In a survival situation, you may have to walk on a narrow bridge or thin wall , very high from the ground. You may have to even jump a few meters or hang from a rope between sky and Earth.

There was a nice film about some country in Latin America. They showed folks living in mountineous villages, and their only way of transportation ( even kids going to school) a cable that hangs some 100 yards above a river. The kids use a piece of would with a wheel and slide over that cable to the other side. It is nothing less that Holywood movie stunt what they are doing. Yet it seems to be their daily routine !!! Will I do it if a bear is chasing me ?? I don’t know. I may just faint between the two scary scenes on both sides, and the bear will decide to leave this worthless cowardly creature lying on the ground…

What are your thoughts on fears of high altitude in relation to survival.

Its called acrophobia, and I don’t know what to do about it , or should I do anything about it ??

First of all you need to differentiate between phobia and natural fear. Phobia is a disordered that requires appropriate treatment. Natural fear is an inhibition that is meant to keep you from falling from dangerous heights. Sometimes inhibitions are a good thing (Chris already stated that).
If you feel the need to overcome the fear you can try get used to altidudes. You should not overdo it and for some things (e. g. rappeling) you should find someone to teach you properly to stay save.

If you can manage to stay away from high places, no problem... if not, I believe the current course of action is confront the fear and overcome it. If this is a serious problem, get some help with dealing with it.

OK, same thing like I said in the other post. Generalization the topic for survivors in general ( me included).

Lets say that you have a wife or teen boy or girl. You have the guts to move on that rope of jump those four feet not scared by the deeeeeeeeeeep canyon below. What if the other person with you has his/her eyes wide open and says : I cant !!!! Do I PUSH them to jump / crawl / climb ?? Or do I realize it isnt safe and agree to take another route for their safety.

Also, how does the survivor himself/herself judge for him/her self if he should try to jump/climb based on the newly acquired power fed by fear, or withdraw/change course based on knowing oneself and not trusting weak knees.

I'll agree that having some inhibitions are a good thing. But I wouldn't get stuck on analyzing whether or not you can be like Bruce Willis in the "Die Hard" movies -- walking on broken glass, jumping off rooftops, etc.

I think in a survival situation when the adrenaline kicks in we're all capable of doing things we wouldn't normally do.

Don't sweat it. We can all play "what if", but until we're actually in the situation there's no way to know exactly how we'll react. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

If the first time you have ever done any of this hanging, climbing, walking narrow ledges is during your bug out you are probably in trouble. You should have a very good idea of what you are capable of doing ahead of time.

Circumstances would dictate...
Do we have the time and ability to "go around it"? If so, then by all means, let's extend the hike.
Is there's a kodiak bear four feet away and closing? If so, "JUMP #### IT" and take what comes.
Often, the "immediate threat" level makes a decision for you... I've caught myself (after the fact) asking "What the #### did I just DO???" after reacting rather than acting to deal with a given situation.

Troy

I can sort of relate, I'm not terribly fond of high places either. The way I was able to get over it enough to deal with them is the heights were keeping me away from the REALLY scary ground. I know it sounds flippant, but I'm serious. I still don't like heights, but I've concluded I'm more afraid of that short, sudden stop after several seconds of 9.8m/s^2 worth of distance going past me. Lesser of two evils.

Just so long as it isn't ladders.

I've heard it called the "Lizard Brain" -- the primitive part of the brain that tells us "don't do that - you will die!"

There are two specific times that I can recall having to force those fears down:

One was sitting on the platform of the zip line at the scout camp COPE course. 41 feet off the ground, about to trust my life (or at least my non-broken bones) to an awfully thin looking steel cable. Hooching my butt off that platform after looking down at the tiny ant-like people on the ground was very very difficult. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> The ride down the line was well worth the stress...

The other time that stands out was during scuba certification class. The first giant stride into the deep end. ~50 lbs of gear on, hindbrain screaming "you are going to sink straight to the bottom and die!" <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Once again, trust the gear, trust the instructors...

Like they say, bravery is not the lack of fear, but not letting fear control you.

But I don't understand why the Lizard Brain only works in some instances and not others.

When I was a kid, I used to climb my father's ham radio tower, and it didn't bother me a bit. But I've never leaned out of high windows, and don't even like looking down from one. But from 30,000 ft, the ground just looks like a really good map, and with a good book I can stifle my thoughts that there is NOTHING holding the plane up but air.

Why some times and not others?

Sue