For The Fearful Flyer Spread Your Wings In Plane Comfort

By: Dr. Melanie Bryan
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:26:34
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Many people fly easily for years before developing an aversion to flight, or outright fear of flying. Actually it’s a wonder more people don’t become fearful flyers sooner, given all those doomsday messages upon arrival at the airport:

You check in at your Terminal; go through Passport Control; carry on to your Departure Gate; listen for your Last and Final Call before Take-off to your Final Destination.

And once the fear settles in, even the thought of getting on a plane can be terrifying. For more and more people, preparing for a flight or boarding an aircraft is coupled with a range of mild to intense fear reactions. Indeed a 2000 study found one in three air travelers experience some kind of fearful response to the air travel process. The message is clear: you are not alone.

Many fearful flyers can vividly recall the prolonged turbulence often associated with their first attack of panic, with its rush of physical symptoms, confusion and an intense desire to flee. This fear or panic attack is often so unexpected and misunderstood that some people become terrified that they are having a heart attack or going crazy. They can develop a great deal of anxiety and shame about feeling so out of control of their emotions and thoughts.

Panic is named after the Greek god Pan, who was portrayed as half-goat, half-man, and had an annoying habit of hiding in the bushes and leaping out with a bloodcurdling scream at unsuspecting folks out on a country stroll, scaring them half out of their wits. This is akin to the experience of having a panic attack, which involves a sudden release of adrenaline into the body that creates the physical symptoms of rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath and muscular tension, wrapped up in a feeling complex of intense fear, confusion and an incredibly strong desire to scream or escape. Some flyers fear impending death.

Since this kind of experience, especially coming ‘out of the blue’ can be so traumatic, its memory can be easily recalled. For some people, simply considering a flight can produce anxious, fearful thoughts. And the more time spent anticipating the flight and each worst case scenario in precise detail, the more apprehensive you may become. This is known as anticipatory anxiety and can actually trigger further fear attacks.

“I know flying is safer than driving, but……..”. Anxiety does not respond well to thought and logic because fear doesn’t stem from the brain alone. Fear really is complicated. It can develop instantly or gradually, in the face of both real and assumed threats to your safety. Such threats ignite an automatic mechanism in the nervous system to protect us from potential harm. Called the flight or flight response, this inbuilt alarm switch in the brain mobilizes us for emergencies by firing off massive amounts of adrenaline to the heart, lungs and muscles, helping us to respond quickly. If a bear sneaks up behind you and taps you on the shoulder, you’ll be very glad you have this ability; but if the alarm goes off, seemingly out of the blue, when you are simply booking a flight, or packing, you can form some pretty frightening and false ideas about what is happening to you.

People who fear flying tend to be highly intelligent and extremely imaginative. They can easily conjure up escalating images of disaster and a never-ending flight from hell at the very thought of their departure date. Their bodies react to these dreaded images by getting ready for immediate, defensive action, setting off their alarm system replete with pounding heart, sweaty palms and that weak in the knees feeling.

Actually, your over-imaginative mind is the real problem. By creating escalating images of disaster, your mind simultaneously sends your body the message “The danger is NOW, protect me!” And it does, by gearing you up for fight or flight action. These are normal, healthy, lifesaving changes in your body’s physiology.

When there is an actual emergency, we hardly notice these changes, because we’re too busy attending to the emergency at hand. But as there is no true danger, this protective response has been set off inappropriately by your unconscious mind.

A dramatic “OOPS”. Rather than fear your fear reactions, you can work to dilute them.

Here are some suggestions for Plane Comfort to help you break the automatic connection between fearful thoughts about flying and symptoms of physical fear in response to those thoughts:

*Recognize your tendency to believe that those harmless body symptoms are signs of imminent danger. They are not.
*Adopt an attitude of benevolent acceptance of fear-related symptoms and beliefs. This goes a long way towards calming both mind and body.
*Accept what your body is doing and flow with its rising and falling state of arousal.
What you resist persists. *Allow time to pass. The adrenaline causing your fear will metabolize and be reabsorbed into your body in about 5-10 minutes. Fear attacks are time limited. Like a wave, it will peak and begin to subside in only a few minutes.
*Get out of your head and into your body. Concentrate on breathing slowly and evenly, exhaling longer than you breath in. Relaxation only occurs on the exhalation.
*Write down alternative explanations and coping statements for symptoms of fear.
*Learn to calm your body through deep breathing and self-hypnosis.

With these steps you may be able to shift your attention to common concerns about travel delays, lost luggage, and the one universal travelers dread: fear of economy.

Long established in Hong Kong, Dr. Melanie Bryan of http://www.MindMatters.hk, specializes in short-term therapy & hypnosis with long-term results. Working with individuals & couples, Dr. Melanie brings a solution-focused approach to helping people quit smoking quickly, overcome fear of flying/public speaking, overeating, anxiety, couples conflict, infidelity, infertility, command training stress, unattractive habits, insomnia, career change and expat adjustment challenges. Dr. Melanie also offers Changing Lifestyles and Post-Divorce Coaching.

Article source: Expert Articles