With the development of passenger transportation by air, a new kind of fear has appeared - aerophobia. Many people suffer from this disease, which prevents them from traveling or moving around the world for work (business trips), which means living a full life. Many people think that it is impossible to cope with a phobia, that it is a burden for life, they deny themselves travel or use another mode of transport, while infringing on their capabilities. However, you can get rid of fear by putting enough effort into solving this problem and understanding it comprehensively.
Where did the fear come from?
The development of the media and the availability of information, the coverage of all incidents on the Internet and on television creates fear in the minds of people. Seeing numerous plane crashes, a person involuntarily associates the plane with a danger to life. Previously, in Soviet times, there was a ban on the dissemination of such information to the masses, people simply did not know about the accidents that occurred and the numerous victims. Therefore, the development of aerophobia has become widespread only in recent decades.
But not only awareness of the accidents that have happened can act as a cause of aerophobia. How to get rid of it? Find out what fear was the root cause: it could be a fear of closed spaces (claustrophobia) or heights (acrophobia). In general, the appearance of such fears is a sign of emotional instability, a tendency to panic, the result of stress, overwork, and depression. In each case, the manifestation of a phobia has its own reasons. A person may be afraid of a technical malfunction of an aircraft, natural phenomena or a human factor (the pilot will lose control), which will entail an inevitable disaster. Aerophobia can include fear of manifestations of one's own body and the inability to cope with them, fear of panic and loss of control, fear of lack of timely medical care.
Symptoms
If a person discovers that he has aerophobia, how to get rid of this phenomenon? In fact, many people are afraid to fly on airplanes - this is a natural fear associated with fears for their lives. It is considered normal when this fear is controlled and invisible to others. If during a flight a person's condition is akin to panic, they talk about a phobia. Psychotherapists work a lot on this problem, and many methods have already been developed for overcoming the disease on their own, with the help of a specialist, as well as drug treatment. But first you need to make sure that this is really aerophobia. How to get rid of its manifestations, the specialist will decide, having found outthe true reason for its appearance. But you can identify alarming symptoms yourself and immediately pay attention to them:
- long before the upcoming flight there is a feeling of anxiety, panic moods;
- pathological nervousness, unusual for a person in a normal state;
- study of cases of air crashes, close attention to incidents of this kind;
- heartbeat quickens, muscle tone increases, breathing goes astray, there is increased sweating of the palms.
These are the main symptoms of aerophobia. How to get rid of the pathological fear of flying? First you need to find out its cause.
Causes of aerophobia
Fear can arise for purely individual reasons, unknown to anyone, even to its owner. But it is possible to generalize the most common cases of the disease known as aerophobia. How to get rid of fear? Find out its cause:
Traumatic experience, an unpleasant incident that once happened to a person and deposited in the mind, causing fear and panic. You can draw a parallel with a child bitten by a dog in childhood, who throughout his life after this episode panics at the sight of an animal. Aerophobia in this case may not be associated with the flight itself. There have been cases when people, while on the plane, were in a tense emotional state due to personal problems or troubles at work. But for some reason, the brain associated these sensations with flight, giving rise to aerophobia
- Initially, a person who did not experience fear can adopt it from the environment: when everyone around is panicking, it is difficult to control oneself. Rarely, but still there are cases when the cause is news releases or disaster films, which cause aerophobia. How to get rid of such fear? To begin with, stop watching footage that is not intended for especially emotionally sensitive people.
- Another reason is the accumulation of negative emotions and thoughts associated with flying. It's like developing a chronic illness - constant, systematic exposure to negative associations eventually leads to a phobia.
Accompanying fears
Under aerophobia, so-called mini-phobias can be hidden, when a person is afraid of something specific that can happen to him on an airplane. These obsessions haunt a person during and before the flight, drawing terrible pictures in the imagination.
So, we have decided: we need to find out what aerophobia is based on. "How to get rid of the fear of flying on airplanes?" - a question that will be easier to solve by sorting out your fears. The list of them is quite large:
- Claustrophobia. A person is afraid of closed spaces, which include the aircraft cabin.
- Fear of heights. A person cannot get rid of the idea that he is high above the ground, which causes him to panic.
- Lack of control. A person cannot cope with the idea that what is happening to him depends not on himself, but on outsiders,strangers.
- Fear of the physiological manifestations of the body. A person is afraid that he will vomit during the flight, which often happens to passengers. There is a fear of creating an uncomfortable situation for yourself and others.
- Agoraphobia. A person is afraid of a large crowd of people and getting psychological trauma from them.
- Fear of terrorism or hijacking. Especially relevant in our turbulent times. Formed under the influence of facts from the media.
- Fear of turbulence. It often arises due to a misunderstanding of its nature and the real risk of a plane crash for this reason. Self-education, the study of natural phenomena and the structure of the aircraft will help here, training courses, which can be found on the Internet, will not be superfluous.
- Fear of flying over water. Here, the root cause is aquaphobia, which must be treated first.
- Fear of night flying. Based on the fear of the dark, a person in such a situation feels more vulnerable.
- Fear of death.
The development of aerophobia can be the result of physiological characteristics of the body, dysregulation of emotions or even pregnancy.
How to overcome fear? Tips
"What to do if you suffer from aerophobia?" or “How to get rid of the fear of flying on an airplane?” - questions that are often asked by people suffering from this disease. There are a few tips, following which you can make it easier for yourself to stay in the hated transport and make the flight more comfortable:
- Before the flight, it would be nice to drink a course of sedatives, after consulting with your doctor.
- Arrive early at the airport to get used to the surroundings.
- For flying, choose loose, comfortable clothing that is not tight or restricts movement.
- If possible, take a traveling companion with you, a close person you trust, so it will be easier to cope with anxiety.
- Remember once and for all: an airplane is a relatively safe mode of transport, compared to, for example, the same car, which has a much greater risk of an accident.
- If you are worried about severe aerophobia, various online courses and trainings will tell you how to get rid of it. Use them before your next flight.
- When buying a ticket, choose a seat away from the window and closer to the flight attendants delivering food and drinks.
- Don't take a seat at the tail of the plane, the turbulence zones are more felt there.
- If you feel an approaching state of panic, close your eyes, try to distract yourself from everything that is happening, meditate, turn on your favorite music in your headphones. You can watch a movie on your gadget or meet and start a conversation with a fellow traveler.
When aerophobia disappears, or How to get rid of the fear of flying on an airplane
Answers to pressing questions can be given by special courses designed to help those suffering from a phobia. Training can be a real solution to the problem, because a person begins to understand aviation issues, andfear of the unknown becomes irrelevant. Having understood how an airplane works, what sets it in motion and how it all works, a person forgets what aerophobia is. How to get rid of the fear of flying, people who themselves learned to fly or dared to jump with a parachute, busting themselves, can tell. Some airlines and travel companies offer these courses. Many are engaged in self-education, which is also very useful in the fight against fears. By gaining knowledge, for example, about turbulence, it is much easier not to panic in an airplane if it occurs. However, it all depends on the person himself and the degree of his phobia. Some people, even having received the necessary knowledge and skills, are unable to overcome panic. In this case, you need to comprehensively tackle the problem, adding psychological and drug therapy to the training.
Psychotherapy for aerophobia
Frequently asked questions to psychologists: "What should I do to get rid of aerophobia?" or “How to get rid of the fear of flying?” Experts offer several effective ways to deal with the disease.
- Hypnotherapy. The technique returns a person to those events in the past that caused fear. Sometimes it happens that the source of fear has nothing to do with the plane. Having identified the cause of all troubles, the psychologist will begin to eradicate fear and stabilize the patient's condition in a critical situation for him.
- Behavioral Therapy. It also allows you to identify the situation that gave rise to panic fear in the mind of a person, to understand what event was the impetus for the emergence of aerophobia.
- Neuroimaging. Suggests that fear was not the result of one specific case, but of chronic exposure. It could have been an emotional disorder in childhood that interfered with the development of the right prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for managing emotions.
- Virtual reality therapy. A person with the help of computer images is placed in a stressful situation for him. It is carried out strictly under the supervision of a psychologist.
If there is aerophobia, how to get rid of it? Therapy according to one of the methods will help to cope with fear. The main thing is to choose a qualified specialist.
Will medication help?
The first question when aerophobia occurs is how to get rid of it? There is no cure for fear. You can only alleviate your anxiety and prevent panic. To do this, in advance, about ten days before the flight, you should drink a course of sedatives, such as infusions of valerian, motherwort, glycine. Just before the flight, more potent drugs that cause clouding of consciousness are suitable. Such therapy should be used only as a last resort, with severe panic conditions. Often the use of such drugs is prohibited in order to prevent addiction. Some doctors recommend drinking 50 grams of cognac for general relaxation. Do not drink large amounts of alcohol. If you still suffer from aerophobia, how to get rid of it? Medicines for phobias are not given, they can only alleviate the emotional state during a particular flight. ForFor a more effective result, you need to apply complex therapy, using all possible methods of dealing with the disease - training, talking with a psychologist, medicines. Then there is a chance to eradicate the problem, and not hide it behind a temporary intoxication of consciousness.
Supplementary Literature
What to do if aerophobia occurs? How to get rid? Medicines do not solve the problem, but only temporarily help to reduce emotional stress. A good help in the fight against fear can be books for self-training. For example, "The Easy Way to Enjoy Air Travel" by Allen Kara, a well-known author of many works on the treatment of addictions and phobias. The book clearly explains that fears are based only on myths and prejudices that the writer is trying to debunk. The reader is given substantiated facts that the phobia has no real reasons, it is just a play of the imagination. The author aims to fully inform a person in a matter that worries him and interferes with a normal life. Carr looks at each individual case, whether it's a fear of heights, turbulence, or a terrorist attack, and explains why it shouldn't be. The only negative is that the author constantly refers to British pilots and airlines, which may be uncomfortable for the Russian reader. But, as the reviews show, the works of this talented person have helped people from all over the world to cope with their problems.
Another book - "Aerophobia" by Russian author Ershov V. V. - also enjoyspopularity. It tells about humanity, which always aspired to the sky and wanted to fly like birds. But when such an opportunity arose with the development of aviation, people were seized by fear. The author considers domestic issues and the identification of fear of Russian passengers. For aerophobes, this is useful reading, not wasted time. Among all sorts of tools and means of practical solution to questions about how aerophobia is treated, how to get rid of, books are a sure way to switch your mind to a positive wave.
Fly without fear
So, you have been tortured by aerophobia. How to get rid? Treatment is convenient and effective in special courses. They are designed for aerophobes suffering from ailments of varying degrees and etiologies. Alexei Gervash's courses "Fly without fear" are very popular. They are held in the center of the same name, created for the treatment of aerophobia. The founder is Alexei Gervash, a pilot and a psychologist at the same time, who was educated abroad. The course consists of three visits to the center, which include theoretical knowledge, practical skills, case studies of hazardous situations in the air and options for their solutions.
Classes are completed by a fixing flight, after which the project leaders promise almost one hundred percent deliverance from the phobia. The only negative is the high price of the courses. But a person for whom constant flights are a necessity should spend money once and live in peace. The courses are designed for people who want to get rid of a phobia andstrive for it, make efforts. Without willpower and desire, no training, of course, will help. If attending classes at the center is not possible, you can take a special interactive course developed by Gervash. It is issued on a disk, you can order the product in the online store. If you really want to live fully, fight your fears - hard efforts will definitely give a positive result.
