Acrophobia/vertigo solutions please?

[nidarosa]

Hi, I have always had an odd fear of (and scary pull towards) edges and don't like being on summits of any kind, no matter how trivial or harmless they are. Apparently this is known as acrophobia, the fear of heights in the sense of being at the highest point. I always thought it was vertigo, but that is a physical thing that makes you lose your balance - still scary though. In short: I get the fear when I should be enjoying the view and taking in the beauty of all things around or below me! Walking over that bridge to Portomarin is the worst part of my repeat Astorga-Santiago walks, to give you an idea. When a pilgrim stopped in that pedestrian lane and blocked my way, my friend and I jumped over to the car lane and she had to hold my hand to get me across. I know it is silly, I know it is irrational, but neither determination nor logic seems to help. And this May I am going walking up the hills and ridges of the Lake District ... because I don't want to accept that I cannot do it! Has anyone got any good advice on how to deal with, treat, lessen, remove or overcome this sort of thing?

I am planning on taking my Pacerpoles for that extra feeling of stability if I get a wobble, plus Kindle and a sitmat in case I can't do it and have to wait it out while my friend goes up to the summit to take photographs. I would rather get up there with her and she is very understanding, but I also don't want to be an absolute nightmare to drag along. When the fear comes on it can be very strong and I freak out until I can sit down somewhere below summit. I know ... not much fun, but it happens, and I would be grateful for any help in tackling it. I have some time and was planning on trying to walk up some smaller summits beforehand. (And I don't believe in homeopathy so those remedies are no good to me.)

Surely I can't be the only one? How do you deal with it?

 

[Anniesantiago]

There aren't many places on the Camino I would call a summit.
Perhaps if you start from Roncesvalles and skip the part going up from SJPP you'd be ok.

 

[nidarosa]

Hi, @Anniesantiago - I was fine on the Frances though I didn't much enjoy walking on the steep side of the road up to the top of the hill before Roncesvalles. It's the Lake District trip coming up that has me wondering what I can do. Those ridges really are narrow with slopes, steep and otherwise, on both sides, so nowhere to go other than straight ahead. I really would like to be able to comfortably walk up there.

 

[mspath]

Hill tops and peaks are no problem for me but I certainly agree that there are difficulties crosssing certain bridges!

Each time that I have walked the Camino Frances one section that I have particularly dreaded and even feared involves varied bridges just before entering Leon. In the past we pilgrims walked on a narrow medieval bridge at Villarente in frightening competition with on-coming contemporary lorry traffic. The traffic usually won. Happily in 2013 a dedicated pedestrian-only bridge was added. What a relief it was then to gently stroll along this elegant wooden way without fearing being hit or run over!

Closer to Leon another pedestrian bridge but of metal spans high above several lanes of rushing highway traffic and seems to sway in the wind. Since many pilgrims take a bus into the city I was alone and nervous most of the route. Happily, however, at the EXACT moment when I needed much moral support to put my foot on that first metal step and move a charming octogenarian French couple appeared and chatting nonchalantly we three crossed the bridge as if we all had wings.
I'm always VERY glad when that bridge has been crossed!


.

 

[nidarosa]

Sounds like me once I am over the bridge to Portomarin! Someone taught me this little rhyme: Peregrina soy, a Santiago voy! and I keep muttering it to myself like a nutter to keep walking across. I walked from St Jean in 2012 but took a taxi into Leon and missed the bridges you mention, now I am even more glad I did. The thing is, bridges are short and open ridges are long. I know I can get to Portomarin, I have done it four times now, and will do it again this April, but I have always avoided peaks, ridges, edges and viewpoints before because of this stupid fear. It is time to conquer it! Not sure my peregrina chant will last me two whole days ...

 

[VNwalking]

I've ended up in some terrifying places in the Himalaya. One step wrong and....
Singing helps--hard to hold your breath in terror and sing at the same time. I also found it helpful to really feel my feet and the solidity of the ground beneath them. And yes, poles. Very helpful. Watch the death grip on them, though.
Wonderful, nidarosa...it takes a ton of courage to walk into the fire with your eye wide open. You go, girl!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Have you tried hypnosis?

 

[Kanga]

Hi @nidarosa at the cost of appearing ridiculous (what I do for this forum!) here's me, creeping over the bridge going into Muros on the Norte.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Also, the dam crossing near Grandas on the Primitivo: as long as you stick to the middle of the bridge you should be fine, but the edges are wild!

 

[LesBrass]

Surely I can't be the only one? How do you deal with it?

NO! Not the only one for sure!

I once made my husband walk a 3km detour because I refused to cross a bridge. He thought I was crazy but I was in tears and I just couldn't cross... it wasn't even high! It was a simple footbridge over a very fast flowing river; I think the moving water just made me panic. The walk around the Moorish castle in Sintra a few weeks ago brought on a similar response... but I had to choose to go forward or back as there was no getting off!

The bridge into Portomarin was a terror too... I had to walk in the middle of the road. There was no way I could walk on the path... lucky for me no cars came through and galloped across as fast as I could! I also didn't like the walk down into molinaseca... there were a few point during that descent that I really thought I would stop and refuse to go on... sadly I always swear as I get more and more fearful so I'm a bit of an embarasment all round.

If you find a solution I'll be all ears! Maybe I should look at hypnosis... have you had experience of it @Anemone del Camino

@Kanga

 

[nidarosa]

Good morning all! @Viranani - Thanks for the cheer, I will keep it in mind when the fear strikes next. Or at least in April, crossing that Portomarin bridge again and muttering my mantra ... and yes, keeping a death grip on the Pacers! Singing sounds clever, I suppose it would force the breathing back towards normal?
@Anemone del Camino - No, hypnosis is one of those things I never think about, but I do have a friend who swears by it so I'll have a word with her.
@Kanga - That could be me! Thank you so much for sharing, I feel a lot better knowing I am not the only one. I once walked across the Pontcysyllte aqueduct to prove to myself that I was not a wimp, but flat refused to walk back again so had to do 4k extra to get back to the pub for a drink after
@LesBrass - thanks for confirming that I am not alone in this. The walk down to Molinaseca is one of my favourite bits, but towards the town there is a very steep drop from the narrow path and I really don't like that bit. Cue mantra and death grip, but I have managed to get past it four times so far and knowing that helps. Even there there are lower places to run to though, but on a ridge there is nothing but summit! Do you walk with poles? If so, does that help?
My friend suggests Werther's Originals as a placebo medicine/treat, the thinking being that it won't make me feel better, but it will taste better to be feeling bad. Worth a try!

 

[galliano]

Hi @nidarosa at the cost of appearing ridiculous (what I do for this forum!) here's me, creeping over the bridge going into Muros on the Norte.

That's just like me crossing the bridge before Posrtomarin

 

[nidarosa]

I thought I was such a wimp about that bridge, and it seems there are loads of us! I personally don't like the steps up to town after the bridge either (narrow, steep, high) but it pales against the elation of having crossed the bridge. Strangely I like sitting at the Mirador looking out at the bridge and the submerged town afterwards (with a small vino medicino of course).

 

[VNwalking]

Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention...have no pride. I have been known to crawl on hands and knees or scoot along on my bum.

 

[Stellaluna]

Hi, @Anniesantiago - I was fine on the Frances though I didn't much enjoy walking on the steep side of the road up to the top of the hill before Roncesvalles. It's the Lake District trip coming up that has me wondering what I can do. Those ridges really are narrow with slopes, steep and otherwise, on both sides, so nowhere to go other than straight ahead. I really would like to be able to comfortably walk up there.

Hi there, last summer I did the Coast to Coast Walk which goes right across the Lake District. I also have acrophobia. Several times on the walk my knees turned to jelly and my walking buddies had to help me out. It was disappointing for me as I had also been determined to get past the fear and enjoy the gorgeous hills and summits. Despite having to stop 100 metres before most summits and needing friendly assistance on narrow ridges I still LOVED the walk and will do it again some day.
Oh, and I also tried to take a mild tranquilizer prescribed by my doctor to help with the acrophobia.
Good luck and enjoy the exquisite Lake District!!!

 

[nidarosa]

@Viranani - Don't worry, I have none of that. I have sat down in the middle of a cloud of mocking sheep, thrown myself flat on my belly when a Hadrian's Wall crag seemed to sway under me and crawled down hill, pack on, after stupidly looking down from a view point. I have been known to scream with frustration when I want to go somewhere and my own fear is stopping me. Luckily there aren't too many around to hear me in the Lakes!

 

[Stellaluna]

@Viranani - Don't worry, I have none of that. I have sat down in the middle of a cloud of mocking sheep, thrown myself flat on my belly when a Hadrian's Wall crag seemed to sway under me and crawled down hill, pack on, after stupidly looking down from a view point. I have been known to scream with frustration when I want to go somewhere and my own fear is stopping me. Luckily there aren't too many around to hear me in the Lakes!

Sounds very familiar except for the screaming... I went in July and there were far too many witnesses around.

 

[nidarosa]

@Stellaluna - Thanks for that, this really cheered me up! I am thinking the same thing, I want to do this and I want to do it as comfortably as possible. My friend is very kind and is planning ridge walks where there is a second, lower option which I can switch to if I need it. I would still prefer to walk it and enjoy it! I love looking at pics taken from altitude and long to be able to stand there and experience it live ... but the truth is all too often I am cowering somewhere, fearful and frustrated and upset, and feel really bad about it after. I will try some gentle exposure therapy before I go though, and I also have the Sarria-Santiago or Camino Ingles (to be determined later) walk before the Lakes too. Out of interest, did you use poles?

 

[Stellaluna]

@Stellaluna - Thanks for that, this really cheered me up! I am thinking the same thing, I want to do this and I want to do it as comfortably as possible. My friend is very kind and is planning ridge walks where there is a second, lower option which I can switch to if I need it. I would still prefer to walk it and enjoy it! I love looking at pics taken from altitude and long to be able to stand there and experience it live ... but the truth is all too often I am cowering somewhere, fearful and frustrated and upset, and feel really bad about it after. I will try some gentle exposure therapy before I go though, and I also have the Sarria-Santiago or Camino Ingles (to be determined later) walk before the Lakes too. Out of interest, did you use poles?

My poles were a godsend especially on the descents.
Are you planning on doing Striding Edge? I can barely even tolerate looking at photos of it!!!

 

[nidarosa]

Good, I have never really used poles on my non Camino walks so am putting a lot of faith in them.
I will not be doing Striding edge! My friend wants to go up Blencathra, which looks a bit ... challenging for me, but there are others where the ridge is not so sharp and much wider, I think I can do that. Those sharp and shaly ones are not for me - yet.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Our grand-daughter cannot 'do' heights. She walked round the top of Totnes Castle reciting quietly 'Don't look down; don't look down'. She was perfectly able to look across the fields from the parapet. Since then she had been on a school adventure day when she abseiled down a wall!!! on an obstacle course, because she wouldn't let it beat her, and her group was the only one to fully complete the course.
Looking 'elsewhere' may help while still walking safely. Best wishes @nidarosa.

 

[nidarosa]

@Tia Valeria - Good advice! She sounds like a courageous girl! I am not ready for absailing, I have to say ... and on Hadrian's Wall I was fine on top of the crags as long as I had the nice wide wall on one side and my husband on the other, looking out towards the horizon. It's like you say, looking down can bring the fear on. I looked down when I realised the tree below me was the much anticipated sycamore in the Sycamore Gap, the wall was low there and I couldn't see the path when it went around the top. So my husband, bless him, had to take me around the top and down the gentle slope, and when I saw how un-scary the path looked from down there I regretted not having braved it. I still do. I will have to go back there one day and do it again, properly.

Maybe I should make a rule that I can only look down-ish after I have sat down? That might work? Then at least I know I can't trip or fall anywhere.

 

[Annette london]

Hi, I have always had an odd fear of (and scary pull towards) edges and don't like being on summits of any kind, no matter how trivial or harmless they are. Apparently this is known as acrophobia, the fear of heights in the sense of being at the highest point. I always thought it was vertigo, but that is a physical thing that makes you lose your balance - still scary though. In short: I get the fear when I should be enjoying the view and taking in the beauty of all things around or below me! Walking over that bridge to Portomarin is the worst part of my repeat Astorga-Santiago walks, to give you an idea. When a pilgrim stopped in that pedestrian lane and blocked my way, my friend and I jumped over to the car lane and she had to hold my hand to get me across. I know it is silly, I know it is irrational, but neither determination nor logic seems to help. And this May I am going walking up the hills and ridges of the Lake District ... because I don't want to accept that I cannot do it! Has anyone got any good advice on how to deal with, treat, lessen, remove or overcome this sort of thing?

I am planning on taking my Pacerpoles for that extra feeling of stability if I get a wobble, plus Kindle and a sitmat in case I can't do it and have to wait it out while my friend goes up to the summit to take photographs. I would rather get up there with her and she is very understanding, but I also don't want to be an absolute nightmare to drag along. When the fear comes on it can be very strong and I freak out until I can sit down somewhere below summit. I know ... not much fun, but it happens, and I would be grateful for any help in tackling it. I have some time and was planning on trying to walk up some smaller summits beforehand. (And I don't believe in homeopathy so those remedies are no good to me.)

Surely I can't be the only one? How do you deal with it?

You would be amazed to know how many people are afraid, to a greater or lesser degree, of heights in one shape or another. Any walk in our travel books that mention vertigo, exposed or edge is given a wide berth! My husband especially hates edges with "drops" and if, as sometimes happens we do get caught, the best thing is not to look down--at all.i am able NOT to look down but he has a dreadful compulsion to do so and this makes things worse.l have to keep saying"don't look down and put one foot in front of another" like a long playing record. At times all dignity is gone if we have to crawl on all fours or hug the bushes!! Whatever gets us across!! I find however that fear is catching and if one of us loses it,then it becomes dangerous. We have at times slid down the mountain on our bums!! Our oldest daughter was terrified of flying and indeed missed a few flights years ago due to fear. However she reasoned,after a while that if she continued like this that she would never go anywhere or see other counteries. She now flies frequently without loving it but at least she does it. I hope you will love the Lake District. The ridges are pretty wide in most cases.avoid striding edge however. You want to enjoy yourself, not terrify yourself!! Let us know how you get on. BTW have you tried CBT cognitive behaviour therapy? I believe it works wonders for fear of heights.

 

[nidarosa]

@Annette london : I should have mentioned this many years ago and saved myself feeling so weird, it seems there is a lot of it about! I agree with your husband about the 'edge with drop' - I have a scary pull towards them and also total fear of them. I think your daughter has the right mentality; you don't have to love it, but love what you get out of doing it. Good to know that even for someone with the fear the ridges are pretty wide. Again - no way am I going anywhere near Striding Edge! Easy does it and I will push myself, but not too much at a time. I haven't tried any form of official therapy other than testing and stretching my limits as often as I can, taking that one step closer to the edge, leaning out over a banister, taking the steeper path. I am going to walk up a smallish Welsh hill soon to try to walk up to a castle ruin on top which I have never managed to explore. Will bring Werthers and husband. Oh and Pacerpoles. And maybe walk in trousers instead of a skirt in case I have to resort to crawling back down!

 

[J Willhaus]

There is no shame in having an "unreasonable" fear. If it is restricting your life, there are forms of inoculation therapy which may help, but go to a professional for that. I also have a paralyzing fear of bridges, edges, heights which I relate to a car accident I had where my car flipped over a guard rail and rolled end over end down an embankment. By God's Grace I walked away uninjured, but have had difficulty with bridges, heights, edges since that time even after almost 35 years. You really can't reason yourself out of the fear although you can sometimes become more used to it with exposure that is within your control. Don't let others push you to do something you are not ready to do. I find that I can usually make it when left alone and not badgered by others that it will be "fine". Those of us with the fear know logically in our mind that it will be fine, however, another part of our brain is not accepting the logic.

 

[nidarosa]

@J Willhaus - how horrible, so glad you escaped unharmed! No wonder you are scared of these things now. Not sure what inoculation therapies are, though I know they have made good results with cortisol combined with virtual exposure therapy - sadly that seems not to be recognized or researched enough to make it a viable option yet. And you are absolutely right about not letting others set the limits for what you can do or try to calm you with logic and reason, it doesn't work that way. My husband now knows not to say any of those things but instead soothe me with gentle smalltalk while I work through it.

 

[rometimed]

Man the striding edges on Hellvellyn are much scarier than anything on the Camino...

 

[Stellaluna]

Man the striding edges on Hellvellyn are much scarier than anything on the Camino...

Even the crag at the beginning of Ennerdale Water is probably worse than anything on the Frances, I imagine?

 

[rometimed]

Even the crag at the beginning of Ennerdale Water is probably worse than anything on the Frances, I imagine?

Hehe the crags before Grasmere were the first spots I've ever been soaked going up one hill then completely blown-dry by wind up the next hill.

 

[VNwalking]

Hi to all acrophobics out there!
I just stumbled on this and it has some very good information suggestions about how to maintain 'grace under pressure'...and now I see why singing and deep breathing helps!
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201302/the-neurobiology-grace-under-pressure

 

[Physio_pilgrim]

Hi nidarosa

The great thing you have done is that you've acknowledged your fear which means that you can now start to take steps to do something about it. As a physiotherapist, this area of fear is out of my depth but with many fear-related issue, a psychologist trained in cognitive-behavioural therapy may be of benefit to you. Basically they discuss with you the reason why you have the fear and very slowly they gradually introduce you to the fear in very small increments so that you can feel more and more comfortable with it.

Good luck and Buen Camino!

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention...have no pride. I have been known to crawl on hands and knees or scoot along on my bum.

The correct mountaineering term is glissading and I quote 'Glissading is the act of descending a steep snow- or scree-covered slope via a controlled slide on one's feet or buttocks'

Perfectly normal and acceptable method of descending

 

[VNwalking]

Glissading sounds so much more respectable, thank you!
And crawling is still crawling.
How's the foot, Meri?

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

Glissading sounds so much more respectable, thank you!
And crawling is still crawling.
How's the foot, Meri?

I have been known to glissade on several occasions and have the tears in the seat of my beloved hiking pants to prove it!

Foot continues to improve - about to finally post a 'Where did I walk locally today' for an actual walk - am relearning my foot anatomy as the loads come on and the 26 bones, 33 joints, and over 100 tendons, muscles, and ligaments that have been holidaying since the Camino are progressively called back into service.

but... to add a response to the original OP, not too much scares me on a trail but I was surprised by a totally unexpected dash of vertigo at this crossing on the way to Zubiri in the photo below. Think it was a combination of the swirling water, looking down and stepping off and on the blocks. Just focus on each step (mindfulness in action) and keep going.

Buen Camino!

 

[VNwalking]

Foot continues to improve - about to finally post a 'Where did I walk locally today' for an actual walk - am relearning my foot anatomy as the loads come on and the 26 bones, 33 joints, and over 100 tendons, muscles, and ligaments that have been holidaying since the Camino are progressively called back into service.

Yay! I'm so glad to read this, Meri! And...what we all take so for granted. Feet, bless them...

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

Yay! I'm so glad to read this, Meri! And...what we all take so for granted. Feet, bless them...

Happy Feet

A thousand moments that I had just taken for granted - mostly because I had assumed that there would be a thousand more.

Yes, we take so much for granted in our everyday lives. A reminder to seize the moment and the day while we can. For my next Camino...

 

[Sheffield James]

Thank-you @nidarosa for providing a name for a condition I think I share with you. Until now, I have referred to it as vertigo but acrophobia sounds more accurate.

I had to smile at some of the scary situations related by you and other posters, as it reminded me of similar experiences of my own over the years. The worst was when I was climbing a double-Monroe in Gairloch, in the Scottish Highlands, three years ago. I spent three hours scrambling a boulder-strewn ascent only to find my 'reward' was a narrow ridge-walk that stretched as far as the eye could see. Like you, my natural reaction was to lower myself to the ground and begin slithering forward slowly like a snake. When that didn't work, I sat paralysed while I decided if I would survive glissanding down some extremely dangerous scree to safe ground far below me. My companion talked me out of this lethal option and offered me two choices: call the mountain rescue or allow him to guide me back to safety. I was so fearful I was tempted by the former, but, as my cousin was able to navigate the terrain like a mountain goat, I reluctantly decided to put my trust in him. It worked, although he was still required to pull me over some rough ground at times by unceremoniously grabbing the back of my belted trousers.

Eventhough my cousin was very understanding, I would not want to experience such a climb again in future + so I would take more of an interest in the route-planning beforehand to make sure I avoided such scary situations. I can't recall if you've covered this points in one of your posts, but surely the Lake District offers very many 'safer' trails that would be equally breath-taking... for entirely good reasons!