What are most people afraid of when flying?

People will tell you that they are afraid of losing their luggage or losing their way.
Getting on the wrong plane or forgetting to get a connecting flight. Other people are
worried about the pilot taking the plane for a joy ride, while others are afraid of high
jackers. What would be your worst fears about getting on a plane? Sitting next to
someone who really smells or that you just cant stand to look at is a fear of some people.
While most people are afraid of the plane wrecking, there are actually very few planes
that wreck in any given year. As I said before, you can see how many car accidents, truck
accidents, even people getting hit by cars compared to the number of planes that
physically wreck in a year. You can put aside your fears of flying for those basic reasons.
You are safe on a plane, safer than walking down the street in some areas, and riding in a
car in most other areas.
People that are afraid of sitting along side someone who smells, that they just cant stand
or sitting beside someone who is really offensive can put their fears to rest. On planes
where the seats are not very full, the stewards are likely to help you find a seat that is
more comfortable.
If you are not comfortable and the plane is full, you dont really have much choice but to
get through your plane ride. Most plane rides are not very long so if you have no choice
but to keep your seat you can rest assured to know that your ride will soon be over.
If you are afraid of flying and have to you can educate yourself about the different
airlines, what their security measures consist of and how emergencies are handled. You
can inquire with any booking agent, travel agent or with the airline itself to find out any
particulars that you want to know about a company. Most all airlines now have their own
websites online, that will explain to you about their services, what you can expect and
what wont happen on a particular flight.
Relaxing is a big part of getting on an airplane for the first time. If you are really nervous
you can have a drink at the bar in the airport that will calm your nerves. If you are known
to have panic attacks have your doctor prescribe something especially for the trip so you
can be more relaxed and calm while boarding, taking off and while flying. As you find
out, during your first trip, there really is nothing to worry about and the flight attendants
are very helpful in answering any questions and helping your deal with any problems you
might have.
Deep breathing while boarding the plane, during take off and during the flight or the
landing are going to help your body immensely in relaxing. Deep breathing puts more
oxygen in your body, which is very relaxing and soothing for the muscles at the same
time.

Positive thinking is another way that you can relax your body. Think about anything but
what worries you. Look around the plane and think about the people on the plane, the
people that you have met on your travels so far and where you are going.
Focus on the good things in your day, your life, and what is going in your life at the
moment. Positive thinking is a very powerful thing to help you over come fears. Many
people have been in worse situations and remained positive, coming out in the end with
great stories, and having fun at the same time.
Overcome Fear Of Flying
Symptoms of Fear Of Flying:
breathlessness, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, shaking, heart palpitations,
inability to speak or think clearly, a fear of dying, becoming mad or losing control, a
sensation of detachment from reality or a full blown anxiety attack.
You are not the only one to suffer from this phobia. Most sufferers are surprised to learn
that they are far from alone in this surprisingly common, although often unspoken, fear.
Fear Of Flying is an intense fear of something that poses no actual danger. While adults
with Flying Fear realize that these fears are irrational, they often find that facing, or even
thinking about facing, the feared situation brings on a panic attack or severe anxiety.
There is a Way Out
Overcome Fear Of Flying
Imagine what your life will be like when you know that you are not "defective". When
you can be confident and at ease in situations where you used to feel your phobia. And
when you can talk about your former fear symptoms as though you are describing a
movie where the character is someone else, not you.
Overcome Fear Of Flying
Treatment Options
Hypnotherapy Overcome Fear Of Flying
Hypnotherapy helps to reprogram your subconscious "programs" that may be part of your
fear. When these programs are "de-bugged" the symptoms of Flying Fear often are
minimized. However, some people don't like the feeling of loss of control in allowing
someone else to play with their personal "software".
Hypnotherapy is save and works fast.
Hypnotherapy Solutions

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)- Overcome Fear Of Flying

NLP is basically the study and practice of how we create our reality. From the NLP
viewpoint, your fear is the result of your programs or "constructs" that you have created
that don't work very well. With NLP, these constructs are revealed and "re-programmed"
so that the Flying Fear is minimized and often eliminated.
NLP interventions are quite rapid and effective.
NLP Solutions

Energy Psychology Overcome Fear Of Flying

Energy Psychology is emerging as an excellent therapy for fears and phobias because in
studies it is shown to be rapid, safe, effective and long-lasting. Energy Psychology is
based on a theory and practice that has been around for a couple of thousand years.
Energy Psychology has the same foundation or roots as acupuncture, except in this case
there are no needles used. You could call it emotional acupuncture - without the needles.
Recent scientific studies have shown Energy Psychology to be very effective.
Energy Psychology combines the benefits of the above treatment therapies.
You quickly and easily change your behaviors.
Your thought patterns change, often very quickly.
You develop skills and techniques that are useful for a lifetime in all situations.
Systematic desensitization in the treatment of fear of flying. In this work we present the
preliminary results for the validation of a systematic desensitization programme applied
to fear of flying. The program is made up of three phases: the first consists of four
sessions in relaxation and imagination training, the second phase has three sessions
focusing on the elaboration of the phobic stimulus hierarchy (travelling by plane); the
third, with a minimum of five and maximum of eight sessions, deals with the application
of the systematic desensitization, together with stop thinking. The programme was
applied to 20 patients (treatment group), while 21 patients made up the waiting-control
group. Therapeutic success was assessed by means of self-report scales, clinical interview
and the recording of psychophysiological variables in a simulation situation. The results
obtained appear to support the validity of the programme.

Welcome back, cybersurfers! Last time I presented some general information on phobias.
Now I intend to ramble on about a very common phobia, fear of flying, and how it can be
easily treated.
Fear of flying is probably the second most common fear/phobia after fear of public
speaking (aka stage fright). But, it is easily treated in just a few sessions with a qualified
therapist using a procedure known as systematic desensitization. This procedure pairs
relaxation training with an increasing hierarchy of mental imagery involving the fear
stimulus, until the person can "see" themselves actually facing whatever the phobic
behavior is while fully relaxed. If the person is relaxed, he/she cannot experience a
phobic reaction. The idea is that fear-->anxiety-->muscle tension, and if the muscles are
relaxed one cannot experience uncontrollable anxiety/fear. Sometimes EMG
(electromyograph) biofeedback training is combined with the relaxation training.
Fear is not logical, but then, we're humans, not logical Vulcans. Using logic, that flying is
much safer than being in a car, rarely helps by itself. Fear of flying sometimes relates to a
feeling of loss of control, of helplessness; you sit there passively while someone else flies
the plane. Some people even experience some of this in a car, when someone else is
driving; they don't like to give up control. But going through the systematic
desensitization procedure restores a sense of control to the person; they now have control
over their anxiety and fear, even if the pilot won't let them in the cockpit to fly the plane.
There are, of course, anti-anxiety medications that can help as well, generally ones in the
benzodiazepam class, e.g. xanax, valium, librium, etc. Some people use alcohol to calm
them, but usually they have to get at least "two sheets to the wind" to be able to get on the
plane. I don't recommend alcohol as the "cure" but do believe that medication can be an
effective adjunct to the therapy. Since helplessness may be involved, I believe it better
helps to train a person to have control over their own anxiety rather than rely on alcohol
or drugs to artificially do this for them. However, I have seen cases where having a pill,
prescribed by a physician, is a good back-up to the therapy, and some people have
reported feeling safer just knowing that the pill is there.
Systematic desensitization has been used to successfully treat thousands of people to
where they could fly with only a minimum of anxiety. Often, as the therapist does
relaxation training with a client in the office, he/she will make a cassette tape of the
training for the client to play on the plane; people frequently report that just the sound of
their therapist's voice had a calming effect. It's not the therapist's voice that is calming per
se, but rather that they felt that it was like having the therapist along on the plane with
them, to calm them.
An alternative to systematic desensitization is a procedure known as flooding or
implosion. This is almost the opposite of systematic desensitization, where the client is
faced with the strongest dose of the anxiety-causing stimulus that they can tolerate, either
through imagery or in reality. Implosion is also a short-term therapy that can be highly
effective in treating phobias, but it is generally not as popular with clients since it starts

out with so much anxiety. So, if you have a fear of snakes, just do like Indiana Jones and
jump into a boxcar full of--never mind!
Many "simple" phobias can be treated in only a few sessions using these behavior therapy
techniques. There are, however, more complicated phobias that can require much more
time in therapy. (Sorry managed care; you can't treat everything in six sessions or less.)
One example is what as known as "social phobia"--literally a fear of people and social
situations. This type of phobia is generally much more "ingrained" in the person's
personality structure, and may also require more traditional forms of psychotherapy to
treat. There is also what is known as "generalized anxiety disorder" (GAD), where the
client experiences anxiety from multiple sources and causes, or experiences anxiety all
the time. People with GAD may have numerous phobias, but the treatment is more
complicated than trying to treat each phobia independently.
Another week, another column. Be sure to e-mail your questions about phobias or
suggestions for future topics to 74124.2046@compuserve.com. If you have any
complaints...well, here's a new phobia I just dreamed up to curse you with. It's called
angoraphobia, a fear of angora sweaters.