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Flights - How Can People Cope With Fear Of Flying On Holiday?
Fear of flying is called Aviophobia, and millions of vacationers and business flyers who travel on commercial flights worldwide are affected by it, to a greater or lesser extent. Even though air travel is approximately thirty times safer than traveling by car, you hardly hear about people that have a fear of driving. Maybe television, radio, internet and print media contribute to this fear when they graphically cover commercial airline crashes and the large number of air passengers that are injured or perish.
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 your fear of flying is severe, you should consider enrolling in an intensive treatment program. However, if your fear of flying is not severe, there are some things you can do that may help remedy this problem.
Firstly, sit in a seat over the airplane wings, preferably not a window seat, so you cant look down at the ground. When you are sitting over the wings you will also experience a smoother flight.
If you can, you should leave your seat belt on as much as possible, so if air turbulence suddenly occurs, you wont get bounced or jarred about as much.
Eat light and try to not to eat or drink any food or beverage that contains sugar, caffeine, or alcohol.
It will help a lot if you try to stay positive and constantly think only positive thoughts.
You can occupy your mind by listening to soft, soothing music on your I-Pod.
It may help to wear eye shades and try and sleep 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 contemplating taking prescriptions or over-the-counter drugs to calm yourself down on your flight, always consult first 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. Even 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 started employment 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 large commercial aircraft take off and land every couple minutes. He heard the deafening roar of airline engines day in and day out. Eventually he started losing his fear of flying.
He finally made a big decision to go on a vacation in Hawaii, which he had always dreamed of doing. The only problem was that he had no choice but to fly. Before he left he took out flight insurance just in case the plane crashed. He wanted to be sure he would leave something for his mom and dad if he didnt come back.
Before boarding the airplane he took a sleeping pill hoping that it would help to keep him calm. He bravely booked a window seat as he wanted to be able to see where he was going and what the earth and ocean looked like from the air.
When the flight attendant asked the passengers to fasten their seat belts, he cinched his seat belt up so tight he said he thought it would break. Through the long flight to Hawaii he only removed his seat belt to go to the washroom. During the flight the only thing that really bothered him was that both his ears got plugged up and hurt a lot due to the changes in the cabin air pressure on takeoff and landing. A friendly fellow passenger suggested that he chew some gum and that seemed to solve the problem.
When he landed in Hawaii he was proud of himself! After all those wasted years hung up on that phobia he had finally broken free. All it took was working near a big airport and watching the constant stream of takeoffs and landings by these large jet airliners to reprogram his mind.
If you do have a fear of flying you must try and rid yourself of this debilitating, irrational fear. Your life will be changed forever when you allow yourself to soar with the eagles and fly anywhere in this wonderful world that your heart desires.
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.
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