Fear of Flying?
Don’t worry, if you are afraid of flying, you are not alone. Did you know that at least one out of every six adults has a fear of flying, also known as aviophobia or aerophobia? To some degree, everyone has a fear of flying–who wouldn’t be a little bit scared in trusting her life to a few people at the head of a huge tank filled with flammable liquids? It’s a pretty common fear and can be reduced using many different methods.
First of all, you need to realize that airplanes are safe. Air travel is the second-safest mode of mass transportation in the world. The escalator and elevator are the safest. Also, all airplanes are built to withstand much more than what they experience in the air. And though you may not believe it, you have more of a chance of dying from the food that they serve you than being involved in an accident. So, those chances are not that high, right?
Secondly, relax–it will make the whole experience go by more smoothly. Take your shoes off, you’ll feel so much better. Speaking of smooth flights, if you want to go through the least amount of turbulence as possible, try to sit near the front of the cabin. Also, if you fear flying, travel on big planes because they fly much more smoothly and don’t experience as much turbulence.A Don’t forget to just go with the flow when turbulence starts to move you around; don’t tense up, just relax!
Bring something to do on the flight. Perhaps a book, a magazine, a handheld game, a puzzle, or an Mp3 player. You also could bring a portable DVD player and watch aA movie or two! Another thing you could do is talk to your neighbor; you will probably be surprised as to what this person’s life is like!
Don’t drink caffeinated drinks, but do bring water (which needs to be purchased once you clear security). Food is also nice to have so you can snack once in a while. Most importantly, make sure to stay calm and take deep breaths to avoid hyperventilating.
Good luck!
First, by way of introduction, I’m both an airline captain and a licensed therapist. Working with people who have trouble with flying has been my specialty for twenty-eight years.
There is a great deal of misunderstanding about the cause of fear of flying. It is not caused by a bad flight; most people on a bad flight don’t develop fear of flying. Difficulty with flying is caused by insufficient ability to regulate feelings when facing uncertainty.
Research since the advent of the functional MRI just eight years ago has helps us understand how the brain works. We now recognize that the ability to regulate feelings is learned and that the part of the brain that does this regulation requires stimulation of the right kind during the first two years of life. The right kind of stimulation requires a caregiver who is empathically attuned to the infant and responds to the infants signals, rather than simply providing for the infant according to an agenda set by the caregiver.
If the child is afraid, the caregiver needs to tune into the child’s fear in a way the child really knows the caregiver feels the same way. Thus the child knows he or she is not alone.
Then, the magic happens; the caregiver then lets the child know that — though the child’s fear is 100% shared — the adult has an additional point of view, which is that it is not the end of the world; it will work out alright.
Many of us, obviously, didn’t get such optimal early development. Thus, when facing uncertainty, we control our anxiety by being in control of the situation, or by having a way to out of it.
That works fairly well on the ground — except for annoying those who regard us as control freaks. But when flying, there is uncertainty, of course. And, not being in control and not having a way out, there is no way to regulate the feelings.
Therapists try to help with CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), but anxiety can develop so rapidly that CBT techniques cannot keep up with the anxiety build-up.
Hypnosis is pretty “hit or miss”. If it helps on one flight, it can fail to help on another flight.
Medications are not to be recommended — according to the World Health Organization — because when sedated, the passenger doesn’t move around enough to protect against DVT, Deep Vein Thrombosis. If a DVT clot forms, it is a serious and potentially life-threatening problem.
Also, use of medications — according to research — is only helpful in very mild cases of fear of flying. In more severe cases, medications make the flight worse!
I have tried to give a good understanding of the cause and cure of fear of flying in a video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcx6ZsvKHSA&feature
Also, at
http://www.fearofflying.com/video_hs.shtml
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I thought my first trip to Thailand from the states would get to me. It’s a very long flight and I had never flown more than a few hundred miles before. I was amazed at how smooth the flight actually was but I do have to admit that half way through the flight I opened the window and only saw snow covered mountains and that bothered me a little.