Legitimate fear or all in my head?????

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Hoosiermomma

Hoosiermomma

Songster
10 Years
Jun 6, 2009
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S.E Ind
Bear with me this might be a bit long...
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Okay so we were having a discussion at the dinner table tonight with all the family gathered around. We were talking about recent things we had done, seen etc. Well I was telling everyone about our family trip to the zoo in Cincinnati. Well snce our last visit there they had created a new entrance. Instead of parking being on zoo property they constructed a parking lot on an adjacent street and a walkway that goes from the lot (over the roadway below) to the zoo. Okay that's cool I am psyched about being there and can't wait to go in to see what's new. So we cross the parking lot go up the elevator and get to the top where the walkway over the road is. As I take a step onto the walkway a wave of unbelievable fear sweeps over me. What was I thinking????????? OMG....I am afraid of heights and this walkway is at least 30-40 feet above the road. So the rest of the family proceed to walk and there I am frozen dead in my tracks. They all try to coax me to go but I cannot move. My knees felt like they were going to give out from underneath me and I was getting dizzy on the verge of kissing concrete.
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So my kids finally came back for me....gee thanks...
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and with eyes closed, led me ever so slowly across this walkway. 20 ft seemed like an eternity. What would have taken 2 minutes to cross took me 15 mins. Well needless to say after that ordeal, I was able to actually enjoy our zoo visit until we decided to leave and the whole thing started all over again.
Well some of you will say OMG how pathetic while others will know exactly where I am coming from. Well the debate at the table ended up being is it all in my head and I have the power to change what happened or was my reaction truly real and can't be helped? I would appreciate your input on this...What do you think? Do I as my brother so eloquently put it need to 'Grow Up?" Or am I not crazy and am entitled to feel the way I do?
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I used to be scared of heights till the jump master put his boot in my rear... since then I've tried rock climbing, bungee jumping and para-sailing
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It can be overcome.


Edited because I can't spell
 
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Fear is fear.
It may not make sense to others (or to you), but you fear it and that is real. It has to be worked though like any other fear.
You faced it and tackled it and that shows strength.

Your family was, shall we say, less than helpful and supportive.


ETA: I can only go in a boat or airplane if I can see land. I am scared to death to be in or over the water with no land in sight.
It is rational? Am I safer seeing land? No, of course not.
Is it a real fear? To me it really is.

Have I tackled it and faced it? Heck no.
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Will I ever? Maybe.

You are not alone.
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It IS a real fear...and you can have real sysmptoms..i actually get dizzy if i'm up too high snd i look down..(i'm not scared though.. )
But..you CAN overcome your fear..with practice and time and patience and being introduced to heights slowly and in the right way...
But if someone forces you, it can make your fear all the worse ... Good luck!
 
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It is a perfectly legitimate fear. We can't control what our minds suddenly decide to deem scary. It's almost like one day you can eat a strawberry, the next day it almost kills you. The neat thing is, though, you can overcome a fear. I used to be terrified of boats, after a bad experience in my teen years. A few years ago, my dad took me out on a dolphin cruise, and not only did I get sick as a dog, I had a huge panic attack, and ruined the whole cruise.

Well my dad, ever the Navy man, came out in Sept and made me step on a boat again, this time a fishing boat. I panicked for the first hour, then I was fine. I had an absolute blast and can't wait to go again. When you're ready, you will overcome it, but I believe you have to be ready. Therapy can help too, if you want relief sooner. You're not crazy, and that fear of heights is a very common problem. God bless
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Oh, wanted to add, that what helped me tremendously were the captains on the boat. They both sat down with me, looked me in the eye, and told me I had nothing to worry about, that the boat wouldn't do anything more than what it was doing right then. They were right.
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Quote:
actually a process called flooding has been shown to be effective in fighting phobias
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Quote:
actually a process called flooding has been shown to be effective in fighting phobias
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Whats that mean? Where they overwhelm you with your fear? (make you face it..) ...I think i know what you are talking about..
but if its done its gotta be done by a professional...who knoows how to do it.. i think.
 
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It is a legit fear..I am deathly afraid of heights..I had to go on the roof of my house to fix the swamp cooler, once up there I was paralyzed with fear and could not move..My neighbor came over and touched my foot and I screamed
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Had to call the fire department to get me down, now, that was totally embarrassing
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