Study Says This is Michigan's Biggest Fear

Most people have a fear of something, whether they admit it or not. Some fears are more reasonable than others, but it's not like it's something any of us can control without extreme effort and discomfort.

Still, a number of fears are fairly common. For instance, I'm afraid of spiders, but I wouldn't say I have arachnophobia because I'll try to help them out of my house and don't mind when they show up on the TV screen. I also have no fear of crabs, which are included in arachnophobia.

That said, I don't like anything that crawls on me, bugs, frogs, whatever. It doesn't appear this has a named phobia though.

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I used to be afraid of heights, but working in construction and as a painter, I climbed enough ladders and walked enough roofs to slowly get over it.

It would appear, however, that Michigan hasn't gotten over its own fear of heights.

According to a study by Casino.org naming the biggest fear for all 50 states, Michigan's biggest fear is acrophobia - the fear of heights.

The Mitten State isn't alone, though. A total of 21 states named acrophobia as their biggest fear.

Acrophobia, like many phobias, can be a bit complicated. For some the fear stems from spells of vertigo, for others the fear is more of falling, and many simply fear being at high elevations whether they are perfectly safe or not.

Though scaling ladders and walking on roofs for work certainly helped me get over my own fear of heights, there is no guarantee for anyone it will completely dissolve the phobia. After all, I haven't had to do such a thing in years and I still get uncomfortable near ledges, suggesting my own fear is really of falling.

Here’s A Map With TONS of Urban Legend Locations In Michigan

A famous study once concluded that a fear of heights can be formed from people not having an injurious or otherwise traumatizing fall in adolescence.

According to a separate study, 2-5% of the general population has a fear of heights. Women are actually more likely to have the fear than men. Still, nearly a third of people have some type of fear of heights, or visual height intolerance.