Flights – How Can People Reduce Their Fear Of Flying On Vacation?
The fear of flying is called Aviophobia, and millions of vacationers and business people that travel on commercial air flights including potential flyers worldwide who suffer from it, to a greater or lesser extent. Even though air travel is around thirty times safer than traveling by car, you rarely hear about people that have a fear of driving. Maybe the TV, radio, internet and print media contributes to this fear when they graphically cover commercial airline crashes and the subsequent large number of air passengers that are injured or die.
Fear of flying on commercial flights can be triggered by a number of concerns such as the fear of heights, the fear of falling, the fear of the takeoff and the landing, the fear of crashing, the fear of flying over water, the fear of flying at night, the feeling of losing control causing panic attacks, air turbulence, stormy weather, the fear of hijackers or terrorists, motion sickness, and claustrophobia such as the fear of being trapped in the confined space of an airline cabin as well as being packed in like sardines with your fellow passengers, and also other phobias.
Some of the other symptoms of the fear of flying can be mild nervousness to extreme anxiety and panic attacks, a shortness of breath and tightness in your chest, chest pains, clammy hands, headaches, as well as nausea and vomiting.
If you feel your fear of flying is severe, you may want to consider enrolling in an intensive treatment program. However, if think your fear of flying is not severe, there are some things you can do that may help remedy this problem.
First, try and book a seat over the airplane wings, preferably not a window seat, so you can not look down at the ground. When you sit over the wings you will also experience a much smoother flight.
If possible, leave your seat belt on as much as possible, so if any air turbulence suddenly occurs, you wont get jarred or bounced about as much.
Eat light and try to avoid eating or drinking any food or beverage that contains sugar, caffeine, or alcohol.
It will help if you try to stay positive and always think only of positive thoughts.
You can occupy your mind by listening to soft, soothing music on your I-Pod.
It usually helps to wear eye shades and try to sleep on the flight if you can.
You may feel a little less stressed if you can catch flights that take off at off-peak times as there are usually fewer airline passengers to contend with.
If you are thinking about taking some prescription or over-the-counter drugs to calm yourself down on your flight, be sure that you first consult with your family doctor or pharmacist. Keep in mind that if you are already taking prescriptions for pre-existing conditions, any new medication may interact adversely with them. Most over-the-counter drugs can be dangerous.
I have a true story that may help you with this problem. A number of years ago a good friend of mine had a real problem with the fear of flying. He was really concerned about dying in a plane crash. A funny thing is that he had no problem driving all over the country, or taking a bus or train when he traveled on his holidays.
Fortunately he got a job selling ads for a local community newspaper near a busy international airport. As he drove around to sell advertising to the stores in the area, he constantly observed huge commercial airliners taking off and landing every few minutes. He got used to hearing the deafening roar of airline engines day in and day out. Slowly, he eventually started to lose his fear of flying.
He finally made the big decision to vacation in Hawaii, which he had always wanted to do. The only obstacle was that he had no choice but to fly. He then took out flight insurance in case the plane crashed. He wanted to be sure he would leave something for his parents if he didnt get back.
Before boarding aircraft he took one sleeping pill and hoped it would keep him calm. He intentionally booked a window seat so he was able to see where he was going and what the earth and ocean looked like from the air.
When the flight attendant told the passengers to fasten their seat belts, he cinched his belt up so tight he said he thought he would break it. All through the flight he removed his seat belt only to go to the washroom. During the flight to Hawaii the only thing that really bothered him was that his ears got plugged up and hurt because of the changes in cabin pressure on the takeoff and landing. A fellow passenger suggested that he should chew some gum and that seemed to do the trick.
When he landed in Hawaii he was very proud of himself! After all those wasted years being hung up on that terrible phobia he finally broke free. All it took was working near an international airport and watching the constant flow of airliners takeoff and land to reprogram his mind.
If you happen to have a fear of flying you must try and rid yourself of this debilitating, irrational fear. I know that your life will be changed forever when you break free and allow yourself to soar with the eagles and fly anywhere in this big, wide, wonderful world that you want to.
Visit FlyingWithoutFear.com if you would like more information on how vacationers as well as business travelers can lessen their fear of flying. This helpful company offers a free online self-help course that we highly recommend you take. Its conducted by a currently flying airline captain.