Phobias: Acrophobia

Occasionally some phobias tend to merge into other fears and so it maybe difficult to distinguish between them and particularly to search for the originating cause.

Acrophobia can be one such fear, and it may not be too obvious as many of us do not venture up mountains or peer over cliffs. However, we often have to cross bridges and these can instil panic situations, even as in one case I had with a window cleaner.

Martin, as I shall call him, could quite happily climb his ladders but bridges were taboo, so he avoided them at all costs. Martin decided on a career change and so took a PSV test and became a coach driver. All was fine until his new boss asked him to drive to England which meant driving over the (then) Severn Bridge. As he approached this, he started to tremble and panic and he had great difficulty keeping the coach from swerving as he travelled over. Once on the other side he recovered, but then realised he could never risk the crossing again, so he always travelled via Gloucester, which delayed the journey. His boss gave him an ultimatum – get over your fears or leave the job!

Martin came to me in great distress, not knowing the way forward. I relaxed him with hypnotic inductions, put onto tapes for his continued ability to chill out, and then set about discovering the root cause of his phobia. Nothing could be found initially, and so under hypnosis I asked his subconscious mind to divulge the cause of Martin’s fear for I was puzzled as to why he could travel over many bridges but not the Severn one.

Under hypnosis his subconscious mind revealed to him an incident in Margam Park when he was five years old. Martin and his mother were standing in the park watching an aerobatic display when suddenly a bi-plane (fixed wing) flew towards the crowd. Balanced on the top of the wings was a girl holding onto two short poles, which gave her stability. As the plane swooped lower, it appeared as if it was going to crash into Martin. His subconscious mind went into preservation mode and he fell to the ground covering his face.

This panic stayed hidden until Martin drove towards the old Severn Bridge when he caught sight of the massive supports of the bridge and it replayed the memory of the girl on the plane.

The next time you travel over the said bridge, notice the massive pillars are joined near the top by a bridge of concrete and in the middle is a small mast which Martin’s subconscious saw as the girl on the plane. It, therefore, did not wish for him to be traumatised again, so did its best to keep him away from that scene by inducing a panic attack.

Having “run” the trauma out, using various processes, Martin was then fine to drive anywhere.

Although the subconscious mind is an incredible organ, it can also be irrational.