Jumping off a cliff sometimes seems like the best course of action. However, unless you are in an action movie, this is almost always a bad idea — but that does not stop these thoughts from whispering in the back of our minds. Rest assured, the majority of people with these thoughts are not suicidal, nor will they develop suicidal tendencies. So then the question becomes, why do we have these thoughts?
The high place phenomenon (HPP), describes the specific tendency of individuals to think about jumping from high places. It should be noted that while similar to intrusive thoughts, these thoughts are categorically different due to HPP only manifesting under specific locations, particularly at high heights.
HPP was first studied over a decade ago through an experiment run by the Department of Psychology at Florida State University (FSU). Before FSU’s experiment, the father of psychology, Sigmund Freud, proposed that all humans have an instinctive desire to die, thus when individuals stand at tall heights, their inherent drive to suicide leads them to develop such intrusive thoughts. However, the research performed at FSU disagrees. In this study, over 400 undergraduate students were surveyed about the frequency with which they experience HPP, along with various other psychological factors such as depression, mood dysregulation, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. Their results found that HPP occurred at a high frequency regardless of suicidal ideation, prevailing in more than 50% of the experimental population. While this frequency is increased in those with suicidal thoughts, what is the explanation for those without these suicidal ideations?
Depression and anxiety were linked to HPP, correlating with the frequency of its occurrences. Anxiety in particular seemed to potentiate HPP when combined with suicidal ideation. FSU researchers suggested this may be a byproduct of the brain’s defensive role in protecting individuals. Fear processing is performed at the amygdala, a brain structure located in the temporal lobe. When an individual stands in high locations, such as cliffs, the amygdala fires a danger warning to signal the risk of falling. Feeling fear would normally cause individuals to back away towards safer grounds. However, with such quick signaling, the FSU researchers suggested that there may have been a misattribution of these danger signals, and the frontal cortex, the brain’s processing center, interpreted the caution of falling down tall heights as a thought to jump off the cliff. Thus, rather than HPP indicating a natural drive towards death, it may be a misinterpretation of safety signaling by the brain meant to keep individuals alive.
“Thus, rather than HPP indicating a natural drive towards death, it may be a misinterpretation of safety signaling by the brain meant to keep individuals alive.”
While little extensive research has been done on HPP, there are some truths revealed by current data, as the researchers at FSU were able to prove the existence of HPP and its correlations with various psychological factors. Researchers at the Mental Health Research and Treatment Center in Germany replicated this experiment on over 300 participants and were able to corroborate the results from the FSU researchers’ study, supporting the existence of HPP and its links to psychological factors. However, as limited data is currently available about HPP, it should be cautioned against drawing too many conclusions about this occurrence. For now, though, we can assume that our brains are not calling us to act upon this call of the void.