Is Fear Of Flying Irrational?

Fear of flying is often said to be irrational. But for many, the concern is not so much that the plane will crash, but there will be an emotional crash!

Physical Safety Or Emotional Safety

Panic is frightening anyplace, but nowhere is panic worse than on an airliner. I've worked on this for twenty-eight years both as an airline captain and as a licensed therapist. Though pilots who give courses mean well, assuring people how safe flying is does not work when high anxiety or panic is a concern. I offered such courses myself until realizing the problem is not just physical safety; it is emotional safety.

To find a solution, I went to grad school, and became licensed as a therapist. The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) taught in graduate school was helpful to some clients, but it was not effective when feelings of anxiety or panic developed rapidly, or without warning. The feelings took over the person's mind so rapidly that they could not employ the CBT skills they had learned.

Another approach, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) was promising. After a year of post-graduate training in (NLP), I found it produced no answers. Nor did hypnotism. Finally, through experimentation, I was able to develop a way that was effective with every case - not just mild cases. This major advancement took years of training, research, and experimentation to develop.

Is Your Problem With Flying Severe Or Mild?

If your difficulty with flying is mild, almost any approach will help. How can you tell if your problem mild?

• Do you have panic attacks?
  
  


• Do you have trouble with elevators, bridges, or tunnels.
  
  

If you do not have a problem with any of these things, hypnotism, CBT, NLP, and courses by pilots will work. If you do have trouble with these things, more advanced help will be needed. The methods mentioned will only leave you feeling - unnecessarily - defeated, thinking you are a failure when failed by inadequate help for your problem.

Another way to tell is to use the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise. If it is not enough to manage your anxiety level, you will need specialized help.

The 5-4-3-2-1 Exercise

Focus on some object in front of you. Say "I see" and then name something in your peripheral vision. Next say "I see" and name something else in your peripheral vision. Continue until you have made five statements.

Maintaining focus, say the words "I hear" and name something you hear. Next say "I hear" and name something else you hear. Continue until you have made five statements.

Maintaining focus, say the words "I feel" and name something you are touching. Continue until you have made five statements.

That completes one cycle. It takes intense concentration. That is exactly what you want. As you concentrate on non-threatening things, no new stress hormones are being released. This allows the "fight or flight" hormones that were in your body - when you started the exercise - to be burned off. As they get burned off, you get more relaxed.

To continue the exercise until all the stress hormones are burned off, keep the concentration intense by making one change: instead of doing five statements, begin again with things you see, hear, and touch, but make four statements instead of five. Then, in the next cycle, make three statements. Then, in the next cycle, make two statements. Then, in the next cycle, make one statement. If still anxious, start again at the beginning with five.

Use this exercise as early as possible to control panic before it can take hold when flying, or thinking of flying.

If More Adequate Help Is Needed

Specialized help is available for difficult cases of high anxiety, panic, or claustrophobia when flying at www.fearofflying.com

Capt. Tom Bunn LCSW

President - SOAR Inc.