How do we get rid of the fear of airplanes?
Many people use airplanes as a means of transportation when they want to reach vacation destinations or have work duties. But the accessibility of this means of transport has also revealed that very many people — more than 20% of travelers — experience feelings of panic when preparing for travel, taking off, in-flight, or landing.
Most people who suffer from aerophobia are not actually afraid of the plane crashing but of turbulence or other unpleasantness that might occur during the flight. The anticipation of flying, or even just the thought of flying, is often as distressing to these people as actually being on the plane.
Aerophobia can be accompanied by other phobias
Aerophobia appears to be most common in people between the ages of 17 and 34. This is a time in life when significant changes occur, such as completing some form of education, getting married, or having a child. People can be scared that flying puts their lives at risk at such an important time. It is also possible for a person to fly without anxiety for years and then develop aerophobia.
Other phobias can also make aerophobia worse.
acrophobia (fear of heights);
agoraphobia (fear of leaving the house or not being able to escape from a place or ask for help if something goes wrong);
anthropophobia (fear of people);
claustrophobia (fear of crowded, closed spaces);
mysophobia (germophobia or fear of microbes).
Psychotherapy is helpful to treat the fear of flying
The fear can be overcome most of the time with the help of a specialist. It helps the affected person become aware of the problem and overcome it gradually with small steps, such as through breathing and relaxation techniques, which aim to develop self-control.
When the fear of airplanes is also associated with the fear of closed spaces, simulators are used in psychotherapy techniques. There is a fake airplane cabin and a computer simulator that reproduces the movements of the aircraft and helps the patient better understand the phenomenon produced and thus overcome this complex. Once he has seen that nothing bad can happen to him, the patient accepts and understands the fear better and can move forward with therapy. Such simulators also exist in Bucharest, for example, at the National Institute of Aeronautical Medicine.
The fear of airplanes usually disappears when the person experiencing this problem is properly informed about flight maneuvers, how airplanes work and how they are built. Once they know in detail what happens at altitude, the affected person can more easily overcome this phobia.
Bibliography:
Cleveland Clinic — Aerophobia (Fear of Flying)
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22431-aerophobia-fear-of-flying
Science Direct — Flying Phobia
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/flying-phobia
