FEAR is a powerful emotion and in extreme cases it can be paralysing and debilitating to the sufferers.

Treatments ranging from prescription drugs to hypnosis are all available to help people overcome their terror of flying, spiders, small spaces, germs and erm toads (no, really, it's called bufonophobia).

However, some say no treatment is as effective as just having the bottle to confront your fears head on. What doesn't kill you and all that - unless, of course, you try to overcome your fear of reptiles by rolling around with a rattlesnake.

I kept this wise (stupid?) advice in mind while on holiday when I was faced with the prospect of going up the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada. Now, I've never been too good with lifts or heights. It's not quite a fully-fledged phobia, more a strong feeling of apprehension and trepidation. I could have taken the decision to stay on the ground and admire the upward view, but it seemed like such a waste of an opportunity.

What better way to conquer my apprehension than rocketing up the second tallest building in the world in a glass- fronted lift at 15mph. Apparently it was the tallest up until a few weeks ago - somewhere in Dubai is now taller, according to the man on the tour boat.

Anyway, what are a few inches when you're talking 1,815 and-a-bit feet (or 553.33 meters for those working in metric)?

I can't say I enjoyed the ride, let's just say it was an experience. Although, I must apologise to my fella for, yet again, clutching his hand tighter than a Venus fly trap all the way up and all the way back down. I'm surprised he has any bones left in it to be honest.

At the grand height of 1,500 or so meters, I remarked on my bravery at getting there and set about enjoying the view - but it wasn't over yet, oh no.

There was the Skypod and the glass floor still to tackle - another lift to even higher viewing platform. The decision wasn't hard to make - one lift was quite enough for the day - which only left the glass floor on the next level down.

It's a very odd thing that glass floor of the CN Tower. Allegedly it's two feet thick and can take the weight of dancing elephants or something, but when you're standing there, looking at the straight vertical drop, it takes that extra bit of courage to step out.

Needless to say there were a lot of people skirting the edge and tentatively tapping one foot gently in the corner before stepping out ever so briefly with two feet. (Yes, that was also my technique but, hey, at least I stood on it.) The interesting thing was the number of children jumping around, sitting and lying down on it taunting their nervous parents to come and get them.

Clearly, fear is something most of us get more of as we age.

No doubt the volume of media coverage on topics such as terrorism, gun crime and general world disasters has a great deal to do with it.

A little fear is healthy, a natural genetic throwback to times when we needed to protect our caves and sense dangerous predators. However, we seem to be fast becoming a society that is scared of well everything.

It used to be that stepping outside the front door was an adventure wrought with perils, but now, it seems, there's no escaping the presence of danger even from the comfort of your own armchair.

That is, of course, if you believe everything you hear and read.

Few of us probably still use our own gut instinct to tell us if something is dangerous, we rely heavily on force-fed information that sticks in the back of the mind to help us judge whether it's safe.

But it's hard to get away from, we're surround by bad news all day long so it's not surprising that some things start to sink in. Nevertheless trusting ourselves, and our judgment, may help combat our growing culture of fear.

I can't deny I succumb to it myself on occasion, but getting up that tower and standing on the glass floor (albeit briefly) gave me a sense of achievement.

And surely that's what conquering fear is all about - having the personal strength to take a deep breath and step off the edge - metaphorically speaking of course.