How to Diagnose Acrophobia (Fear of Heights)
The fear of heights is something that debilitates thousands of Americans. The diagnosis of an actual phobia can be tricky but there are some surefire ways to ensure that a diagnosis is properly administered.
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Instructions
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1
Asses the severity of the fear. Determine if the person could be struggling with a personal issue that could be manifesting as a fear of heights.
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2
Diagnose the severity of the phobic thoughts on a scale of 1 to 10. Determine the duration or course of the symptoms, by taking an inventory to discover if it has been pervasive for most of the persons life or if it is a relatively new fear; this is often best done by taking a full history of the person's life.
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3
Show pictures of external stimuli (in this case it would be a picture of a skyscraper, an aerial view photograph, or placing a ladder in the room). Objectively rate the person's response and have the person also rate their anxiety level when exposed to the stimuli.
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4
Search for rational explanations for the pervasive fear (in this case falling off of a ladder at a young age, or being dangled off a high building). Phobias must be irrational otherwise it is merely an aversion due to a stressful experience and is thus perfectly normal. Rate the level of disruption in the person's everyday life from 1 to 10, just as you did the severity of the fear in Step 2; this should determine how impaired the person is, which is another diagnostic feature of a phobia.
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Asses whether there is co-occurring disorders such as panic disorder (which typically is co-occurring with acrophobia). Note that social anxiety is not necessarily a common co-occurrence with acrophobia but depression and anxiety disorders can be pervasive and troublesome.
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Tips & Warnings
Someone with severe acrophobia will be afraid to even look at a picture of a ladder or tall building and certainly wouldn't go near either one of those stimuli.
Remember that the severity of fear is determined by a subjective reporting of anxiety symptoms in a person. Trusting the persons fear response is important in diagnosing a phobia.
Vertigo is a common symptom that accompanies acrophobia; when individuals get too high they often find themselves disoriented, dizzy, nauseous and seem unable to get themselves down.
