FREE ESSAY ON ACROPHOBIA

ACROPHOBIA

Treating Acrophobia 2
Treating Acrophobia GRADE-90
Wood (1999) describes a person suffering from a phobia experiences a 
persistent, irrational fear of some specific object, situation, or activity 
that poses no real danger (or whose danger is blown all out of 
proportion). Agoraphobia, social phobia, and specific phobia are three 
classes of phobia. Agoraphobics have an intense fear of being in a 
situation from which immediate escape is not possible or in which help 
would not be available If the person should become overwhelmed by 
anxiety or experience a panic attack or panic-like symptoms. People 
who suffer from social phobia are intensely afraid of any social or 
performance situation in which they might embarrass or humiliate 
themselves in front of others—where they might shake, blush, sweat, or 
in some other way appear clumsy, foolish, or incompetent. Specific 
phobia—a marked fear of a specific object or situation—is a catchall 
category for any phobias other than agoraphobia and social phobia. 
Specific phobia can be divided further into four other subcategories. 
The four categories are situational phobia, fear of natural 
environments, animal phobias, and blood-injection-injury phobia 
(p521). 
By definition, phobias are irrational, meaning that they interfere with one's everyday
life or daily routine. For example, if your fear of high 
Treating Acrophobia 3
places prevents you from crossing necessary bridges to get to work, that fear is
irrational. If your fears keep you from enjoying life or even preoccupy your thinking so
that you are unable to work, or sleep, or to do things you wish to do, then it becomes
irrational. 
Wood (1999) states that phobics will go to great lengths to avoid the 
feared object or situation. Some people with blood—injection--injury 
phobia will not seek medical care even if is a matter of life and death. 
And those with a severe dental phobia will actually let their teeth rot 
rather than visit the dentist (p522). 
It is very important that people suffering from phobias be treated, in order to be able
to enjoy their lives to a higher extent, literally speaking for those individuals
suffering from acrophobia.
Claustrophobia and acrophobia are two types of phobias that are usually treated by
therapists. Acrophobia is the situational phobia in which there is a fear of heights.
Being on a bridge, in a tall building, flying, or in any situation in which height will
cause discomfort would fall into this category. Prior treatments for acrophobia would
make the patients confront their fear. Acrophobes would be treated by gradually riding a
glass elevator floor by floor or by standing on high balconies, going to a higher floor
every other time over and over until they feel comfortable with 
Treating Acrophobia 4
the situation. Now and days acrophobes can be treated for their phobias by using virtual
reality. 
Virtual reality therapy is being widely used at present time. It is so widely used that
is has become very cost effective. Treatment for acrophobia takes place in the doctor's
office and no longer requires taking trips to tall buildings or bridges. Virtual reality
therapy requires the phobic sufferer to wear a helmet, reading sensors, and to stand in a
certain designated area. Stover (1995) states that virtual reality therapy gives patients
a greater sense of safety and control over their environment. According to students who
tested in virtual reality, the elevation-intensive stimulations look very realistic. 
In Stover's article, he recalls the story of Christopher Klock, and how he would walk up
72 flights of stairs, avoiding the glass elevator, to meet his friends for dinner. As
crazy as it sounds, this is a good example of a phobia being irrational. Klock, as
explained by Stover (1995), is among the first people to be treated for acrophobia with
virtual reality technology. 
Both researchers are examining virtual reality therapy to treat people suffering from
acrophobia. 
Stover (1995) explains that in a recent study, the researchers treated 
ten students whose answers on a questionnaire indicated a problematic 
fear of heights. At seven weekly sessions, the students used virtual 
Treating Acrophobia 5
reality equipment to experience the views from foot bridges suspended 
above water, balconies overlooking the university campus, and a glass 
elevator in a 49-story hotel lobby. After seven weeks the students had 
gained significant confidence compared with another group of 
acrophobic students who received no treatment (p 1).
The approach taken by Rothbaum is very similar to that of which Stover explained.
Rothbaum (1995) screens four hundred seventy-eight college students for acrophobia.
Twenty students who showed substantial fear and avoidance of heights were chosen. Of
these twenty students, twelve would take the therapy and eight would be on the waiting
list without therapy. According to Rothbaum (1995) three footbridges, four out door
balconies, and one glass elevator were all used in the virtual reality sceneries. 
Both researchers basically described the same approach for there experimentation. They
took a group of students and subdued them to the virtual reality therapy. Both groups
were treated for seven weeks using very similar circumstances, such as simulations of
elevators, balconies, and bridges all in virtual reality. One last note was that both had
some students who were not treated by the virtual reality therapy, for future comparisons
with those who were treated. 
Treating Acrophobia 6
Stover (1995) states that after seven weeks, the students had gained significant
confidence compared with another group of acrophobic students who received no treatment.

According to Rothbaum (1995), in this controlled study of the 
application of virtual reality to the treatment of a psychological 
disorder, we found that students treated with virtual reality graded 
exposure experienced reductions in self-reported anxiety and avoidance 
of heights and improvements in attitudes toward heights and that 
students in a waiting list comparison group did not evidence any 
change (p 3).
As stated above by both researchers, both experiments had positive results. Stover
describes his positive results by saying that "the students gained significant
confidence". Rothbaum (1995) states that students "experienced reductions in
self-reported anxiety" and "improvements in attitudes toward heights". Both experiments
showed students who took the virtual reality therapy improved, compared to those who
didn't take or were on the waiting list for the virtual reality therapy. 
Both articles were very interesting in capturing the fullness of virtual reality therapy.
After reviewing both articles a reasonable conclusion about 
virtual reality therapy would be that it is very successful, as stated in the results of
both articles.
References
Rothbaum, B.O., Hodges, L.F., & Kooper, R., Opdyke, D., et al. (1995, 
April). Effectiveness of computer-generated (virtual reality) graded 
exposure in the treatment of acrophobia [14 paragraphs]. The American 
Journal of Psychiatry [Online serial]. Available: 
http://info.lib.uh.edu/remote/articles.htm#socsci
Stover, D. (1995, August). Overcoming Phobias [5 paragraphs]. Popular 
Science [Online serial]. Available:
http://info.lib.uh.edu/remote/articles.htm#socsci
Wood E.R.G., & Wood, S.E. (1999). The world of psychology (3rd ed.). Boston: 
Allyn & Bacon
Bibliography
References
Rothbaum, B.O., Hodges, L.F., & Kooper, R., Opdyke, D., et al. (1995, 
April). Effectiveness of computer-generated (virtual reality) graded 
exposure in the treatment of acrophobia [14 paragraphs]. The American 
Journal of Psychiatry [Online serial]. Available: 
http://info.lib.uh.edu/remote/articles.htm#socsci
Stover, D. (1995, August). Overcoming Phobias [5 paragraphs]. Popular 
Science [Online serial]. Available:
http://info.lib.uh.edu/remote/articles.htm#socsci
Wood E.R.G., & Wood, S.E. (1999). The world of psychology (3rd ed.). Boston: 
Allyn & Bacon