"Acknowledge that flying can be a scary thing, without invalidating how they feel," says Nippoda, adding that this is especially important if you (or they) are not a frequent flyer. They need to know they are not alone. "Mention that other people on the same flight might have similar flying anxieties.
If you feel yourself getting panicked, start your deep breathing exercise. This will help relieve your stress and anxiety by calming your nervous system. This also helps prevent hyperventilation because you'll be slowing your breath and breathing out for as long as you can until you inhale your next big breath.
Over time, and with the right combination of cognitive and behavioural therapy, a fear of flying can be cured, according to psychologists who offer treatments at such aerophobia clinics like Boston University's Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders.
She told the group what worried her. “I am afraid of dying.” Fear of flying, or aviophobia, is an anxiety disorder.
Fear of heights or crashes, or not understanding how flight works, may also play a part, Farchione says. And flying is a uniquely terrifying activity for many people because they know that if fear or anxiety strikes during the trip, there's little they can do, he says.
“Also, some people experience an overall sense of discomfort with the entire flying experience: airport procedures, crowds, turbulence, unappetizing food, cramped space and long flights.” Anxiety is fueled by irrational, worst case scenario thoughts, and confined spaces are breeding grounds for this process.
In the United States, there are 0.07 fatalities per billion passenger miles, which translates like this: If you fly 500 miles every day for a year, you have a fatality risk of one in 85,000. In short, flying is, by far, the safest mode of transit.
Fear of flying afflicts as much as 40 percent of the U.S. population. The nation's armrest-grippers may be heartened to know that “aviophobia” is perfectly normal, and easily treated. Only about 5 percent of Americans have aviophobia so severe that they cannot fly.
Takeoff and landing are widely considered the most dangerous parts of a flight.
These panics typically emerge between the ages of 17 to 34, around the time of a significant life change such as a birth, death, marriage, divorce, or graduation. That is why people with flying phobias often wonder why they had once been able to fly so comfortably.
Usually, the Captain will make a small briefing before take-off, sometimes indicating the priority for take-off (e.g. “We are third in priority for take-off, we should depart in about five minutes”). But there is always an announcement like: “Flight attendants, prepare for take-off please.”
This technique asks you to find five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. Using this with someone who feels anxious will help to calm them down and reduce their feelings of anxiety.
The 3 P's stand for Pervasiveness, Permanence and Personalisation. Pervasiveness looks at how much of your life a concern impacts – How big? Permanence looks at how long an issue is going to be of concern – How long? Personalisation looks at how much you feel you are to blame – How much?
She said: 'Essentially, you tick your way through your five senses and name 5 things you can see at this very moment, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can feel (like your feet in your shoes, your bum on a chair), 2 things you can smell, and one thing you can taste, even if it's just the inside of your mouth or a sip ...
No matter what you want to improve upon, anxiety, health, work, your marriage or relationship, or financial stress, the 5 Second Rule will turn things around in, yes, 5 Seconds. Whenever you face hesitation, fear, stress or procrastination to do anything, just count down 5 -4 -3 -2 -1 and then MOVE.