How to Overcome a Fear of Flying

Guide Note

Air travel is increasingly common and even a necessary part of many occupations. But for some people flying is an extremely scary experience. If you're one of those people, How to Overcome a Fear of Flying can help you tackle your phobia.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Step 1: Identify Your Fear
• Step 2: Get Support
• Step 3: Educate Yourself
• Step 4: Desensitize
• Step 5: Use Medication as a Last Resort
• References for How to Overcome a Fear of Flying

Tips for Overcoming a Fear of Flying

1. Identify exactly what part of flying scares you before trying to overcome your fear.
2. Learn as much as you can about airplanes and air travel.
3. Join a support group, online or in person.
4. Learn relaxation techniques.
5. Use medication only as a last resort to deal with your phobia.

Disclaimer

The content in this page is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please contact your doctor before using the information presented here.

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Introduction

• As many as twenty percent of the public suffers from some form of a fear of flying, also called aerophobia.^{1 2} It's a fear that can prevent you from advancing your career, keeping in touch with family, or visiting parts of the world that you've always wanted to see.

• People with a fear of flying may experience everything from muscle tension and sweating to dizziness and heart palpitations as a result of their fear, according to A Guide to Psychology.³ But a fear of flying, just like any phobia, doesn't have to be permanent. If a fear of flying is affecting your life, you can overcome your fear with some patience and hard work.

Step 1: Identify Your Fear

(Creative Commons photo by contraption)

• For many people, a fear of flying stems from another phobia that flying in airplanes triggers. There are many aspects of flying that can trigger other phobias. For example:

1. Fear of heights.¹
2. Fear of enclosed spaces (also known as claustrophobia).¹
3. Fear of terrorism.⁴
4. Fear of pain. (For many people, flying is physically painful due to pressure changes causing headaches, sinus pain and ear blocks).³

• Before you can overcome your fear of flying, Flight Health suggests you identify what exactly about the flying process scares you.⁵ If you're not sure, ask yourself questions like:³

1. When I plan a trip that involves flying, when do I start to feel uncomfortable or afraid?
   • Is it before the trip begins, when I anticipate possible problems during the flight?
   • Is it when I first enter the airplane and feel crowded?
   • Or, is it when the airplane becomes airborne and starts to gain altitude?
2. Was I always afraid of flying?
   • Did I have a bad experience that I'm afraid will be repeated?
   • Did I hear or see something that made me afraid of a possible scenario that could happen while flying?
3. When I think about flying, what thoughts feel scary to me?
   • Is it the possibility of crashing?
   • Is it the height that the plane flies above the ground?
   • Am I afraid my ears and sinuses will cause me sharp pain?

• There could be more than one fear factoring into your aerophobia.³ Once you know the cause (or causes) of your fears, you can begin the process of overcoming it.

Step 2: Get Support

(Creative Commons photo by Yuichi Kosio)

• Remember that you're not alone. Thousands of other people are dealing with a fear of flying each day, and they can give you priceless support and advice from different points of view and stages of overcoming this phobia.

1. About.com suggests you consider joining a local group of other people with a similar fear.⁶
   • You can ask a local therapist for suggestions, or even look in the yellow pages or on message boards.
2. Try an online support group if there are no local groups available that work with your schedule.⁶
   • Be sure to look for one that's free of charge to avoid scams.
3. Don't keep your phobia a secret from people you are close to. Tell your friends and family that you're working on your fear of flying. They'll be a great resource for support and motivation, but you have to tell them first!
4. Some airlines even host special classes to help individuals with a fear of flying.¹
   • The courses usually combine education about flying from real-life airline pilots along with the support of being surrounded by other people facing the same fear.⁵

Step 3: Educate Yourself

(Creative Commons photo by Jackie)

• After you've identified the specific fear at the root of your fear of flying and established a support network, it's time to educate yourself about air travel. The more you know and understand about airplanes and flying, the less there will be to feel afraid of.

1. Start by learning the basic components and mechanics of an airplane.⁷
   • Identify the causes of the various noises and bumps that airplanes make during normal operation.⁸
   • Learn how airplanes handle turbulence.⁹
   • Go over procedures that should be used in the rare case of an emergency.¹⁰
2. Check out statistics about air travel.³
   • Find statistics listing the chances of being involved in an airplane accident.¹¹
   • Also find statistics about how many flights take place each day for both travel and freight purposes.¹²
3. Learn at least one relaxation technique to help you deal with stress and fear.
   • Keep in mind that different relaxation techniques will work better for different people.¹³ Every kind of relaxation will take practice to master.¹³ You'll know you're doing it correctly when you really feel completely relaxed during the technique, both physically and mentally. Popular relaxation methods include:
   1. Meditation involves focusing your attention on one simple phrase or thought and letting go of all other thoughts for a set amount of time.¹⁴
   2. Progressive muscle relaxation involves consciously tensing and then relaxing different muscle groups in your body, often working from your toes up to your shoulders and neck.¹³
   3. Visualization involves imagining, in extreme detail, that you are in a peaceful and relaxing environment.¹³

Step 4: Desensitize

(Creative Commons photo by Swaminathan)

• Desensitization is a behavior therapy method used for overcoming lots of phobias, including a fear of flying.¹⁵ A Guide to Psychology notes that there are two ways to desensitize: systematic exposure and real-life exposure.¹⁶

Systematic Desensitization

• Systematic Dessensitation involves imagining yourself in a frightening situation then using a relaxation method such as meditation or visualization to dissipate your fear.¹⁵ Desensitization requires that you've already learned a relaxation technique that works well for you.¹⁶ Systematic desensitization works like this:¹⁶

1. Relax.¹⁵
2. Make what's called an "anxiety hierarchy."¹⁶
   • To make a anxiety hierarchy, list up to twenty situations related to air travel that make you feel nervous or afraid.¹⁶
   • Organize your list in order from the most frightening situation to least frightening situation.¹⁵
3. Starting with a situation from the "least frightening" side of your list, imagine yourself in the situation and use your relaxation technique to counteract the fear it causes you.¹⁶
4. Repeat this until the situation is no longer scary in your imagination.¹⁵
5. Next, choose a slightly more frightening situation from your anxiety hierarchy and repeat the entire process again.¹⁶
6. Work your way up the anxiety hierarchy until your relaxation techniques can dissipate the fear from even the most frightening situation you can imagine.¹⁶

Real-life Desensitization

• For many people, mental systematic desensitization is enough to take all the fear out of the real-life situation. Others may need to do some real-life desensitization to solidify the new, fear-free behavior.¹⁵

• For example, real-life desensitization might include using relaxation techniques to take the anxiety out of situations such as:¹⁶

1. Packing your suitcase.
2. Driving to the airport.
3. Watching planes take off and land.
4. Sitting in an airport.

Step 5: Use Medication as a Last Resort

• If you simply must travel in an airplane and you are unable to conquer your phobia before the trip, a doctor or psychiatrist may be able to prescribe medication. A Guide to Psychology says that medication can help you deal with the fear and relax during your flight.³ However, remember the site's advice that medication is only a temporary cover-up for your issue and not a permanent fix.³ Keep working to overcome your aerophobia, rather than depending on medication every time you need to fly.

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References for How to Overcome a Fear of Flying

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Pegasus NLP: Fear of flying
2. ↑ MedicineNet.com:Definition of Aerophobia
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6} GuidetoPsychology.com: Fear of Flying
4. ↑ Howtodothings.com: How to Overcome Fear of flying
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} FlightHealth.org: Fear of Flying
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} About.com: Fear of Flying: Support 
7. ↑ NASA.gov: Parts of Airplane
8. ↑ Anxieties.com: Trusting the Airlines Industry
9. ↑ AirSafe.com: Turbulence Risks
10. ↑ KevinCoffee.com: Fear of Flying
11. ↑ PlaneCrashInfo.com: Accident Statistics
12. ↑ NATCA.com: Air Traffic Control: By the Numbers
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3} MayoClinic.com: Relaxation Techniques
14. ↑ WebMD: Meditation
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5} MindDisorders.com: Systematic Desensitization 
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 16.8} GuidetoPsychology.com: Systematic Desensitization

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