "fear". The term "hypsophobia" derives from the Greek word ύψος (hypsos), meaning "height". In Greek, the actual term used for this condition is "υψοφοβία" (Hypsophobia).
- ^ Juan, M. C.; Baños, Rosa; Botella, Cristina; et al. (2005). "An Augmented Reality system for the treatment of acrophobia" (PDF). Presence. 15 (4): 315–318. doi:10.1162/pres.15.4.393. S2CID 797073. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2015.