Are you longing for an exotic vacation to soothe away stress and worries? Is the only thing stopping you from this dream trip a fear of flying? You’re not alone.
Nearly 25% of Americans suffer from nervousness when choosing to fly, with at least 6.5% of this group experiencing aviophobia. Aviophobia is an intense fear of flying, with feelings of anxiety and dread leading up to and during the flight.
Fortunately there are actions you can take to help ease your fears and enjoy a getaway.
Anti-Anxiety Medication
Consider consulting your doctor. Many medical professionals will write a prescription for anti-anxiety medication if you show proof you’ll be flying and explain your fear in detail.
The prescription usually provides enough medication for flight to and from your destination. If you ask for non-narcotic drugs your doctor will likely respect your wishes.
Meditation Before and During Your Flight
If you don’t like the idea of obtaining a potentially addictive prescription simply to fly there are other coping techniques available. Meditation is one of them. If you’ve never meditated before it’s wise to get into the habit a few weeks before your trip. There are numerous videos online that offer guided meditations as well as apps you can download to help relax your mind.
One popular style of meditation is mindfulness. This involves sitting quietly for a period of time, just being aware of what is around you. If you are sitting on a tiled floor, you might notice the coolness of the slab, a slight draft in the air, or a hair that is barely out of place tickling your neck.
During mindfulness meditation pay attention to your breath. Feel the coolness as you inhale, and the warmth you exhale. The greatest part about meditation? It can be done anywhere, including on the way to the airport (not recommended if you’re driving,) while waiting for your flight, or even once you’ve taken your seat and are waiting to take off.
Hypnotherapy Isn’t Magic
When you think of hypnotherapy, you may think of a magician that tells the crowd their subject is getting sleepy and when the signaling word is given, that subject will perform some silly task. This is far from what hypnotherapy actually is and what it can do.
When you choose to use hypnotherapy to overcome your fear of flying, you will work with a trained hypnotherapist that will use hypnosis, suggestions, or both to find the cause of the fear as well as solutions to overcome it.
Hypnotherapy is another choice that should be made several weeks prior to flying as you’ll have to meet with your therapist once or more per week to prepare for your trip. Because each person is different, the number of sessions will be decided during your assessment. This is usually based on background, the root of the fear, as well as personality.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a type of psychological treatment that can be helpful for a variety of mental health problems, including depression and anxiety. This includes anxiety that is related to flying!
CBT is offered by many mental health practitioners and helps to change the way people interpret situations, which ultimately changes the way they feel. This type of therapy is goal-oriented and can be challenge-specific.
Similarly to hypnotherapy, choosing CBT will require some planning. This type of therapy can help change the way you think–but it can take several sessions. You and your therapist will discuss the length of treatment during your initial meeting.
During the Flight…
Each of these suggestions is useful if you have time to prepare for your flight. However, if you don’t have the luxury of making these provisions, you may feel as though you are doomed.
You’re not.
Other options include finding a friend to fly with you, letting your seat mates know you have an intense fear of flying (and how to help you,) and separate your feelings of fear from actual danger. This basically means reminding yourself that although you feel anxious, you are not in true danger.
Finally, while you’re waiting to board your flight consider reading about airplanes. They are actually much safer than they appear and are designed to handle weather-related events (e.g. turbulence and lightning strikes) with ease.
Wrapping Up
Ideally, if you suffer from aviophobia take steps to ease this fear by using some or all the tips mentioned in this article. Opting to use several of these choices, rather than sticking to only one will give you a greater chance of reducing your anxiety.
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