and stories such as this should alleviate it; but they don't.
Century after first fatality, safety is in the air: Beyond ‘experimental stage,’ flying is by far the safest way to travel
It contains some interesting history in the matter of Orville Wright's doomed 1908 flight that claimed the world's first aeroplane crash fatality, passenger Lt Thomas Selfridge, as well as some statistics on the comparative safety of flying.
3 comments:
First, by way of introduction, I'm both an airline captain and a licensed therapist. Working with people who have trouble with flying has been my specialty for twenty-eight years.
There is a great deal of misunderstanding about the cause of fear of flying. It is not caused by a bad flight; most people on a bad flight don't develop fear of flying. Difficulty with flying is caused by insufficient ability to regulate feelings when facing uncertainty.
Research since the advent of the functional MRI just eight years ago has helps us understand how the brain works. We now recognize that the ability to regulate feelings is learned and that the part of the brain that does this regulation requires stimulation of the right kind during the first two years of life. The right kind of stimulation requires a caregiver who is empathically attuned to the infant and responds to the infants signals, rather than simply providing for the infant according to an agenda set by the caregiver.
If the child is afraid, the caregiver needs to tune into the child's fear in a way the child really knows the caregiver feels the same way. Thus the child knows he or she is not alone.
Then, the magic happens; the caregiver then lets the child know that -- though the child's fear is 100% shared -- the adult has an additional point of view, which is that it is not the end of the world; it will work out alright.
Many of us, obviously, didn't get such optimal early development. Thus, when facing uncertainty, we control our anxiety by being in control of the situation, or by having a way to out of it.
That works fairly well on the ground -- except for annoying those who regard us as control freaks. But when flying, there is uncertainty, of course. And, not being in control and not having a way out, there is no way to regulate the feelings.
Therapists try to help with CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), but anxiety can develop so rapidly that CBT techniques cannot keep up with the anxiety build-up.
Hypnosis is pretty "hit or miss". If it helps on one flight, it can fail to help on another flight.
Medications are not to be recommended -- according to the World Health Organization -- because when sedated, the passenger doesn't move around enough to protect against DVT, Deep Vein Thrombosis. If a DVT clot forms, it is a serious and potentially life-threatening problem.
Also, use of medications -- according to research -- is only helpful in very mild cases of fear of flying. In more severe cases, medications make the flight worse!
I have tried to give a good understanding of the cause and cure of fear of flying in a video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcx6ZsvKHSA&feature
Also, at
http://www.fearofflying.com/video_hs.shtml
Hey ,
I have a 18 minute cure to fear of flying called GoGetter JetSetter.
If you blog about curing yourself of a fear of flying, I'll give you the GoGetter JetSetter program for FREE (a $49 value).
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For the Love of Living Life to the Fullest,
JP Richards
Certified Hypnotherapist, NLP Practitioner, &
Creator of GoGetter JetSetter
www.GoGetterJetSetter.com
I think my fear of flying has a lot with not being in control, with a little claustrophobia in the mix. I've been on several short flights (once in a four-seater, a few more in jets on fairly short flights (1 1/2 hours tops)). Going up and coming down was the worst part in terms of my anxiety. Up in the air was actually rather wonderful, up above the clouds. I'm not so afraid of crashing, although it bothers me that I can't just stop and get out. I suppose that's a lot to do with it. I would love to go to Britain, but that's a fairly long flight. I suspect I'd actually do alright if I could get over the initial anxiety. I got over a fear of storms on my own...maybe I should try to fly after all. I rather think if I could learn to pilot I'd feel better, too. Unfortunately, I don't live near my uncle, who could teach me, and I don't really have the money for lessons. Thanks for the advice.
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