Why do some people faint or feel dizzy on extreme rides? Kuya Kim explains

Why do some people faint when they go on extreme rides in amusement parks?

This was what almost happened to Jonathan Ocumen, who tried out a giant swing called Drop Zone with his family and friends at a famous adventure park in Bukidnon.

According to Kim Atienza's report on "24 Oras" on Wednesday, Jonathan was tied to a harness, got lifted high in the air, then suddenly dropped. He was with his friend, Norjana.

"At first, I was excited. I was warming up," he said in Filipino. "I was convincing myself that I could do it."

However, while they were slowly going up, Jonathan got nervous.

"You would end up saying, 'Lord, take care of me,'" Jonathan said. "Your soul gets left behind in the air. You keep screaming and screaming."

After the drop, Jonathan's friends noticed that he seemed to have lost consciousness because his body went slack.

"I was conscious. I just lost my strength because of so much fear I guess, because we were screaming and screaming," he said.

"But Saint Peter brought me back, thanks to God. I still have a mission in this world," he added.

So what happened to Jonathan on the ride?

Kuya Kim explained that screaming is the body's natural reaction to fear, excitement, or sudden movements.

When the ride quickly starts or turns fast, the mind feels fear and activates the fight-or-flight response. Because of this, the body becomes more alert, the heart beats fast, and feelings are more sensitive, until you eventually scream.

"Because you are screaming, you are fighting the lowering of blood pressure," general physician Dr. Rafael Gabo-Chan Martires said in Filipino.

Meanwhile, some people feel dizzy on rides because there is confusion or a mismatch of signals received by the mind from the eyes, inner ear, and body. This is called motion sickness.

"Dizziness, it's not the sickness itself. It's a sign that there is an underlying or movement that's happening. There are plenty of possible reasons," Martires said.

Others may even lose consciousness.

"So there are people when they are excited or afraid, instead of having a faster heartbeat, this slows down. Instead of getting high blood pressure, this lowers. This is called the vasovagal response," Martires said.

He said to make sure that you have no pre-existing conditions in the heart or history of illnesses like stroke. Even with simple dizziness, it is better to consult with the onsite health services.

Meanwhile, the Guinness World Record holder for the tallest swing frame is the Yunyang Longgang Scenic Spot in Chongqing, China. It has a height of 75.620 meters or almost 250 feet is placed next to a cliff with a height of 700 meters.

The speed of the swing almost reaches 130 kilometers per hour. Its lifting height almost reaches 96 meters from the ground with a swinging arc of 90 degrees.

The fear of heights is also called acrophobia. —Nika Roque/MGP, GMA News