Commercial flying has not been getting good press lately and, as many prepare to jet off on their summer holidays soon, there will be some who have a fear of flying.
Airsafe.com says the fear of flying is a complex psychological issue, one that has been made more complex by the security concerns of the last few years.
The website says it is an anxiety disorder and that such fears can come about during a flight, or even well before a person gets to the airport. Often, the source of the fear has little or nothing to do with the risks associated with the flight. Depending on the person, the fear of flying includes one or more fears or concerns – ranging from fear of turbulence to a fear of heights, closed spaces, loss of control and the fear of dying in a crash.
Last year was a bad one for aviophobes. About 30% of people find air travel anything from faintly disconcerting to unutterably terrifying, as we pore over reports of near-misses and midair collisions, said the Guardian newspaper.
Aviophobia is pervasive and, it would seem, growing; we’re flying more than ever, but that doesn’t mean we like it.
The two Malaysian Airlines disasters were the most spectacular accidents of this year, with the disappearance of flight 370 somewhere over the Indian Ocean still shrouded in mystery, the shooting down of flight 17 both horrifying and tragic.
There are claims and counter-claims about both incidents, with conspiracy theorists asserting that 370 landed safely at an American naval base, or was hit by an errant Chinese missile; others suggest that 17 was downed on orders direct from Moscow, or that its pilots had taken the risky route over Ukraine in an attempt to cut fuel costs.
There were other, less well-documented incidents during the year, from the hijacking of an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Milan in February to the Air Algérie MD-83 that came down over the Sahara in July, apparently ripped apart in midair by a violent sandstorm.
The Guardian added that one of the world’s leading experts on the fear of flying, Professor Robert Bor, a psychologist and pilot, said that the fear of flying had increased since the 9/11 attack, which was the first time people saw a real time commercial air incident.
“It had such impact, and they were such iconic images. We can see in our minds the fact that the people on the planes were alive one second and dead the next. I think that is indelibly set in a large number of our minds.”
This led to heightened anxiety among those already scared of flying.
Overcoming this fear and its underlying anxiety has become a necessity for many and hypnotherapy is one source of help.
The National Council for Hypnotherapy, with 1800 trained therapists on its directory spread across the UK, is well-placed to help aviophobes as hypnotherapy has a good success rate in dealing with stress, anxiety and phobias.
Anxiety is a fear or concern that is exaggerated, and is out of proportion to the situation. A hypnotherapist can help assess the anxiety, identifying the root of stress or anxiety and then work with the aviophobe is setting a goal to be free of this anxiety. They will then work to reach the goal using a range of different techniques. Every therapist may use slightly different techniques.
The sessions will bring about a sense of calmness and confidence giving more clarity of thought – able to make decisions more easily.
People who have experienced side effects of anxiety such as insomnia, find that they are sleeping much better and as a result are able to work more effectively.
If you are scared of flying, make contact with an NCH hypnotherapist near you by using the directory. it will make your life so much better and allow you to enjoy that holiday abroad so much more.