Scared of flying? Cure your fears with tips and facts from our expert psychologist

Cure your fear of flying with these tips from psychologist Rob Stewart

FLYING can be terrifying at the best of times, but we're here to help.

 

It's not a new phobia, aviophobia, but a fear of flying can take over lives meaning holidays and business trips abroad are out of the question. 

A fear of flying is one of the most common in the modern world - up there with agoraphobia (spiders) and acrophobia (heights). 

But you don't need to let it take over. News News Blog spoke to Rob Stewart, a specialist psychologist, who explained how you can help a loved one with their fear of flying, and how to keep calm yourself. 

 

A fear of flying is common, and we've got tips to keep you calm

 

Statistically speaking, we're more likely to die in a car accident than in a plane

 

Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi, Dubai

And remember: MedHelp reports, statistically, one person out of every 5,862 will die in aviation-related accidents while one in every 272 people will die in an automobile accident.

What is the biggest fear when flying? A fear of flying can manifest in a number of different themes from engine failure, lighting striking the plane or terrorism. However, the flying itself isn’t usually the issue, for most it is the anxiety they will experience on the plane, with no idea how to manage it, feeling trapped and out of control.

Many fear they’ll lose control. Being on a plane in a confined space is common place for people to experience panic attacks.

 

Should the fear begin in the airport lounge, what can you do to calm down? Anxiety for many may start weeks before or on the journey to the airport, for others it may be once they’re boarding. Whichever you experience the cause is that we become introspective and begin to imagine scenarios in our mind or focus on our physical symptoms. 

Refocusing your attention at this point is key, but not necessarily distraction. Acknowledge the anxiety creeping up and accept it, but then refocus your attention elsewhere. Do some shopping, read a book or have a chat with someone. If you try to ignore or suppress the anxiety. 

How can people who have partners afraid of flying help their loved ones? Be compassionate, it can be very hard for the person with anxiety and they would do anything not to feel that way. Telling them to “get on with it” or “there’s nothing to worry about”, will put pressure on the person and trigger off the amygdala in their brain – our threat response.

Compassionately acknowledge they are nervous and make suggestions for ways to refocus their attention. If we provide a lot of reassurance then we don’t allow the person a chance to gain a sense of self confidence in the situation.  

Is there a fail-safe way to 'get over' a fear of flying?  There are many ways of overcoming a fear of flying, like many anxiety disorders NICE guidelines recommend cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). This is a short term therapy that uses exposure principals to overcome anxiety.

As well as CBT, many people find some self-help material helpful and there are many books available that help explain both anxiety and the physics of flying. 

 

Do airlines offer any help for those afraid? Airlines sometimes offer fear-of-flying courses where they will educate you on the mechanics of a plane and the physics behind flight. This can be very beneficial by simply understanding more about what is happening around them. 

On board some staff have been trained to assist those with anxiety, but this isn’t standard procedure for all airlines. You may be offered an alcoholic drink or a bag to breathe into if your anxiety is high, but this isn’t recommended. Airlines are generally limited in what they can offer their customers, the responsibility lies with the traveller. 

Patrice Daelman, Cabin Services Training Manager, for Monarch airlines added: "There is no official protocol, our cabin crew use their customer-focussed training to implement a flexible approach. The crew will either pick up the fact that a customer has a fear of flying, or be told directly, and address it by offering support and reassurance.

"Our cabin crew will immediately approach customers who they are aware have a fear of flying to offer assistance and reassurance."

Should a fearful person drink alcohol to quell their fears? Drinking alcohol, much like anxiety medication, will give you a false sense of confidence. Whilst you might be distracted in the short term, it’s likely to wear off and you can end up feeling more anxious.

The next time you fly you’re likely to require more alcohol to calm you and an unhealthy cycle can be created. You may find the level required to lower your anxiety means you’re inebriated to an extent where you’re refused entry to the plane. Or you may be refused alcohol on the plane and then left without an aid to manage the fear. 

If you enjoy expert tips, we've been speaking to dietitian Fiona Kirk about her industry diet secrets. 

 

Fear of flying: Ten tips to staying calm

• Before your trip Read up or do a course or flying lesson – a bit of knowledge and experience can go a long way to preparing you for the real thing, go in feeling more confident in yourself.
  
• Imaginal exposure before – Use your imagination to see yourself taking the trip from arriving at the airport, boarding, taking off and flying. Notice your anxiety rising, plateauing, then eventually lowering and finally gone. The more you practice this before you go, the more less stimulated your brain will be when you do it for real.
  
• Share your concerns with those close to you – If you know your friends and family are aware of your fears, not only will they be more supportive, but the more at ease you’ll feel. Sharing concerns with those close to you and feeling understood will promote serotonin release and combat our fear.
  
• Practice attentional focus before – this is where we learn to shift our attention from one stimuli to another – think between conversation and television. Your brain will draw your attention to worrying thoughts, images and feelings. If we practice shifting our attention before we set off, it’ll be easier when it comes to the real thing.
  
• At the airport: Try not to drink alcohol, take anxiety medication, seek reassurance, look out for exits, hold your breath, or grip the seat tightly. All of these behaviours will make you think you’re more in control but will actually make you hyper vigilant and more aware of your anxiety, this in turn will increase it. Our body is linked to our brain and certain behaviours will signal our threat response and increase anxiety. 

• On the plane: Stay out of your head – Introspection is not our friend when it comes to anxiety. You may feel the urge to get into a back and forth discussion in your mind about your safety or the plane, but the back and forth will just feed your imagination and not in a helpful way.
  
• Acknowledge your anxiety but don’t feed it – anxiety is a physiological reaction and cannot sustain itself without fuel. Acknowledge it is there, make a conscious decision to not feed it and refocus your attention on something else.
  
• Have enjoyable activities – flights can be boring, some don’t come with entertainment and we’re attempting to avoid the booze. So make sure you have something you can turn your attention to, be it a book, film, puzzle or work. Without an activity, your mind is more likely to drift back to focusing on our body. Puzzles and films release dopamine in the brain and allow us to be more focused on the task at hand.
  
• Connect with those around you – even if you’re travelling alone, other people would be happy to chat with you. When we chat with people and connect with them we release oxytocin. Oxytocin is the ‘cuddle hormone’ which gives us a sense of closeness to others. This is a natural combatant of our stress hormone cortisol and will allow us to feel calmer for longer.
  
• Finally – Remember the reason for your trip! You’re either on holiday or a business trip, but either way anxiety has no place and reminding yourself of why you’re setting off will help us focus on what is important and our anxiety is not helpful or important to us.
  

Check out Rob Stewart online here.