I can’t believe I found this right now! I was just yesterday discussing this bridge fear of mine with my daughter who could walk over anything backwards in the dark. I haven’t been confronted by my fear for so long I had forgotten I had it, until last week when I was in London and started flippantly walking over Waterloo Bridge. I stopped to look at a sign identifying all the buildings that used to be on the skyline. When I looked back to where I’d started, I froze! I couldn’t go forward or back! I was stuck a third of the way over. This thing had silently crept up on me like the shadow of a monster!! I did finally draw up my courage and run back to where I started, but all of my memories of terrible crossings came to the fore after that. How could I forget!? I used to have nightmares of driving off bridges. I used to have panic attacks behind the wheel. I even used to make myself face these things, to no avail. I made myself drive over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and back, hyperventilating the whole time. What is up with me that I could simply forget such a huge fear? I walk over small bridges at home without a thought in my head. I’d say it’s progress, mellow-aging, experience, but the fact is, in the right circumstance, the fear STILL EXISTS, even when I’m not anticipating it. The brain is a strange beast, isn’t it?
I have that EXACT same thing!! I'll think it's gone, or at least way reduced, and then out of the blue it comes back... in the middle of a bridge usually. Must be a psychological thing deep in the back of our minds. It's the worst! I couldn't drive over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge I would faint and the car would fly over the edge or something!! :-) Good luck out there, Jill, and stay safe!!
I lived in Minnesota during the 70s. Been to Duluth many times. Funny to see that mentioned. I used to hate bridges, then one year during college in the late 80s I was in San Francisco with my girlfriend at the time. I parked on the northwest side of the Golden Gate and walked back to the middle of the bridge. I stood there, feeling the bridge vibrate.
Fun fact, that bridge is built in sections. The walkways are gapped. You can stand, facing the traffic ( away from the water ), and look down through the bridge into the bay. I then looked over the railing.
I stood there, 220ft above the water, looking down into the dark, icy, great white shark filled water and waited. I waited till my fear of heights and my fear of bridges subsided.
To this day, I've not had an issue crossing bridges or dealing with heights.
The only thing I hate about bridges is that they are made by humans. I'd trust million-year-old rock formation before I'd trust a bridge made by humans.
Jeez John! Exposure therapy on the Golden Gate Bridge. I'd just pass out, fall over the edge, and everybody would think I jumped.
We must live parallel lives or something. Minus the whole Chesapeake bay thing you got going now haha. My grandmother lived in Gilroy, CA for half her life, and I would go visit her and go to Monterey as well. Love it there. We of course, would go to SF. When I was young I didn't have much of a fear of bridges and walked to the middle of the Golden Gate as well (from the north side).
I really have been on the top of mountains (or really tall hills) looking down on bridges thinking "I'm not driving that one!"
Where'd you live in MN? I grew up in Menomonie, WI near Eau Claire so was always over there, in Minneapolis area.
My family on my dad's side is from Mason City, so I have been to Albert Lea over 500 times!! (we always had to drive down there and my dad took back roads through Faribault, Owatonna, and Albert Lea.)
I'd probably be laying dead in the netting from a heart attack.
Ugh, I can't believe the 5-mile-long suspension Mackinac Bridge didn't make your list of nightmares. I had to cross it in the snow, at night, as the wind made it sway, while I laid my head over my newborn in her car seat, begging my husband to slow down and tell me when it was over, listening to the horrendous sound of the metal grated surface with holes in it, under the tiny tires of the tiny car we were in, right after my stupid brother-in-law just HAD to tell us that a car just like ours had recently "blown off [this] bridge." I am not normally afraid of bridges, but that night I knew exactly how those of you who are, feel, and I am so sorry for you!
Thanks Kate! I am from Wisconsin and somehow have never been subjected to the Mackinac Bridge. Although I've heard all about it. Your post made my stomach go out. I've heard about the car blowing off the side... nope! They need a net or something :)
Speaking of the Blatnik, at one point when I lived in Duluth, they were doing some repairs on it, and there were some giant C-clamp looking things on it. My friend told me they "were holding things together until the glue dries." 😳
Wow, just looked at that bridge, over the top crazy. No way!!
Your description of bridge induced panic symptoms are practically identical to mine. I have outright fainted as a passenger 🥺 Better know to some degree but the Vertigo still comes…
I think it’s a normal height response and some of us have subconsciouses that are just trying to protect us out there.
Good luck out there fellow Gephyrophobic!!(say that word three times fast 😄)
Hello, fellow bridge-fearer! I am from Minneapolis and never had much trouble driving over the Twin Cities bridges, but I could not walk or bike over them without getting dizzy. Then I moved to the DC area! Where all the rivers are 207379 miles wide and there are bridges on top of and UNDERNEATH the water! I have not been on the Bay Bridge, but because I'm terrified of bridges, I'm also obsessed with researching them, so I know all about that car service that gets you over it. I fully plan to use it if I ever need to go over it. Or my husband will. Not me. I can barely handle the Hampton Roads tunnel bridge by VA Beach.
One day in 2017, I was headed into Maryland and didn't want to take the freeway, and told Google maps to avoid highways. I was very new to the area and did not know what my route would look like ahead of time. Well, I get up to where the state border is along the Potomac and suddenly, the bridge I have to cross to get there appears in front of me like an enormous freaking rollercoaster (the butterflies are back in my tummy as I'm remembering this, lol). I literally screech-stopped my car in the middle of the street, panicked, trying to figure out how to turn around. Thankfully there were no cars behind me. I could not turn around. I made my way forward and managed to cross the 2-lane rollercoaster-bridge, but not before my eyes had almost completely gone blind by what I can only describe as panicked TV static, which had begun on the peripheral of my vision and slowly moved inwards, almost like my eyes were trying to protect me from the view of the water around me.
Anyway here is the bridge. I think they've remodeled it since, or are planning to. I sure as hell haven't been back to check. I take the freeway bridge now, which I can't tell is even a bridge if I'm not in the far right lane. Whew.
Reading this gives me gephyrophobia and especially after the Baltimore bridge recently collapsed post collision.
Yeah, that one was crazy to watch. It doesn't help those of us who have it!!
I can’t believe I found this right now! I was just yesterday discussing this bridge fear of mine with my daughter who could walk over anything backwards in the dark. I haven’t been confronted by my fear for so long I had forgotten I had it, until last week when I was in London and started flippantly walking over Waterloo Bridge. I stopped to look at a sign identifying all the buildings that used to be on the skyline. When I looked back to where I’d started, I froze! I couldn’t go forward or back! I was stuck a third of the way over. This thing had silently crept up on me like the shadow of a monster!! I did finally draw up my courage and run back to where I started, but all of my memories of terrible crossings came to the fore after that. How could I forget!? I used to have nightmares of driving off bridges. I used to have panic attacks behind the wheel. I even used to make myself face these things, to no avail. I made myself drive over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and back, hyperventilating the whole time. What is up with me that I could simply forget such a huge fear? I walk over small bridges at home without a thought in my head. I’d say it’s progress, mellow-aging, experience, but the fact is, in the right circumstance, the fear STILL EXISTS, even when I’m not anticipating it. The brain is a strange beast, isn’t it?
I have that EXACT same thing!! I'll think it's gone, or at least way reduced, and then out of the blue it comes back... in the middle of a bridge usually. Must be a psychological thing deep in the back of our minds. It's the worst! I couldn't drive over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge I would faint and the car would fly over the edge or something!! :-) Good luck out there, Jill, and stay safe!!
I lived in Minnesota during the 70s. Been to Duluth many times. Funny to see that mentioned. I used to hate bridges, then one year during college in the late 80s I was in San Francisco with my girlfriend at the time. I parked on the northwest side of the Golden Gate and walked back to the middle of the bridge. I stood there, feeling the bridge vibrate.
Fun fact, that bridge is built in sections. The walkways are gapped. You can stand, facing the traffic ( away from the water ), and look down through the bridge into the bay. I then looked over the railing.
I stood there, 220ft above the water, looking down into the dark, icy, great white shark filled water and waited. I waited till my fear of heights and my fear of bridges subsided.
To this day, I've not had an issue crossing bridges or dealing with heights.
The only thing I hate about bridges is that they are made by humans. I'd trust million-year-old rock formation before I'd trust a bridge made by humans.
Jeez John! Exposure therapy on the Golden Gate Bridge. I'd just pass out, fall over the edge, and everybody would think I jumped.
We must live parallel lives or something. Minus the whole Chesapeake bay thing you got going now haha. My grandmother lived in Gilroy, CA for half her life, and I would go visit her and go to Monterey as well. Love it there. We of course, would go to SF. When I was young I didn't have much of a fear of bridges and walked to the middle of the Golden Gate as well (from the north side).
I really have been on the top of mountains (or really tall hills) looking down on bridges thinking "I'm not driving that one!"
Where'd you live in MN? I grew up in Menomonie, WI near Eau Claire so was always over there, in Minneapolis area.
The good news is that they have since added netting to the bridge making it basically impossible to jump over the side.
I lived in Albert Lea on the southern border for 5 years. Then moved north of Brainerd for 15 months, before moving to central California.
My family on my dad's side is from Mason City, so I have been to Albert Lea over 500 times!! (we always had to drive down there and my dad took back roads through Faribault, Owatonna, and Albert Lea.)
I'd probably be laying dead in the netting from a heart attack.
I had to rush through the images because I noticed it was hard to breathe.
I'm glad when I hear there are other people like me out there, Kate! Thanks for reading :)
Ugh, I can't believe the 5-mile-long suspension Mackinac Bridge didn't make your list of nightmares. I had to cross it in the snow, at night, as the wind made it sway, while I laid my head over my newborn in her car seat, begging my husband to slow down and tell me when it was over, listening to the horrendous sound of the metal grated surface with holes in it, under the tiny tires of the tiny car we were in, right after my stupid brother-in-law just HAD to tell us that a car just like ours had recently "blown off [this] bridge." I am not normally afraid of bridges, but that night I knew exactly how those of you who are, feel, and I am so sorry for you!
Thanks Kate! I am from Wisconsin and somehow have never been subjected to the Mackinac Bridge. Although I've heard all about it. Your post made my stomach go out. I've heard about the car blowing off the side... nope! They need a net or something :)
Speaking of the Blatnik, at one point when I lived in Duluth, they were doing some repairs on it, and there were some giant C-clamp looking things on it. My friend told me they "were holding things together until the glue dries." 😳
Yes absolutely. A net! Or at least a nice grassy island underneath.
Or a boat!
lol an aircraft carrier would be a nice size!
Yikes! No thank you!
We almost died on that bridge barely evading a wreck on the downward slope into Duluth....
Oh no! It's no wonder you hate bridges!
Wow, just looked at that bridge, over the top crazy. No way!!
Your description of bridge induced panic symptoms are practically identical to mine. I have outright fainted as a passenger 🥺 Better know to some degree but the Vertigo still comes…
I think it’s a normal height response and some of us have subconsciouses that are just trying to protect us out there.
Good luck out there fellow Gephyrophobic!!(say that word three times fast 😄)
Hello, fellow bridge-fearer! I am from Minneapolis and never had much trouble driving over the Twin Cities bridges, but I could not walk or bike over them without getting dizzy. Then I moved to the DC area! Where all the rivers are 207379 miles wide and there are bridges on top of and UNDERNEATH the water! I have not been on the Bay Bridge, but because I'm terrified of bridges, I'm also obsessed with researching them, so I know all about that car service that gets you over it. I fully plan to use it if I ever need to go over it. Or my husband will. Not me. I can barely handle the Hampton Roads tunnel bridge by VA Beach.
One day in 2017, I was headed into Maryland and didn't want to take the freeway, and told Google maps to avoid highways. I was very new to the area and did not know what my route would look like ahead of time. Well, I get up to where the state border is along the Potomac and suddenly, the bridge I have to cross to get there appears in front of me like an enormous freaking rollercoaster (the butterflies are back in my tummy as I'm remembering this, lol). I literally screech-stopped my car in the middle of the street, panicked, trying to figure out how to turn around. Thankfully there were no cars behind me. I could not turn around. I made my way forward and managed to cross the 2-lane rollercoaster-bridge, but not before my eyes had almost completely gone blind by what I can only describe as panicked TV static, which had begun on the peripheral of my vision and slowly moved inwards, almost like my eyes were trying to protect me from the view of the water around me.
Anyway here is the bridge. I think they've remodeled it since, or are planning to. I sure as hell haven't been back to check. I take the freeway bridge now, which I can't tell is even a bridge if I'm not in the far right lane. Whew.
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/harry-nice-bridge.html?sortBy=relevant