Off Topic --Roller Coasters-afraid Of Heights

davinci

just got back from disney and i could'nt go on a roller coaster. i have been doing roofing for years but cannot go on a friggin roller coatser. for the past few years i have'nt even gone on a roof,my workers do. somewhere along the line i have become afraid of heights and i cannot shake it. thank god i mostly do windows and siding now. anyone else afraid of heights here? i can climb a ladder but going on to a roof and getting back on,no way! i no longer do roofs but it bothers me that i have such a fear of heaights. i am not afraid of many things in life but heights is now my weakness.

threaderman

Interesting that you should bring this up.I was telling my wife recently that I have no desire to be up any heights.I used to climb water towers and crap as a kid but nowadays I want none of it.I actually get queasy watching movies or what-ever where heights are involved,it's a bummer.
Gotta be an age/equilibrium thing.

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davinci

it may very well be an equilibrium issue as i get mostion sickness very easily. gotta tell ya,i can't even go near a roller coaster whereas my young kids can go on all day. climbing a ladder on to a roof is'nt that bad but climbing down is brutal. i worry about losing my footing,its really bad.it also bothers me that i cannot go on rides with my children . my wife goes on all the rides with them and i kind of fell like a wimp. although i am not really afraid of anything else.

joasis

I'll give you a better one then that. I am an experienced pilot, like 3000+ hours pilot in command time, aerobatic flight....the works. And I lock up in fear when trying to get up the courage to ride a roller coaster. I don't ride the back seat on a motorcycle either. I don't like to fly commercial, and I have no fear of heights.

My doctor buddy that is also a pilot calls it a control factor...when we aren't in control, we are afraid.

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mickeyco

Same here, the back seat of a motorcycle scares the crap out of me, don't like flying commercial but I do it, not sure about the fear of heights, I don't like heights, but it has never prevented me from doing a job (and I've been way, way, way, up there on scaffolding), I think it's control, mechanical knowledge (one loose bolt) and knowing people that repair planes (drunk). I don't like roller coasters, they make me dizzy and nauseous, the only one I do like/ride is the one at Disney Florida (the slower one that doesn't do loops.)




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wyoming 1

I was on a roof the other day all I had left to do was put on the rake trim and job finished $$$ (day before leaving for vacation). 5/12 roof pitch, steel roof, 16 ft sidewall height and I sliped twice, got back to my ladder and said oh well following week I rented a lift ($200). I fell off a roof 4 yrs ago and shattered my leg since then I shake like a whore in church. I mean a 5/12 is not to bad, I used to be able work on 6/12's no problem I drive through the fear but after 4 hrs on a roof I am spent from mental and physical exhaustion (nerves). I also think it has to do with age and not being 18 an indestructible any more.

dougchips

I change every few years. A few years ago I would not get on a ladder if I had to extend it......I wouldn't even get on the roof of our one floor ranch without having issues. Now I don't care, if it's a good ladder I will climb it.

As far as roller coasters go, I am a junkie I will stay on them all day long if they let me!

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mickeyco

I never fell, but I did end up hanging from gutters a few times, I'll never understand why the gutters didn't rip off, not that I wasn't grateful they didn't.




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threaderman

How about that newer Grand Canyon exhibit where you actually are suspended above the canyon by the glass walk.I think there was a thread somewhere here about it.
They had a special on Cable or the news and I couldn't watch it,my herat was pounding and all that crap.
Joasis is right in part I believe,gotta be linked to control.Rollercoasters are OK for me,they just beat the hell out of my body.

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SelfContract

Yep, there are good reasons why we should be fear of height & roller coaster ride ... as we get old :

1. Weaken/brittle body bones (lacks calcium)

2. High blood pressure (i.e., strokes, dizziness, heart attack, etc.)

3. Mental slow down (i.e, brain cells dead, memory decreased, etc.)

mdshunk

I was into my adulthood before I realized how many grown men were afraid of heights. I was never around anyone that was growing up, so I really didn't know that some people were afraid of heights until college. I had a roommate who spent 6 years in the Army, but was deathly afraid of heights. We parked on the top deck of a parking garage one time, and I walked over to the edge to get my bearings to make sure I'd find my way back to the right garage. He wouldn't go within 10 feet of the edge.

I don't like roller-coasters at all, but for a completely different reason. I must have weird sinuses. When I go on a roller coaster, the pressure in my face gets so great, it feels like my head's going to explode and my eyeballs pop out. Misery, I tell you.

jbfan

I work with a guy that jumped out of airplanes for 20 years in the army. Put him on a 15 a frame ladder and you will take a shower from all the sweat.
I have always been afraid of heights, but put me on the fasteest, talles rooler coaster I can find.
I feet hurt when I work from a sissor lift, because all ten toes are grabbing on to hold me.

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enforcer

davinci is preaching to the chior. must ne something in the water where we are.

smadax

Being niave as a child, keeps us trusting and feeling invincible. We rely on everyone around to prevent us from being harmed.

As adults the more we become educated and realize things and people are fallible, we are instilled with fear. I also feel that as a parent, I have increased awareness of my importance to be around for my own children and value my life, therefore increased likelihood to prevent unecessary risk.

joasis

I knew I wasn't afraid of heights very early....when I was a kid, my older brother took me to the top of a grain elevator...like 275 feet...the big tall silos you guys see on the plains, and dared me to stand on the edge....no problem...I won't say what we did off the side, but it didn't involve spitballs.

I am not afraid to be on any roof, if I have sure footing...and since I am not 18 anymore, it isn't comfortable, and the fatigue from "walking" the steeper pitches led me a few years ago to quit doing roofs....I will do a low pitch....5 or even 6 on 12...and that is it. The young guys can hang on their fingernails doing the 12 on 12's. Not a fear thing...a practical thing. I don't want to fall.

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DavidC

I've been afraid of heights all of my life but worked through it as a roofer for nearly 20 years. I can work on any roof I've encountered, but it's the ladder that scares the bejeepers out of me. Manlifts are great things, fingers clenched like human visegrips to the rail, knees shaking and the sound knowledge that this thing will probably tip over. Life IS grand!

Kumba in Busch Gardens was the last roller coaster ride for me. Two trips and come off with a poundng headache both times. Something must be wrong. I retire reluctantly, no more coasters for me.

Good Luck
Dave

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KentWhitten

Not afraid of heights, but am afraid of falling.

I can get on roller coasters no problem. Went on the Tower of Terror a few years back and loved it. Get me on a merry go round and I'm puking my guts out. Spinning rides I can't handle.

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