How do I help my boyfriend with his fear of heights?

[Anonymous]

So my boyfriend has had a big fear of heights since he was a kid, always been tough for him and now he says he finally wants to face it and get more comfortable around heights so we can go rock climbing or absailing etc.

Usually his body starts shaking and he gets really quiet, and freezes up😟
Almost like he's zoning out a bit.

Sometimes he grabs my hand and I try comfort him which I think helps, I really don't mind I wanna help plus it's actually kinda cute. We even get a few eyes looking our way 👀 which doesn't really help..

What else can I do to help push him through it? Especially if I can't always be there to help him.

[jennifer_bloom]

I guess you could go the traditional route and try therapy or subtle exposure or reframing the situation, if your religious prayer might help, like I had a fear of romantic intimacy with men and it took a lot of time with God for me to lose my fear.

[AviatorTom]

I have a fear of heights and I deal with it in two ways:
1. I don't stand close to the edge.
2. When I'm up high I always hold on to something, a railing, a pole, my SO.

You can help him do the same. It's practically impossible to remove the fear of heights, but he can learn to handle it.

[RavVid]

Ok I didn't have a fear of heights till I did Engineering 101 and found out there is only a safety factor of 10:1 in cranes. Which isn't much given the consequences.

So may I suggest you leave his sane sense of fear of heights alone and get one yourself?

Just a suggestion is all.

[Sparkie460]

I also had a fear of heights when I was younger. It has to be done in baby steps, literally. I used ladders to get over it. If you have a ladder set it up outside. Every day I went up the ladder. I used an extension ladder and set it up against a tree. The key is to not look down when you're going up the ladder

[exitseven]

I tried forcing myself to go up tall ladders and I worked on one of those arial platforms for a while. I thought I would get used to it but I never really did.

[maximumpower]

i used to be terribly afraid of heights.
expect it came from riding my tricycle off the porch. i overcame it myself when i was ready. i'm still not overly thrilled about high places.
don't recommend "pushing" or forcing someone to deal with it.
google for it. there should be some sound advice for it on psychology sites.

[GoldenOcean]

never mind the other people looking at least your trying to help him with his fear, Id say go slow and gradually go to higher places everyday to get him used to it as it sounds like he might've been hurt or fallen when he was younger - he's probably doing this for you so I bet it will get better and easier through time.
all you can do is what your doing now being supportive and motivating him
Good luck 👍

[Guy13]

Tue a rubber band around his leg and push him off the crane or side of mountain. That’ll cure him💪

[lpoots]

why puy him in a position that your boy friend is comfortable with

[RuthlessAggression]

Boyfriend? Are you gay?

The only way to confront your fear? Confront it

[Iron_Man]

Tell him to bungee jump

[Grubhub]

😆 what a wuss, get yourself a real man

[Anonymous]

just not evne