Fear Of Flying

Is Oxytocin Key In Controlling Fear Of Flying

2009-12-08T17:44:00.000-08:00

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Is It Oxytocin?

What is it that makes the Strengthening Exercise able to stop high anxiety and keep panic from even starting? When I first developed the Exercise, I was simply trying to "change the subject" by directed an anxiety-producing thought away from flying to keep it from triggering another anxiety-producing thought. But soon I found that there was a huge difference in the results, depending upon where the thoughts were redirected.

For example, a woman who was a skilled equestrian linked a moment of flying to moments riding her horse. She got poor results. We went over the exercise time and again. The results never were good. But on the other hand, women who linked moments of flight to holding their newborn child got amazing results right from the first flight.

I had been hesitant to use connection with a newborn in the exercise because I thought the mother might think, "If I fly, maybe I'll never see my child again." It simply did not work that way. No moment used in the Strengthening Exercise got results that matched nursing a newborn.

That suggested the oxytocin link. Research showed that when a mother is nursing a newborn, a large amount of oxytocin is produced. When oxytocin is present, it causes the fear system to shut down.

Though we don't have definite research that proves oxytocin is the hormone that makes the Strengthening Exercise work, the research that has been done on oxytocin strongly suggests that oxytocin is the key factor. We do know that simply recalling a moment of empathic connection produces oxytocin. Thus, when we link moments of flight to such a memory, flying - in turn - causes oxytocin to be produced.

Marriage and Family Therapist Linda Graham has written an article on the power of oxytocin which you can find at this link. I emailed her that I am writing a book on fear of flying and am looking for research that implicates oxytocin as the hormone at work in the Strengthening Exercise.

She emailed back, "My understanding of the research is: fear causes the amygdala in our brain to release cortisol, the stress hormone, which causes the fight-flight response in our bodies. Oxytocin, which can be released in the brain by evoking the kinds of memories or visualizations you describe in your e-mail sends a signal to the amygdala to stop releasing the cortisol; the effects are immediate. Cortisol levels plummet, heart rate slows down. There are even studies that prove that holding the hand of someone you love, or thinking of someone you love, creates a buffer which prevents the stress hormone from being released in the first place."

Linda has several articles on her web site at www.lindagraham-mft.com/articles.htm. Click on the first one, The Neuroscience Of Attachment, to read how we humans develop the ability to calm ourselves and to connect with one another.

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Proud

I'm happy to share with you that I made it through not one, but four flights! There were no direct flights from Oakland, California to Baltimore, Maryland so we had to make one stop over on each leg of the trip, for a total of four takes offs and four landings!

The first leg was Oakland to Denver, where is was snowing! I thought I was going to be so nervous about the snow, but seeing them de-ice the plane and remembering all of the information about the technicians that you give in the How Flying Works DVDs helped me to realize that the crew knew what they were doing.

It was amazing to see that green de-ice liquid arc over the wing on take off. I of course had a window seat right overlooking the wing and could see the air brakes and ailerons just like you said in the DVDs. It was comforting to see it all come together.

I was a bit uneasy with the sensations of landing, but I had not problems with the take-offs. So I had your "Take Me Along" segments on my iPod and those helped ease me into the landings.

We went on from Denver to Baltimore, we hit a hard patch of turbulence and it really was abrupt. I had a moment where I had to have my friend help me rationalize, but my fear didn't go past 5 and I calmed down very quickly once I realized the pilot took us down a few feet to get out of the turbulence.

The flight back home went from Baltimore to Kansas City. And from Kansas City back to Oakland. It was a gorgeous day - the sun was shining and the views from the plane were truly inspiring. I had no problems at all on the return flight. Even though I had some apprehension and premonition thinking on the way to the airport - it still was never more than a 1 and I got on the plane pretty much worry free - just observing my thoughts not making them into a movie and remembering that air is like jell-o.

Thank you so so much for putting this course together! I have been afraid to fly for 11 years - I had not been on a plane since 1998! And now I can't wait to go to Europe!

I also have to add that my father-in-law was a Colonel in the Air Force and my husband and I we were going back East on this trip for his funeral service at Arlington. It meant the world to me that I could honor this great man by being able to get in the sky and fly out for his service. I know he is proud of me, as I am proud of myself.

Thank you again.

Many Blessings,

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SOAR Will Work For You Too

SOAR was established in 1982 because no programs existed that could
help people with moderate to severe difficulties. Even today, no other
program offers help that is effective except for mild difficulties. No
matter how difficult flying is for you, we can help.

Call me at 877 332-7359 between 10 AM and 6 PM Eastern time or

Set up a time online at http://soar.genbook.com

No Charge. No Obligation. Just get the information you want.

Or Enroll Right Now And Get This Over With

You will feel better as soon as you make the decision.

Full Length Course

The full length SOAR Video Course on 11 DVDs provides the maximum help possible.

More info.

Accelerated Courses

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Flying in three to ten days? Get comprehensive help with SOAR Complete Relief.

Accelerated courses give you the most help possible in the time you have available.

A twenty-minute private session and unlimited group counseling sessions are included.

What you pay is 100% transferable to the SOAR Video Course 11 DVDs.

Start viewing on your computer screen in two minutes.

Do a SOAR Course "On The Go"

Get a compact version of the SOAR Course.

Load it on your laptop, iPod or other media player. More info.

==========

Unsure Which To Choose

If
you are unsure which is best for you, please call me at 877 332-7359 so
we can talk it over. You will feel better as soon as you decide to act.

We are always here to help. As you go through the program, call or email whenever you have a question or a concern.

==========

The Two Concerns I Have Written About Here Repeatedly

Though flying is ultra safe, there are things that need to be done that can be done but are not being done. Why? Because the FAA is a political organization - not a safety organization. It only acts in response to public outcry after a disaster. And then, what is does is more to placate the public than to improve safety.

Runway incursions and pilot fatigue. The FAA has "studied" the problem for years and done nothing. Not the NTSB is criticizing the FAA for the same two issues.

NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman says the FAA has failed to implement the six runway safety recommendations that the board issued in 2000. The FAA has repeatedly responded that they need more time for further analysis.

On pilot fatigue, Senate Transportation Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller stated, "Addressing pilot fatigue is an issue for which it has taken far too long to achieve meaningful reform, This has always been a critical issue, yet it has languished on the National Transportation Safety Board's Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements since the list was first published nearly two decades ago."

Full story at this link.

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Patrick''s Column

Patrick''s column this week at this link.

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Typical Takeoff Concerns

2009-02-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

“It feels like the plane doesn’t have enough power to get off the ground.”

On takeoff, there is often a concern that the plane will not get off the ground. To help answer this from an intellectual point of view, consider that when Pratt and Whitney or GE make a jet engine, some of these engines are sold to the military where they are used routinely at 100% of the power at which the engines were designed to operate. Add to that that these engines are used at 103% to 104% of the power they were designed to deliver in wartime.

It should be very reassuring to you that the same engines, when used by the airlines, are operated at 93% of the power they are designed to deliver for takeoff, and around 88% during cruise. If the pilots, during takeoff, wanted more power, they could get it by simply pushing the throttles forward toward the power settings routinely used by the military.

In order to make the engines last longer — as much as twenty or thirty years — we routinely use even less than 93% power for takeoff. If we do, indeed the time spent on the runway is longer, and that very well may make you believe something is wrong. This is another reason for meeting the captain. Ask how much power will be used for takeoff on this flight.

In any case, there is just not going to be a situation where you need to worry about there being enough power to get the plane off the runway.

“I’m afraid it will go up too steep and slide backwards.”

The next worry is that the plane, as it climbs steeply, might slide backwards. I know this can happen with a car equipped with a manual transmission if stopped at a light on a hill. But the airplane is not stopped. It is moving forward at over 150 MPH. There is no way — other than in imagination (yours, perhaps, because I can’t even imagine it) that the plane going forward at 150 MPH could just stop going forward and then start going backwards. First, there is too much forward momentum. Then, couple that with engines which have enough power to move an ocean liner forward. It just isn’t going to happen.

“I’m afraid the wingtip will touch the ground when the plane banks.”

This one I can, at least, understand. But I think the idea that the wings might touch the ground may develop because, since the passenger does not have his or her hands on the control wheel, there is no recognition that it takes considerable force applied to the controls to make the wings tip at all, and more to make them tip more. The amount of force that it would take on the controls to make the wing touch the ground would be far more than the pilots ever use when flying the plane.

Again, it just isn’t going to happen, not only for that reason, but because the wing tip is pretty high off the ground when the plane is on the runway, and when it leaves the runway, the wing would not touch the runway no matter how much the plane tipped.

There is generally a feeling that the plane is a bit unsteady just as the plane leaves the runway. The wings often do tip just a bit at that point. Why? Because every plane is just a bit different. One wing may have a bit more fuel than the other. As the plane leaves the ground, the pilots have to get the feel of the plane to see if one wing wants to rise just slightly more than the other wing, and apply a tiny adjustment. It is the rising of one wing, more than the other, followed by the pilot’s adjustment that causes this unsteadiness.

So, in this case, there is something going on, but it is of a minor nature. It is never a concern and never a challenge for the pilots in any way. So though you may sense it, it isn’t a problem.

“It felt like the plane fell after takeoff.”

About half a minute after leaving the ground, to make less noise as the plane leaves the airport environment, the power is reduced. When it is reduced, the climb — also — has to be reduced. When you are going up in an elevator, the elevator’s climb has to be reduced — in fact to nothing — in order for it to stop and let you get off at your desired floor. When it reduces the rate of its upward movement, elevator passengers feel a bit lightheaded. The same thing happens when the plane reduces the rate of its upward movement (though not to zero), and passengers in the cabin feel a bit lightheaded.

The difference is, when in an elevator, you know what is going on. In an airplane, flight is a bit mysterious to begin with, and passengers who are anxious are primed to expect disaster. So, when that momentary lightheadedness takes place, along with less noise from the engines, the imagination takes over. An anxious passenger can easily imagine the engines have — not just been cut back but — failed, and the rate of upward movement is not slowed, nor stopped, but has reversed and the plane is plunging.

Simply knowing this noise abatement procedure is just as routine as what an elevator does can help. One can expect the engines to be cut back. One can expect the lightheadedness. Once that is established as routine and normal, the reduction in noise from the engines and feeling of lightheadedness can be accepted.

Is Fear Of Flying Irrational?

2009-01-28T09:13:00.000-08:00

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.

Hard Core Cases - And Free Help For Mild Cases

2009-01-27T14:10:00.000-08:00

The program I run specializes in help the really "hard core" cases of fear of flying that cannot be helped anywhere else. No matter what you have tried, if you have not had success, the problem is not with you, but with the method of help given.

But a person with mild flight anxiety can get by with 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. Then 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. Then 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.

That completes one cycle. It takes intense concentration. That is exactly what we want. As you concentrate on non-threatening things, the "fight or flight" hormones that were in your body when you started the exercise get burned off. As they get used up, you get more relaxed.

To keep the concentration intense, we make one change: instead of doing five statements again, do four statements. Then, in the next cycle, do three statements. Then, in the next cycle, do two statements. Then, in the next cycle, do one
statement. Then, in the next cycle, we go back to five, etc.

Use this exercise as early as possible to control panic before it can take hold.

Capt. Tom Bunn LCSW
President, SOAR Inc.

Turbulence Is Under Mother Nature's Control

2009-01-21T08:44:00.000-08:00

It is easy to think anything which you don't control is a danger to you. The
idea that turbulence is something totally out of control frightens anxious
fliers.

Turbulence is not out of control. Turbulence is controlled by Mother Nature.
Think about the temperature of the air outside. Some days it reaches
almost 100 degrees, and some days it is below freezing. But, though the
temperature - like turbulence - is not controlled by you or me, it
always falls within a certain range. In the U.S., it rarely goes below
minus 25 or above plus 125.

Because we know the temperature falls within a certain range, and that
range is limited, we have learned how to deal with all the temperatures
we may encounter. The same is true of turbulence. It is never above a
certain level. But I suspect an anxious flier doesn't really understand
this, and thinks it might become so great it could threaten the plane.

No way! We know the most intense turbulence can become and we build
airliners with twice as much strength as is needed for the most intense
turbulence possible.

So you understand WHY turbulence is limited, consider this. Turbulence
- the kind you get at cruise altitude - is called Clear Air Turbulence,
or CAT. It is caused when the jetstream, which is a stream of
fast-moving air, scrubs alongside air that is not moving. The speed of
the jetstream is limited. How? Consider what causes the jetstream: the
earth's rotation. Since the earth's rotation is constant, the maximum
speed of the jetstream is restricted to what that constant speed of
rotation can produce. And, since turbulence is caused by the
interaction of fast-moving air and air that is not moving fast, the
amount of turbulence has to fall within a certain range, a range that
is not controlled by humans, but is in fact controlled by the earth.

That certainly should help you understand that turbulence is, in a way,
very much controlled, and thus is not a threat.

But understanding - alone - will not stop the reaction you have to turbulence.
To stop the reaction, you will need to learn and use the Strengthening Exercise.

You can learn what causes the feelings you - at present - are unable to control
and how automatic control of them can be established. That makes it possible
to fly without worry about a panic attack.

See the video at http://www.fearofflying.com

US AIR A-320 LANDS IN HUDSON RIVER - ALL SURVIVE

2009-01-15T18:47:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, US Airways Flight 1549 took off from LaGuardia Airport in New York at around 3:30 PM. Thirty seconds after takeoff, the pilots reported two bird strikes and said they wanted to return to land at LaGuardia. As controllers began giving directions back to LaGuardia, the pilots changed their request to continue more or less straight ahead and to land at Teterboro airport, a small airport five miles north of Newark Airport, and the nearest airport to the position of the plane.

Apparently, as the flight headed toward Teterboro, whatever power the engines were producing was either lost, or became insufficient to maintain flight, and the captain elected to land in the Hudson River, which separates New York and New Jersey.

Some readers may be surprised to hear that the plane -- even without engine power -- can glide. Since the Hudson River is wide and straight in this area, it was a simple matter to keep the plane lined up with the River, and allow it to glide down to a landing in the water.

The plane landed in the water, and stayed afloat. The slide-rafts attached to the doors provided an inflatable craft for some passengers. Others climbed out onto the wing. Several boats nearby came to pick up the passengers waiting on the wing. Reportedly some slipped off the wing and had to be pulled from the water by rescuers.

New York City Mayor Bloomberg termed it "a miracle". And, perhaps it was. Had this been night, those in the water might not have been found. Had the plane been forced to land in a populated area, hundreds -- no doubt -- would have been killed.

Some pilots who commented on news broadcasts spoke of things that can go wrong with a water landing, and had great praise for the pilot. While it is true that things can go wrong when landing in water, the captain was a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and instructor. When I heard that, I said, "That explains everything!" Fighter pilots are to aviation what Derek Jeter is to baseball and Roger Federer is to tennis. When they make a great play, it is only what is expected of them. The same is true of a fighter pilot. The landing was simply true to form.

Patrick Smith was interviewed on one of the New York radio stations. He did a great job explaining that planes can glide, can land in water, and are expected to float. You can read what he has to say about the accident at this link.

Planes float because of the boyancy of the fuel tanks. Obviously, if the tanks were full, the tanks would not provide boyancy. But on most flights, the tanks are not full, and that was the case today with this flight scheduled to land at Atlanta.

The plane, due to river currents, floated downstream from where it landed at around 45th street down to around 20ths street, where it was tethered to a tug and lashed to a pier a bit father downstream.

What is it that you should take away from this?

An airliner can glide with no engine power

An airliner can land, provided there is a plane to land, without engine power.

An airliner can land in water, and provided the landing is well-controlled so that no damage is done, the plane will float

Even more important is this: this is the FIRST time since jets came into use by the airlines in 1958 than an airliner has become disabled over water and been forced to land!

Now, having happened once in fifty years, it would seem -- to me at least -- that this is not something that belongs on your list of things to worry about, at least, not for at least another fifty years or so.

If this accident does cause you additional stress, there is no better time than now to get a handle on the problem.

Full Length
Course

The full length SOAR Video Course on 11 DVDs provides the maximum help possible.

More info.

Accelerated
Courses

Flying
tomorrow or the day after? Be ready to fly in 90 minutes with Rapid Relief.

Flying in three to
ten days? Get comprehensive help with SOAR Complete
Relief.

Accelerated courses give you the most help possible in the time you have available.

A twenty-minute private session and unlimited group counseling sessions are included.

What you pay is 100% transferable to the SOAR Video Course 11 DVDs.

Start viewing on your computer screen in two minutes.

Do
a SOAR Course "On The Go"

Get a compact version of the SOAR Course.

Load
it on your laptop, iPod or other media player. More info.

If
you are unsure which is best for you, please call me at 877 332-7359 so
we can talk it over. You will feel better as soon as you decide to act.

We are always here to help. As you go
through the program, call or email whenever you have a question or a
concern.

Turbulence

2009-01-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

Turbulence - How Much Does The Plane Move?

In turbulence, it feels like the plane is moving a great distance up and down. Anxious passengers often ask if it is ten or twenty feet, or hundreds of feet. It is neither; it is less than an inch. It is very hard to understand this, but if you have played croquet, you may remember a strategy called "sending your opponent". It is also called "taking a croquet stroke", or "sparking". An understanding of what happens can help you understand how less than an inch of movement by the plane can feel like far more.

During a game of croquet, if you are able to hit an opponent's ball with your ball, you are then entitled to "send your opponent". You do this by placing your ball in contact with the opponent's ball. Then, you place the sole of your shoe on top of your ball, maintaining a strong pressure on your ball, so that when you strike your ball hard with your mallet, your ball moves only a fraction of an inch, but your opponent's ball is sent several feet away.

Something similar happens in turbulence. The plane, like your ball, moves only a fraction of an inch during turbulence. Just as your ball is restricted by your foot, the plane's movement is restricted by the jello-like thickness of the air.

You as a passenger are like the opponent's ball. You are caused to move several inches even though the plane -- like your ball held underfoot -- moves only a fraction of an inch.

Because of speed, the air outside the plane is as thick to the plane as jello. But inside the plane, the air is like air you normally breath. The thick air outside restricts the plane's movement like your foot restricts your ball's movement. The plane is jolted by turbulence just as your ball is jolted when hit by your mallet. But the jolt amounts to nothing; neither your ball or the plane moves more than a fraction of an inch. Yet, the jolt causes you as a passenger, like the opponent's ball, to move a greater distance.

When watching a croquet game, if you were to observe only the opponents ball, you would see it moves ten or twenty feet. You might get the idea that whatever caused the ball to move ten or twenty feet must have moved at least that much, and might have moved more. But you would be wrong. The plane, like your ball, moves only a fraction of an inch. But that fraction of an inch transmits enough intensity to cause you - like the opponent's ball - to to be moved more.

Knowing It Has No Bearing On Safety, Turbulence Means Nothing At All To Pilots

To help you understand that turbulence is not in any way a safety concern, consider this. A pilot flying cargo, such as UPS or FEDEX, would not even bother to press the mike button and ask for a smoother altitude. To a pilot, turbulence simply does not matter. Pilots are so used to it that turbulence that would cause an anxious flier to be very upset would not even be noticed.

Years ago when we did live courses and took people in the course on a "graduation flight", many times I was asked "Is this turbulence dangerous"? My automatic response was, "Turbulence? WHAT Turbulence?" Not only had I not noticed it, I couldn't even notice it after being asked about it. It just did not register on my Richter Scale.

"But Turbulence Is Frightening Because It Is Out Of Control"

Think about the temperature of the air outside. Some days it reaches almost 100 degrees, and some days it is below freezing. But, though the temperature - like turbulence - is not controlled by you or me, it always falls with a certain range. In the U.S., it rarely goes below minus 25 or above plus 125.

Because we know the temperature falls within a certain range, and that range is limited, we have learned how to deal with all the temperatures we may encounter. The same is true of turbulence. It is never above a certain level. But I suspect an anxious flier doesn't really understand this, and things it might become so great it could threaten the plane.

No way! We know the most intense turbulence can become and we build airliners with twice as much strength as is needed for the most intense turbulence possible.

So you understand WHY turbulence is limited, consider this. Turbulence - the kind you get at cruise altitude - is called Clear Air Turbulence, or CAT. It is caused when the jetstream, which is a stream of fast-moving air, scrubs alongside air that is not moving. The speed of the jetstream is limited. How? Consider what causes the jetstream: the earth's rotation. Since the earth's rotation is constant, the maximum speed of the jetstream is restricted to what that constant speed of rotation can produce. And, since turbulence is caused by the interaction of fast-moving air and air that is not moving fast, the amount of turbulence has to fall within a certain range, a range that is not controlled by humans, but is in fact controlled by the earth.

That certainly should help you understand that turbulence is, in a way, very much controlled, and thus is not a threat.

The Airlines Versus The FAA On Air Safety

2009-01-07T16:53:00.000-08:00

The Airlines Versus The FAA On Air Safety

Several airlines have opted out of a safety program which, for years, has been regarded as a great success. But the airlines say they want changes so they can punish pilots for what they call willful and intentional safety violations. It escapes me how airline management thinks a professional pilot would willfully violate a safety regulation because there is no advantage for a pilot doing so.

But since there is an advantage to the corporation when management violates federal regulations without getting caught, perhaps management people think pilot, too, spend as much time as management types do at figuring ways around regulations.

The stucture of business is such that psychopaths can flourish in the corporate culture. That should be obvious in view of recent events on Wall Street. Management people are -- in far more cases that non-therapists realize -- psychopathos who abstain from doing damage to others ONLY because of fear of being caught, fired, or otherwise punished. Psychopaths do not understand at all there non-psychopaths operate on a different basis: empathy for others, or at least, identification with others. That does not compute in their brains. Thus it is natural for a psychpath to think the only reason a pilot would do the job right is fear of punishment. That belief -- plus the fact that psychpathos enjoy punishing others -- is the only way I can explain the logic behind airline management's decision to opt out of a program proven to enhance safety.

Even if they didn't care, pilots know about enforcement by gravity. Gravity can be counted on to "punish" a pilot who tries to break the law of gravity -- every time.

For example, one of the "Ten Commandments Of Aviation" is " Maintain thy airspeed when landing lest the earth rise up and smite thee!" When you have that to deal with, a form of enforcement which enforces EVERY time a pilot screws up that bad, it should be obvious even to a psychopath that the their punishment is not useful.

For an article on this, see this link.

Airlines Sue To Stop FAA Pilot Fatigue Protection

Pilot fatigue is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, threat to airline safety. Before deregulation, unions were fairly successful in negotiating agreements which protected pilots against extreme fatigue. But deregulation changed that. As new airlines sprang up with no unions, and no retirement to pay for, the legacy airlines were under pressure to compete. Pilot unions were forced to relinquish these protections.

Yet, at unionized airlines, pilots were able to deal with the problem by calling in sick when fatigue mounted. Airlines fought back by reducing the amount of sick leave available.

The warfare continues, now in court, as JetBlue, US Airways, Continental, American, and two cargo airlines, Evergreen and Atlas, have filed a lawsuit against the FAA to challenge the legality of new rules to provide better protection from fatigue on flights lasting sixteen hours or longer.

It is interesting to see JetBlue join this suit even though it has no flights of that length. JetBlue is the airline that got into trouble with the FAA when the decided to do fatigue "experiments" by having pilots fly from the East Coast to the West Coast and back to the East Coast in one day with passengers aboard the plane.

JetBlue's founder has been quoted as saying he doesn't think the FAA should impose any rules on the airlines unless an accident has proven the rule necessary. I guess JetBlue just wants to take a stand against any government efforts to impose safety.

Read a story on this at this link.

Worry Masterfully -- Not Catastrophically -- About Fear Of Flying

2008-11-13T07:36:00.000-08:00

Worry Masterfully -- Not Catastrophically

Worry, if done masterfully, is a smart strategy. Pan Am captain Bill McDougal, a crew member on an ocean racing yacht owned by then IBM president Thomas Watson, said the skipper of the yacht told every crew member, "I'll listen to anything anyone has to say . . . once!" Because it might be something needing attention, any concern by any crew member needs to be voiced, and then considered by the skipper. Persistent voicing of the same concern would be counterproductive.

Worry, if done catastrophically, is without value. And, it can make things much worse. There is a temptation to try to get rid of anxiety -- which is simply the discomfort of not knowing -- by focusing on various catastrophic outcomes.

A client, who is rarely free of anxiety because of an exceptionally traumatic childhood, was obsessed with idea that her flight would be catastrophic. She had worried for weeks about hijackers and bombs. In the boarding area, she saw two men whispering to each other, and said to her boyfriend, "They are the hijackers." Her boyfriend summonsed a security supervisor who tried to explain why the two men were talking privately. He said to her, "It's OK. They are a gay couple."

Instead of saying, "Oh, I see," she replied, "Good cover!" Unable to accept the explanation, she used it to fit her belief. Once onboard, she saw a man dialing his cellphone. She said to her boyfriend, "He's programming the bomb!" A flight attendant was called who asked the man to put away his cellphone. My client then said, "It's too late; he already has it programmed!"

Most of the distress caused in phobia is caused when what is imagined is mistaken as actual; that is termed "psychic equivalence", which means, what is in the psyche (the mind) is what is true in the real world are identical, or equivalent.

This extreme example of psychic equivalence shows the importance of avoiding repeated imagination of disaster. As the captain of the racing yacht recognized, every concern needs to be heard . . . once. Nothing can be gained by more than one complete hearing, and a great deal can be lost.

Before the return flight, my client posted what happened on the SOAR Forum at http://www.fearofflying.com/message.htm, and I replied to her., "Look. You have generalized anxiety. You have it for a reason and you are never going to get away from a certain basic level. Whenever you attempt to get rid of it, you look for a target, something you think might be causing the anxiety. But your anxiety is caused by things from years ago. By finding a target for your anxiety and then fleshing it out, all you do is increase the intensity of feelings you don't want."

It's like poison ivy; it itches, and there is nothing you can do to get complete relief from it. And if you try to get relief by scratching it, you make it worse.

I told her how once, on a trip to Africa, I fell asleep on the beach and got a terrible sunburn. The next day it itched so bad I could not -- by willpower -- keep my hands off it. But every time I touched it, it got much worse. Finally, I took off all my clothes so nothing touched my skin, and -- literally -- sat on my hands until the itch calmed down enough that I could resist touching it.

I asked her, on her next flight, to accept a certain amount of anxiety as normal for her, and to "sit on her hands" to not make it worse. She reported that by accepting a certain amount of anxiety as her personal normal, she did much better.

Give your concerns one full and complete hearing. Make the hearing so thorough that further consideration can produce no new possibilities. Satisfaction that you have thought of everything helps avoids rumination. You will also need to recognize the following:

You can not know until after the fact that the right decision has been made
No one can know the outcome in advance

Focus on an undesirable outcome can make you "just know" it will happenYou can either (a) accept the impossibility of knowing in advance and experience the associated anxiety, or (b) mull over the matter until you "just know" the undesirable outcome will happen, causing you high anxiety, panic, or horror.

You may want to experiment with the two options and see which works better for you. If you do, I believe you will find that accepting a basic level of anxiety is normal for you is better than attempting to get rid of basic anxiety by less than masterful worry.

Discovering Your Basic Anxiety Level

Use the 5-4-3-2-1 to isolate your focus so that you are no longer dealing with fears or "what if" thoughts.

You can find the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise at http://www.fearofflying.com/wordpress/?page_id=34

This will leave you experiencing your basic level of generalized anxiety, the anxiety that arises from not knowing the future. See if this level of anxiety is acceptable to you. It can help if you remind yourself that your basic level never increases. Basic anxiety only seems to increase when you mix it with fear of some specific thing.

Notice the level of your anxiety on a scale of zero to ten. Accept that as basic. If more intense feelings arise, that is your signal that either consciously or semi-consciously, you are trying to get rid of anxiety by entertaining fear of some specific catastrophe. The increase in feelings is due to the release of stress hormones triggered by conscious or semi-conscious imagination of catastrophe. Use the 5-4-3-2-1 to eliminate the imagination and to burn off the stress hormones. Notice your level on a scale of zero to ten. Repeat the 5-4-3-2-1 until you return to your basic level.

Prove to yourself that you can deal with your basic generalized anxiety. Anxiety about how things will work out seems difficult, but most of the difficulty drops away when you isolate basic anxiety and deal with it by itself.

To gain further understanding of the cause and cure of fear of flying, see the eighteen minute video at http://www.fearofflying.com

Onset Of Fear Of Flying

2008-11-13T07:21:00.000-08:00

The Onset Of Flight Anxiety ProblemsA person on the SOAR message board at http://www.fearofflying.com/message.htm writes, "Can one person fly for almost twenty-nine years with no turbulence and no fear and then just freak out about it? I was first on the plane at age of 6 months and never even once up until this year worried about flying. I would fall asleep on planes."

"Until one flight to San Francisco and back, my nerves were really on edge for some reason and they plane shook and its the first time ever I got nervous. A few months later I went with my family to Cozumel Mexico and on the way there the plane shook a bit, I cried, my arms got numb."

"When I tell people that I never really experienced turbulence up until this year they don't believe me. Now I am convinced that every flight I will take from now on will bump and shake. I even got nervous last week watching a plane in a movie."

"I was supposed to go to Paris in end of November for my 30th birthday and I had to cancel. I am a freelancer and will start getting sent on the trips overseas more often and I would probably will have to say no. How sad!"

Having worked with people to overcome fear of flying (both as an airline captain and a licensed therapist) I have found it is not unusual at all for flight anxiety to begin at age twenty-nine. In fact, the average age of onset for fear of flying is twenty-seven.

Nor is the cause a bad flight. Even on bad flights, most people on board do not develop fear of flying. So why do some begin to have trouble after a flight that others do not find so awful?

Each of us develops a limited amount of ability to regulate feelings. What we develop is developed before age three. When we don't get enough ability to regulate feelings, we turn to control of things, reassurance from others, a way out, if things don't go well.

Having those three "security blankets" helps us deal with anxiety. But there is another thing that seems to cause the onset in the twenties: the death of illusion. Teenagers typically believe nothing can go wrong; bad things happen only to other people. In our twenties, we begin to realize things that we thought only happen to others can happen to us, too. That changes how things look. Then, flying is a problem because we no longer hold the illusion of safety, and we are not in control, don't have reassurance (unless a pilot is in the next seat) and we can't escape if things go wrong.

The answer is to build inside the emotional strength to deal with things without high anxiety. That's where the Strengthening Exercise comes in. It builds the emotional strength we need so we can fly almost as anxiety-free as we did back when we -- naively -- thought bad things can only happen to others.

I've posted an eighteen minute video at http://www.fearofflying.com/free_video.shtml which explains both the cause and the cure of this problem. Though most programs dealing with fear of flying are based on the idea pilots have that if you know how safe flying is, you will be fine. It is not that simple when you fear either, (a) having a panic attack on the plane, or (b) that yours will be that one plane in five-million that does crash. There is a way to stop panic BEFORE it can start; in fact, to make panic impossible. And, there is a way to control anxiety about the very remote possibility of an accident.