One step at a time

Fearful sight for some - the Millennium Bridge

Not everyone has been impatient to step onto the sleek Millennium Bridge - the UK boasts its fair share of chronic bridge phobic, writes BBC News Online's Chris Horrie.

The re-opening of the Millennium Bridge may be a cause for celebration, but for those with a specific fear of bridges, the prospect is the stuff of nightmares.

Scotland's Forth Bridge

The problem is that the Millennium Bridge looks insubstantial, is known to have once wobbled and has lots of gaps through which water can be glimpsed and a terrifying plunge imagined.

These are the things which the typical bridge-phobic fears most says Nicky Lidbetter of the National Phobics Society.

"It is quite common for people to feel a little queasy when they are in an exposed position on a bridge," says Ms Lidbetter.

The Symptoms

Racing heartbeat

Dizziness, light-headedness or nausea

Hot flashes, or sudden chills

Fear that you're "going crazy or are about to die"

Source: American Psychological Association

"A lot of people may also have the feeling that they are being drawn towards the edge and might throw themselves off," she says.

"It only becomes a problem when people start to experience the symptoms of an anxiety attack or begin to change their route to work just to avoid bridges, as can happen."

Danger

Fear of bridges, says Ms Lidbetter, is usually associated with agoraphobia - the fear of open spaces.

One such sufferer is Mark Flashman, a London based marketing executive who is in his mid-30s.

People feel queasy when crossing

His fear of bridges began suddenly when, in his early teens, he was walking across a footbridge over a stream near his hometown of Cookham in the Thames Valley.

"Halfway across a friend mentioned that bridges were dangerous and could collapse. I had never thought about it before, but suddenly became very nervous as I became conscious about the danger".

Last summer he was seized with fear when walking across the huge and very solid-looking Blackfriars bridge London with his five-year-old son.

Gaps

"With my son there with me the degree of terror was somehow considerably higher. It was cold fear and I felt I had to get away from the edge and get off the bridge as quickly as possible," he says.

London landmark, but not everyone views bridges favourably

Mark describes his attitude to bridges as "irrational and inconsistent". "I don't really mind riding on a bus over one of the Thames bridges, but I am thankful my home and my office are on the same side of the river so I don't have to cross a bridge every day."

Like many of the bridge-averse, Mr Flashman is especially perturbed by metal footbridges and steps, especially where there are gaps between the rungs.

Crawl

He was therefore "pleased" when the notably gappy Millennium Bridge was closed, removing the threat that he might be invited to cross it.

"It doesn't look substantial enough for me and I don't like the way the edges taper off. If I had to go across it I might end up crawling the last bit on my belly - especially if it started to sway."

It doesn't always work when you try and 'confront the fear'. You can end up going backwards

Nicky Lidbetter

Nicky Lidbetter and the National Phobics Society are meanwhile campaigning for greater awareness of bridge fear and other forms of what she describes as "common mental health problems".

GBH, Alan Bleasdale's gritty TV drama of the early 1990s, did briefly focus national attention on bridge anxiety. One of the characters - school teacher Nelson played by actor Michael Palin - was terrified by the Runcorn-Widnes bridge over the Mersey.

Tunnels too

Cures for bridge anxiety include hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, hypnopsychotherapy and all sorts of therapeutic fantasy role-playing situations in which people imagine themselves in positive proximity to bridges and similar structures (such as ladders, stepping stones and - for the Freudians - tunnels).

Walking across is not the best course of action

But the latest thinking is that it is wrong - as was previously thought right - to "confront the fear" by, for example, taking a walking tour of the rope ladder routes of Tibet or a fly-drive vacation centred on The Bridges of Madison County.

This will only make matters worse.

It is much better to try to overcome fear of walking over life's bridges...

... one step at a time.