Aerophobia: how not to be afraid to fly an airplane

Since not everyone can not be afraid to fly by plane. Aerophobia affects not only ordinary people who have seen a real plane once in their lives, but even movie and television stars, politicians and businessmen – all those who have to fly a lot. Filled with fear and not knowing how to defeat aerophobia, they cancel the flight, replacing the plane with any ground transport. A person who has a panic fear of flight is ready to get to the final destination as long as necessary by train, car or ship, just not to get up in the air. But no matter how scary it is to fly by plane, this problem can be solved, since it is quite possible to cope with aerophobia.

The root of the problem

To combat aerophobia, it is important to find its source. Psychologists say that the main reason for this disease is the fear that the plane might crash. Quite often we hear how hundreds of people die due to technical malfunction, weather conditions or pilot error. And although, according to statistics, people get into accidents on the roads much more often than in the air, it is the flight that causes panic in many. After all, the chances of surviving a plane crash are almost zero.

Interestingly, the Soviet people did not even think about how to stop being afraid to fly in airplanes. In the USSR, it was forbidden to cover plane crashes in the media and talk about the death of people. That is why the fear of flying on an airplane was alien to most of the inhabitants of the Soviet state.

However, not only the anticipation of a disaster provokes the fear of flying. Fear of flying in an airplane also haunts people suffering from claustrophobia and acrophobia. Fearing for your life is a normal human condition. But when these fears are accompanied by panic, they become a phobia. The following symptoms of aerophobia are distinguished:

• a person who does not understand how to stop being afraid to fly on an airplane has a feeling of anxiety long before the flight, and the mood worsens;
• the person becomes nervous and absent-minded, behaves unusual;
• people suffering from aerophobia tend to carefully study the cases of plane crashes;
• immediately before the flight, a person’s pulse and heart rate become more frequent, palms sweat, and breathing becomes short.

Most often, the fear of airplanes, like other phobias, haunts people with an unstable psyche, prone to a depressive state. However, the fear of flying can be caused by other reasons. Often people’s phobias are associated with accidents that have happened in life. If a person once ran into trouble during a flight, then the traumatic experience is later deposited in consciousness and causes a fear of airplanes.

How to get rid of fear

There are actually a lot of people with this problem. For them, special courses have long been created, since it is really necessary to fight aerophobia. Any course begins with the study of the aircraft device. After all, this steel machine is not as simple as many people think. It cannot just fall down due to the failure of any part or a lightning strike that has entered it. During training, attention is paid to such a phenomenon as turbulence, because it is often more and more feared by aerophobes. The course ends with a simulator session, where everyone can feel like a passenger or a pilot.

Having the necessary knowledge about the structure of the aircraft and the flight process, it is much easier not to panic in force majeure situations. Many tour operators and airlines offer such courses to their clients who do not know how to overcome aerophobia. Self-education can also help. But if the degree of phobia is high, then it is necessary to add drug and psychological therapy to the courses, since it will not be possible to overcome the fear of flying on an airplane with theoretical training alone. Comprehensive treatment is also necessary in advanced cases.

If you are tormented by aerophobia, psychologists will tell you how to get rid of it. Experts do not limit themselves to oral persuasion, but offer several effective methods of dealing with aerophobia. During hypnotherapy, the patient mentally returns to the events that caused the illness. Sometimes the reason for the fear of flying is not even related to the plane. The specialist helps to eradicate the fear that has lodged in the patient’s subconscious. Sometimes a person is moved into a stressful situation with the help of computer images. Such therapy is quite difficult, but it gives good results.

Aerophobia can also be treated with medication. There is no medicine to eradicate fear. But powerful sedatives help to calmly reschedule the flight. In some situations, doctors recommend taking a whole course of medication 7-10 days before the flight.

Of course, the complex of such procedures is not cheap. But if you do not know what to do with aerophobia, how to deal with the disease and get rid of the notorious fear, it is better to spend money once and fix the problem forever. To consolidate the result, experts advise to arrive at the airport in advance in order to get used to the situation. Avoid wearing tight or uncomfortable clothing that will only increase your overall discomfort. Do not take a seat near a window or in the tail of an aircraft where the turbulence is felt more strongly. Better network closer to the flight attendants. It is good if a loved one is flying next to the aerophobe, who can entertain and calm down. If you are going to fly alone, it is better to take with you some kind of gadget with music, a movie or a game in order to escape from pessimistic thoughts.