Frequent flyers with fear of flying are often scared to death

Frequent flyers with fear of flying often experience fear of death

04/17/2012

Fear of flying is often the exclusion criterion for any holiday trip to the south. The fear of a possible plane crash, to have no control and to feel completely at the mercy of the situation on the plane, can lead to a real fear of death in those affected. However, those who depend on the aircraft professionally often have no other choice. Where and how those affected get help to overcome their fear of flying, diploma psychologists explain.

Fighting fear of flying through anti-anxiety seminars
Carolin Weidner is a senior executive in a global corporation. She travels by plane at least once a week. Frankfurt - New York is their standard route, sometimes it goes to Asia. Rarely does a flight take less than six hours. During this time, the 31-year-old economist regularly suffers agony, because as many others Carolin Weidner has fear of flying. This manifests itself in her by a strong malaise, tremors and sweats. „In order not to let me show in front of colleagues and supervisors, I regularly took sedatives. Without the medication, I would not have made the flight“, says Weidner. During her childhood, she often flew with the family on vacation. Although she was used to aviation from an early age and has never experienced a dangerous situation on the plane, the symptoms got worse with age. Until she finally could not fly anymore.

In order not to endanger her professional career, Weidner decided at the beginning of the year for a seminar on managing fear of flying - with success! „I've learned various relaxation and relaxation techniques that help me get calmer during the flight“, reports the frequent flyer. It was also very helpful to get accurate information about safety in aircraft and to classify the unknown sounds.

There are numerous agencies that offer flight anxiety management seminars. This includes, for example, the Munich agency „Lyricist-Millott“, which works together with Lufthansa. „Fear of flying service“, „Skycair“ or „Fear of flying coaching“ are agencies that cooperate with airlines such as Condor, Air Berlin and Germanwings. Similar offers are available throughout Germany. As a rule, the seminars take place in groups and last for one or two days. An accompanying short-haul flight can be booked.

Often people are not afraid of flying but of fear
First, sufferers should deal with the feeling of anxiety. „It helps to develop an understanding of one's own anxiety in order to cope with it“, explains psychologist Inga Schlattmann. Often it is not the flies themselves, from which the concerned frighten. Rather, it is the symptoms of anxiety such as palpitations, inner turmoil, sweats and dizziness, which are perceived as threatening. Some people experience a veritable panic attack. Therefore, sufferers must learn that fear is not dangerous. "She is uncomfortable, but not threatening".

At the beginning the seminar instructor shows the participants relaxation and relaxation exercises that can be performed before and during the flight. This also includes progressive muscle relaxation, in which the so-called "muscle armor" are used. The participants briefly tense various muscle parts in order to then consciously relax them again. The relaxation situation is then perceived much more intense.

It can also be helpful to imagine something pleasant, a fantasy scene. This can be practiced in advance and retrieved while flying to relax. In addition, negative thoughts can be replaced by positive ones.

Those affected can study the design and safety of the aircraft
To deal with the fear of flying with knowledge and understanding, experts advise sufferers to study the design and safety of the aircraft accurately. Because it is helpful to know that the wings are not close to breaking because they swing and move. Who is informed, know that the wings are sufficiently elastic, so they just do not break off. It's good to know why a plane can fly at all, how it is equipped and what the training of a pilot involves. This information can be found on the Internet, in books or in seminars on the management of fear of flying.

For example, all major instruments are present two to three times on the plane. „Many sufferers can not correctly classify the sounds when flying. If the machine at the start quieter, they think, for example, immediately to an engine failure“, reports Dieter Schiebel, owner of the agency Flugangst Service. „In reality, however, this is because the landing gear and landing flaps are retracted and the aircraft flies with less air resistance.“

Affected suffer from different fears when flying. On the one hand, they find the tightness in the plane very uncomfortable, but also the fear of height plays a big role. Added to this is the loss of control. Traveling by car or train usually leaves a feeling of residual control, which is not the case when flying. Here sufferers feel completely at the mercy of the situation.

Men with fear of flying are most likely to experience symptoms such as shaking and fast breathing, while women feel a great deal of discomfort and react with cramping. This resulted in a survey of the portal "meeting point fear of flying" from the year 2008. (ag)

Read about anxiety:
66 percent are afraid to forget the phone
More women with fear of crowded rooms
Learned fear of snakes and spiders
Lack of junior staff: Perfection urges fuel anxiety
fear of exams
scared of spiders

Picture: Klaus Serek