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The Call of the Void

2 min read

One of the Cognitive ghosts discussed in the The Rest Is Science episode “Cognitive Ghosts”.

What it is

The Call of the Void — l’appel du vide in French, formally the High Place Phenomenon — is the sudden, intrusive urge to jump when you’re standing somewhere high (a cliff, a balcony, a train platform), or to swerve into traffic, even though you have absolutely no wish to die. It’s brief, alarming, and surprisingly common.

What’s happening in the brain

The leading explanation is a timing mismatch and confabulation. Your fast safety system fires a fear signal — back away from the edge! — and you instinctively step back. But your slower, conscious mind then has to explain the jolt of fear it just felt, and the only story it can assemble is: “…did I want to jump?” So the urge to jump isn’t the cause of the fear; it’s a misinterpretation of a survival instinct. As the episode puts it, “the desire to fling yourself off the ledge wasn’t already there — it seems to be the only interpretation the brain can come up with.” Crucially, experiencing it is not a sign of suicidality.

References from the show

  • Jennifer Hames et al. (2012), “An Urge to Jump Affirms the Urge to Live: An Empirical Examination of the High Place Phenomenon” — the first major study, surveying 431 students. Over half of people who had never had suicidal thoughts had felt the urge at least once; people with higher anxiety sensitivity were more prone to it. The provocative conclusion: the experience may actually affirm the will to live.
  • The hosts cite a figure that a majority of people (≈60%, in the spirit of London Underground / high-platform surveys) report some version of this.

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