Love to travel, yet hate to fly? If you find yourself white knuckling your armrests or gasping for breath whenever your flight takes off, you’re not alone.
Millions of Americans have some anxiety over flying, with symptoms ranging from mild concern to paralyzing panic attacks.
How can you learn to cope with your fears?
We’ve checked in with some experts on the subject to find out. To begin with, the fear of flying isn’t always about crashing. “In actuality, a large majority of people tend to be claustrophobic, and fear having a panic attack on the plane,” says Dr. David Carbonell, who runs the Anxiety Treatment Center, a private practice in Illinois comprised of a several psychologists specializing in anxiety problems. Other issues that can cause panic on flights include a fear of heights or simply a lack of control. In his book, Panic Attacks Workbook: A Guided Program for Beating the Panic Trick, Dr. Carbonell, who has specialized in anxiety treatment since 1987, describes some of the symptoms of these panic attacks, including heart palpitations, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath and chest pain. Situations such as turbulence and takeoff — or simply hearing inexplicable noises on the aircraft — tend to cause the most anxiety.
All of the doctors we spoke with agree that while terrorism is a relatively common concern, fewer people actually sought treatment for their fear of flying after September 11. “I think it actually acted as an additional excuse for people to not get treatment,” says Dr. Gerald Tarlow, co-founder of the Center for Virtual Reality Therapy, a privately-run institute in Calabasas, California that uses virtual reality computers to simulate experiences for patients to confront their fears and phobias. “If they were afraid of flying previously, what they tended to do is say ‘See, it really is dangerous.’”
At the Anxiety and Stress Disorders Institute of Maryland (ASDI), an independent treatment center in Baltimore operating since 1992, Stephanie Thomas explains that those who did develop a phobia of flying after September 11 “already had some kind of anxiety, but 9/11 acted as a catalyst for them to act out on it.”
Of course, there are all sorts of statistics out there to show just how safe flying can be. We’ve all heard that flying is far safer than driving a car. Thomas likes to open her fear of flying courses with the example that, based on statistics, “You’d have to fly every day for 32,000 years before you’re in a fatal crash.” In fact, statistics compiled by www.planecrashinfo.com state that the odds of being killed on a single flight, out of the top 25 airlines with the best records, are 1 in 6.3 million; for the bottom 25 airlines with the worst records, the odds are 1 in 543,000. But no matter how comforting these numbers may be to some, chances are they are not going to make a big difference to those with a significant fear of flying.
Dr. Carbonell points out that if sufferers don’t know how to cope with their anxiety, their efforts to control it may actually make the situation worse. “They try to pick the best day to fly; they try to pick the safe airline. They do all sorts of things to control their fear, and those efforts make them feel worse, rather than better.”
He also explains how reactions can cause the fear to build upon itself; for example, panicked breathing can lead to hyperventilation, which can cause lightheadedness, dizziness and chest pains. Thomas agrees, “Anxiety is a physiological reaction to perceived danger. Some people like to go on roller coasters for the adrenaline rush. This is the same [type of] situation, but the difference is the interpretation of your reactions. When people try to avoid the fear, it makes it bigger.”
All agree that anxiety is a treatable condition, and use a combination of cognitive and behavioral therapies to deal with the fear of flying. Translation? Learning how to cope with your physiological reactions, and then putting that knowledge to the test on an airplane.
At the Anxiety Center, Dr. Carbonell specializes in helping people deal with anxiety and fear. For flying phobias, he holds group therapy sessions that meet for 90 minutes once a week, for about six weeks. For the final session, the group flies out of Chicago to nearby cities like St. Louis or Detroit. “People have the idea that this is like a graduation flight, but that’s not the case. I want them to have the experience of dealing with the fear.” The cost of Dr. Carbonell’s course is $425 plus airfare. For more information, call 847-605-0453 or visit www.anxietycoach.com
At the ASDI, Thomas runs a support group that runs for a total of 16 hours. She starts off with an assessment of each individual’s fears, so that each treatment can be tailored specifically. During the group sessions, she goes over coping techniques “to embrace the fear, rather than try to fight it.”
She also brings her clients to BWI airport, and has developed a relationship with Southwest Airlines to tour the facility and sit inside an aircraft if one is available. Sometimes a pilot is available to answer questions, as some anxieties stem from the strange noises and motions that occur during flight. At the end of the course, the group takes an hour-long flight to a city, incorporating a fun activity with the flying exercise.
“We’ve gone to Niagara Falls for lunch, turned around and come back.” Thomas also runs a monthly support group for those who have finished the course and want to continue treatments. The program cost is $600, including airfare, plus $20 for each monthly group. For more information, call (410) 938-8457 ext. 2, or visit www.anxietyandstress.com
At the Center for Virtual Reality Therapy, Dr. Tarlow and Dr. Alan Berkowitz do things a little differently, using virtual reality treatment to simulate a flying experience. They run individual treatment sessions, and boast a 93 percent success rate to overcome the fear of flying. They teach breathing techniques and physical relaxation to manage anxiety, and work on redirecting irrational thoughts like plane crashes or terrorist attacks. Once those techniques are in place, patients use the virtual reality machine, which simulates flying on a plane. The actual view is a little cartoonish, but the seats simulate real movements of an airplane, from takeoff to landing. If a client doesn’t suffer any anxiety while in the virtual reality machine, then the program may not be the best choice. Sessions are one hour long for 8-10 weeks, and cost $225 per person. For more information, (818) 222-8355 or visit www.fearofflyingcure.com
Other available treatments or courses:
Captain Meryl Getline is a retired pilot from United Airlines whose humorous attitude has made her quite well known in the travel industry. Her book The World At My Feet: The True (and Sometimes Hilarious) Adventures of a Lady Airline Captain, tells her story — from her days in the Army to becoming the first female to ever get a DC-10 Type (Captain) rating, to her career as a pilot at a major airline. Through her website, you can order her ten tips on what every “Anxious, Fearful or Just Plane Curious Flyer” should know. You can also order her CD, “Ground School for Passengers” ($67), a collection of the concerns and issues that she addressed during her years as USA Today’s “Ask the Captain” travel columnist and from her own website. She also offers personal consultations for $250. For more information, visit www.flyingfearless.com or www.fromthecockpit.com
Captain Ron Nielsen of America West operates http://Fearless-Flight.com, which offers several options of dealing with flight fears. The “Chicken Soup for the Soul Presents the Fearless Flight” kit includes a book of stories from other fearful flyers and a CD of soothing prose, music and poetry to allay your anxieties ($24). Captain Ron also offers seminars to overcome your fears, which are held live in Phoenix, and can also be taken at home via teleclass. Basic classes are free, and are held at Sky Harbor Airport, while advanced classes are $180 and include a roundtrip flight to Los Angeles. The website also offers helpful information like the cause of air turbulence, along with research compiled from former clients. For more information, see www.fearless-flight.com.
Captain Stacey Chance is a 20-year airline veteran from American Airlines who runs an online self-help course. You can download the audio course ($9.98) or order it on CD ($14.95). Captain Chance has also just released a Prepare to Fly video, which you can download ($29.99) or order on DVD ($39.99). This package includes an explanation of the fear of flying, remedies for anxiety symptoms, a lesson on the various people who are involved in aviation (like air traffic controllers and mechanics), the basics of an aircraft and its environment, and explanations of turbulence. Chance also released a book, Wings of Discovery, a fictional account of someone who ultimately conquered his fear of flying, incorporating tips and techniques. For more information, visit www.fearofflyinghelp.com
TIPS TO HANDLE FEAR OF FLYING
*Try “belly breathing.” Poor breathing can lead to more physiological symptoms that may increase panic. Inhale through your nose and exhale out your mouth, taking deep breaths into your belly (place your hand on your stomach to make sure it’s rising and falling).
*Educate yourself on the mechanics of airplanes and the effects of weather. The more you know about strange noises and movements, the less uncomfortable you’ll be.
*Arrive early. Check-in and security lines can be long, and being late for a flight will most likely increase anyone’s anxieties, not just those with phobias.
*Avoid caffeine and other stimulants that can make you jittery while on the plane.
*If you have a long flight planned for an upcoming event, try a shorter practice flight in advance, if possible, to get yourself comfortable with the situation.
*Know that practically everyone on the airplane experiences some degree of fear. It’s a natural instinct to avoid perceived danger — the trick is managing your fears while on the flight. Once you get through it, you’ll probably feel much better prepared for your next flight. . . and the next.
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