Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 0 46 There had been other episodes throughout his teen years and twen- ties. Never again high dives, but striking, blinding fear when he tried working a mid-rise construction job in Bozeman, anywhere above the second floor, or when he attempted to visit the top of the Hancock build- ing in Chicago, or when he tried to hike the South Rim Trail beyond Artist Point in Yellowstone, along the gaping, hungry maw of the river canyon. Lately, he realized that things had gotten worse when Maddy shared a photo of her ice-climb that a friend had taken from the top of Hyalite Falls. There was Maddy far below, ice-axe in hand, the bright shimmer of freeze growing all the way from the canyon floor to the edge, where someone with a camera leaned over for the shot. Just the sight of it made his head spin. His hands trembled as he pushed the pic back into Maddy's hand. Soon after that he went to a psychiatrist and paid an unnecessarily big bill so that someone could tell him what he already knew. Daniel, Dr. Abrams said, there is no question in my mind that you have somehow developed a severe case of acrophobia.. Phobias can be caused by stressful events, like the one from your childhood, which could have induced a fear of falling. This is certainly related to that, and there only limited options to help you, I'm afraid. Abrams paused, looking over the tops of his glasses, fuzzy caterpillar eyebrows folding over the frame. I can prescribe something like Seromycin, but the only thing that re- ally works with phobias of all kinds is exposure therapy. You face your fear in small ways at first, then increase your exposure to the fear until you can at least manage the symptoms if not the terror. The catch, I suppose, is that you have to do it yourself. Yourself. That is what he remembered from the session, and he had been working on exposure therapy steadily for the last three years, working on his fear of falling. He started with photos from the internet—daredevil, Mohawk ironworkers atop New York skyscrapers from the '30s and 40's, pics of crazies wing-suiting from bridges and building tops; and then moved on from simply crazy to the pure video insanity of Philippe Petit's 1974 Man-on-Wire tightrope stroll across the twin towers. The possibility of sure death from a fall was beyond comprehension; but, after several viewings of the documentary, it helped move him onto more immediate and challenging exposures: the lowest diving board at the health club, rooftop breweries, where the beer helped settle him, and repeated walks to the top of the university stadium stairs to peer over the edge, guard-rail securely in place. Things had been getting better, he had to admit. The vertigo, the nausea had receded. So much so, that he soon was able to walk the trail along Yellowstone Canyon without completely losing it, as long as he did not venture toward the very edge. Because it was at the edge where Construction projects are complex. Your construction fi nancing doesn't have to be. At American Bank, we manage all aspects of your fi nancing in-house, keeping a close eye on your bottom line throughout the construction process. That way, you can focus on what really matters. americanbankmontana.com Bozeman l Big Sky l Big Timber Livingston l Whitefish Member FDIC

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