Help with bridge phobia?

Carol

Carol

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Confession time. I have a mild fear of bridges. It rarely affects me when I'm driving. The larger the bridge, the lesser the issue. Major city bridges like the Tobin or the GWB, even the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel -- not a problem.

I got stuck on an older bridge in northern Mass. due to an accident near the northbound exit of the bridge. I could feel the vibrations from every southbound car moving by. Yeesh. Last weekend I (legally) hiked over a railroad trestle...gahhh!!

The phobia is not that bad. I don't freeze, or get a full-blown panic attack, and I haven't let the fear stop me from doing what I want to do (including hike). The discomfort is always transient, fading quickly after I cross the bridge and get myself on more solid ground. Its just annoying to be north of 40 and seeing that it hasn't really gone away.

Anyone have any tactics for arresting this phobia -- outside of medications, supplements, or other ingestibles?
 
I'm the same with heights in general, Carol. It's not something you can get rid of completely but you can acclimate yourself to it so that it doesn't affect you too badly. That's why I used to go climbing - even tho' it scared the living heck out of me it made less severe encounters with heights not so bad.
 
Don't worry I have a phobia of Bridges too.



iron_man_jeff_bridges.jpg
 
I used to think I was scared of heights, and it seemed to actually get worse with age. From avoiding cliff edges, to windows in tall buildings, to carousels to actually getting dizzy a few rungs up a ladder. It got to the point of total avoidance, 'cause I just 'knew' that I had a phobia.

Had a personal breakthrough once I started karate. I realized that I actually experience an overwhelming rapture...to the point of jumping. It was the loss of control that I was avoiding. Developing a fear, of fear; instead of focusing on the object of the fear, I should have been looking directly at the fear.

Just my .02 cents.
 
harlan said:
I used to think I was scared of heights, and it seemed to actually get worse with age. From avoiding cliff edges, to windows in tall buildings, to carousels to actually getting dizzy a few rungs up a ladder. It got to the point of total avoidance, 'cause I just 'knew' that I had a phobia.

Had a personal breakthrough once I started karate. I realized that I actually experience an overwhelming rapture...to the point of jumping. It was the loss of control that I was avoiding. Developing a fear, of fear; instead of focusing on the object of the fear, I should have been looking directly at the fear.

Just my .02 cents.
Click to expand...

Loss of control doesn't seem unreasonable. But then what?
 
Sorry, I don't understand? Depending on the situation, can be a very bad thing. The horizon seems to 'blow out', and I would experience a sensation of 'falling into space'. It resulted in freezing on stage (high school plays), jumping off of cliff in the White Mountains (thank goodness folks were with me to pull me back), falling off of ladders, etc. I'd hate to think what could have happened if it occurred while driving. Point is, it was never really a 'fear of heights'. It was an avoidance of euphoria, understood as a loss of self-control, and crystalized as a 'fear of heights'.
 
harlan said:
Sorry, I don't understand? Depending on the situation, can be a very bad thing. The horizon seems to 'blow out', and I would experience of 'falling into space'. It resulted in freezing on stage (high school plays), jumping off of cliff in the White Mountains (thank goodness folks were with me to pull me back), falling off of ladders. I'd had to think what could have happened if it occurred while driving.
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My apologies, my brain was going in a different direction. Let me word that better. It doesn't seem unreasonable that my fear of bridges is actually more of a fear of losing control of the situation...that the bridge I am on will crumble around me or something like that.

Heights aren't a factor. I have no issue with scrambling up a mountain. A log bridge over a gully bothers me just as much as the railroad trestle 100 feet up in the air.

But...now that I have this information what do I do with it? I have yet to be able to rationalize or compartmentalize away.
 
harlan said:
Sounds stupid, but don't look at the bridge. 'Look' straight at the fear.
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Not stupid at all. Its a bit ethereal for my engineer's brain to grasp, but I'll keep that in mind when I am out hiking today. Perhaps something will make sense. :asian:
 
stickarts said:
It's tricks of the mind. I put my mind elsewhere. Not always easy. :0)
Click to expand...

Excellent point! I think the bridges that bother me the least are the ones where my mind can be elsewhere -- focused on city traffic, or taking in the scenery. Where the ones that bother me more are often ones that I cross on foot.

So "look" directly at the fear...by recognizing what it is and focusing more of my mind on the scenery and why I am out in nature in the first place. A bit of desensitizing, as Mark was suggesting, couldn't hurt either. I can think of a few bridges where I could stand for a bit and take photographs...to force myself in to a position where I am uncomfortable, and yet give myself a reason to be there.

This is starting to make sense.
 

Hun it sounds like you’ve already successfully dealt with it.

Bridges don’t in anyway seem to be hampering your abilities to drive or go hiking where ever you wish. You recognize it’s an irrational fear, (Your engineering background should make the construction of any bridge seem logical to you), you take a deep breath, and you get on with it. Doesn’t sound a whole lot different from how public speaking affects many people.

Just keep trudging ahead, after a while you won’t even blink when walking over a bridge
 
It sounds to me like you've already compensated - you're afraid of bridges, you know you're afraid of bridges, but you don't let that stop you from doing what you want to do. You've already used the most common treatment for phobias, which is systematic desensitization to the thing that causes it. Eventually, the fear fades to anxiety, the anxiety to discomfort, and the discomfort to nothing. If you can walk over a bridge, knowing that it bothers you, you're well on your way past it.
 
I have a phobia too. spider webs. Its affects me to the point where i dont walk in the woods anymore unless i am holding a big stick.

i hope you'll be ok carol.

*hugs*
 
Blade96 said:
I have a phobia too. spider webs. Its affects me to the point where i dont walk in the woods anymore unless i am holding a big stick.

i hope you'll be ok carol.

*hugs*
Click to expand...

*hugs back* I'll be fine hun, thanks. :)

Its more annoying than anything else. I'd rather have hiking discomfort come from normal matters like the weather, rather than the irrational matters. :lol:
 
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