subject: What Causes Fear Of Flying? [print this page] Each and every time there is a key airline accident inside the news, those of us who are afraid of boarding airplanes sit up and take notice. You'll find that more than 25 million Americans who endure this anxiety, which tends to peak throughout take-off, landing, and in-flight turbulence. The results can vary from moderate feelings of nervousness to all-out panic attacks. Although there may be no 100% cure for anxiety of flying, there are techniques that we can use to deal with it.
What Causes Fear of Flying?
A lot of people that suffer from fear of flying also have a generalized anxiety or panic disorder. So they are suffering from these anxious feeling in many areas of their life.
Some people just tend to feel nervous all of the time, and it just rises dramatically when they are about to fly. Who can blame them. Flying is no picnic for any of us, with the security, baggage claim issues and sitting squeezed between strangers for hours on end.
But on the other hand, there are plenty of people afraid of flying who don't have any other major fears or anxiety issues. For some, it's the unique combination of flying-related factors that add up to create an acute fear. For instance, maybe you're moderately uncomfortable with heights and small spaces, and perhaps you like being in control of your own transportation. Maybe none of these things are major fears or neuroses on their own, but when you mix them all together on a plane, the results are severe. You're in a small space, you're miles above the ground, and your life is basically in the hands of strangers (the pilots).
And the news does not help. They seem to get excited when there is a crash and tend to play it over and over again.
The fact is that more people die in car crashes every day than in plan crashes in a single year. And yet the plane crash gets more coverage and then the film industry decides to make another scary movie about them.
So what can you personally do about it?
The number one way that you can prepare yourself is to start going over the safety material for airplanes. When you look at how relatively safe flying is to all other means of travel, you should see that your anxiety is out of proportion. Did you know that more people die while eating than by having a plane crash? And yet you do not see too many people abstaining from eating several times a day.
If self-education doesn't work, just try to relax. After all, panic attacks don't come out of nowhere. They happen because you expect them to happen. Just by taking your mind off of your fear and meditating, reading a book, or listening to music in your headphones, you can distract yourself from your fear. Once you survive a couple of flights without panic, you'll be surprised by how easily your fear dissipates.
There are some people who choose to get a prescription for a relaxant from their doctors. This is not a great way to deal with this but it is an option if nothing else seems to help.
