What is aerophobia
This is one of the most common mental disorders in the world - about 30% of the population is affected to one degree or another. This percentage is absolutely the same in all countries of the world, regardless of local statistics on plane crashes, because aerophobia, like any other phobia, has nothing to do with real risks and dangers. Aerophobia is not about airplanes at all; they only serve as a trigger for panic. Fear is irrational, and there is no more logic in the fear of flying than in the fear of heights, darkness, clowns or mice. If you think it’s normal to be afraid of airplanes because flying is dangerous, you’ve just discovered that you have aerophobia.
Aerophobia - a mental disorder or a consequence of imposed fears
According to statistics, about 30% of people are susceptible to special psychological disorders that cause a fear of flying. The presented data is relevant not only for Russians, but also for residents of other countries, because the phobia has nothing to do with the quality of services provided by transport companies, the likelihood of a plane crash and possible dangers.
Planes and helicopters are just triggers, and fear becomes irrational. Despite the fact that flying is one of the safest ways to travel a distance, and the number of accidents of land and water transport is several times higher than that of air vehicles, many people experience panic attacks long before arriving at the airport.
Why does it occur
The reasons for this irrational fear are an unstable psyche and a lack of trust in the world, increased anxiety, perfectionism, suspiciousness and other psychological problems that have nothing to do with aviation.
Fear of flying is just one of the manifestations of these same problems caused by psychological trauma, stress, lack of emotional closeness with parents in childhood, thinking errors, and so on. By the way, in about half of the cases, the object of fear for an aerophobe is not the plane itself and its possible fall, but his own state on board - fear of a heart attack, loss of self-control and panic attack, associated shame and condemnation. At the same time, with aerophobia - especially in the initial stages - a person does not recognize the problem in himself and tries to find a logical justification for his panic, associating it with “high risks” or “the bad state of affairs in aviation.” Defending its fear, the consciousness finds a counterargument for each argument, passing off the norm as a case, and the case as a norm. This is why aerophobes are not reassured by any reasonable arguments.
The emergence of aerophobia
The development of aerophobia has serious personal reasons. It may not appear for a long time, but after certain life events it makes itself felt. People who are prone to an anxious type of thinking especially need treatment for aerophobia. They are also the most vulnerable to this type of fear. Strong personalities are also susceptible to panic attacks in some cases. In part, this tendency is due to the fear of powerful people of losing control over the situation and trusting other people with their lives, as well as a lack of understanding of the processes and systems that ensure flight safety.
The cause of aerophobia, as a rule, is a global distrust of life. And the trigger can be getting into an emergency situation (on any type of transport), hidden phobias, media influence and much more. Turning points in the lives of each of us can unexpectedly affect our psychological state and radically change our initial views.
How is it treated
Aerophobia has long been well studied and responds well to therapy.
Moreover, in most cases it can be cured in a couple of days. The most effective therapy is complex, it includes three main elements: first, an educational program, during which the laws of aerodynamics, the structure of the aircraft, safety systems and other aviation details are explained to you; secondly, psychological support to help relieve anxiety and understand what you are really afraid of; and thirdly, work on removing the “airplane = fear” reflex, for which they use professional pilot simulators, virtual reality simulators and joint flights accompanied by aerophobia specialists. In Russia, such programs are offered by Aleksey Gervash, an active pilot and aviation psychologist. Here you can take an online or offline course, group or individual therapy. In mild cases, it is enough to watch the video course to get rid of the fear of flying forever.
We know exactly how to get rid of aerophobia!
Irritability before a flight, panic attacks, refusal to travel, obsessive thoughts about a plane crash and searches for any other transport - sound familiar? If so, then most likely you have one of the most common phobias in the modern world - the fear of flying on an airplane (aerophobia). This mental state brings discomfort to a huge number of people in the world. It limits opportunities and deprives you and your loved ones of joy in life. Alexey Gervash’s team is ready to help you get rid of aerophobia once and for all! Our specialist pilots and psychologists will help you find and eliminate the source of panic attacks, and not suppress their manifestation.
Ways that don't work
Instead of undergoing treatment, aerophobes prefer to avoid frightening situations - physically, by refusing to fly, or mentally. Alcohol, tranquilizers, and attempts to “talk out” or “read out” your fear are used. But what we are trying to hide from immediately becomes a mega-dangerous event for the brain, simply because we are trying to evade it. Fear intensifies. The circle closes. Aerophobia is like a mutant cat: the more you feed it, the larger it grows and the more food it requires.
Why are people afraid to fly on an airplane?
Aerophobia (fear of flying) is a psychological disorder that affects about 30–32% of the total population of our planet. Official statistics say that approximately 10% of the world's inhabitants have never flown on an airplane due to aerophobia! People who are afraid of flying spend much more time on the road, as they prefer trains, cars, and buses. They cannot relax abroad, and if a flight is unavoidable, then aerophobes, some time before the appointed date and during the flight, experience such nervous tension and so many negative emotions that their body is forced to recover for a long time after such serious stress.
Why are people afraid to fly on airplanes? Experts say there are eight main reasons.
The first reason is the instinct of self-preservation , which manifests itself on a subconscious level. There is nothing strange in the fact that some people are afraid to fly, because nature did not give us wings and we, unlike birds, have been pedestrians since the beginning of human civilization and for many centuries. Man gained the opportunity to become acquainted with the sky about 100 - 120 years ago, so our biological mechanisms have not yet had time to fully adapt to these fundamental changes.
The second reason is the agonizing wait at the airport , which many aerophobes compare to waiting in line at a dental clinic. The longer a person sits at the airport, where time becomes rubbery and drags on painfully long, the harder it becomes for him to leave the building and board the plane. The thoughts that come to the mind of a person who is afraid of flying while waiting cannot be called positive or pleasant.
Incomprehensible sounds, noises, and strong vibrations are the third cause of aerophobia. Few passengers are well versed in the structure of aircraft and the mechanism of their operation. Therefore, sounds that are quite expected and do not carry any danger are perceived by a person who has a fear of flying as something supernatural, ominous and chilling.
The fourth reason is turbulence . Many people who previously did not experience any negative emotions during flights become aerophobes when they find themselves in a zone of turbulence. They sincerely believe that the plane can fall into an “air pocket” and crash, although this assumption is easily refuted by the elementary laws of physics.
Cynical conversations of other passengers are the fifth reason. Some people are not afraid of anything at all, so during the flight they tell each other terrible jokes, use dark humor, savor the details of a recent plane crash, etc. There is a certain category of people who, seeing that the flight does not bring you any pleasure, and you yourself are experiencing nervous tension, begin to wind you up even more with their colorful stories that no one will reach their destination, since the crash of this plane is It's just a matter of time.
Security measures taken at airports are the sixth reason. For some people, events that are aimed at combating terrorism and are held both at airports and on board an airplane cause panic and remind them that a plane crash is not something ephemeral and mythical, but a very real phenomenon from which no one is immune. These are the people who almost never watch videos that explain basic safety rules.
The seventh reason is general anxiety or the presence of other phobias. People who are afraid of heights, do not want to lose control or be in a confined space are unlikely to feel comfortable while flying. Some individuals know firsthand what it is like to experience fear in the near future. It is these passengers who find it most difficult to relax on board an airplane, because they are constantly in standby mode.
The eighth reason is lack of trust in the crew . More than 10% of passengers who did not like the appearance of the flight attendant, the greeting of the captain, etc., begin to experience negative emotions and panic attacks during the flight.
How to relieve a panic attack
If you're already in trouble, alcohol and sedatives won't help.
Panic is a physiological thing. When you get scared, you automatically take a deep breath: “Ahh!”, and this starts the adrenaline chain. The brain receives an SOS signal! and releases a portion of adrenaline into the blood. The heart begins to beat faster in order to pump this blood through the entire body faster, increasing the reaction rate. The body tenses, ready to jump or fight. In a normal situation, when, say, a maniac is chasing you, the brain immediately receives a release. You punch the maniac in the eye or run away. The danger disappears. You exhale with relief, and the reverse process begins: the person calms down. On the plane, there is no detente. The consciousness distorted by aerophobia continues to signal danger. The brain releases a new portion of adrenaline. And so, round and round, you go into a panic tailspin. To get out of it, you need to run the process in the opposite direction. Close your eyes, lean back in your chair, take a calm and shallow breath, and then slowly exhale through your nose, repeating to yourself syllable by syllable: “Relax.” And really relax, go limp, releasing tension from your legs and arms, stomach and cervical spine. And hold the new breath a little and again try to breathe calmly and shallowly. The exercise must be repeated until the heartbeat calms down. This will not cure aerophobia, but it will help you calm down.
Work on protective behavior
There is another type of avoidance - protective behavior. You get on the plane, don’t cancel the flight, but sit the whole way in terrible tension.
I remember myself when I suffered from aerophobia: instead of calmly reading a book like my wife, I kept looking out the window to see if the engine had caught fire and if the flaps had come off. I did this with such zeal and seriousness that at the end of the flight one could at least expect words of gratitude from the pilot for my vigilance: “Dear passengers, look at Nikolai Perov in seat 18B. It was only thanks to his efforts that we did not fall down and crash into a cloud!”
Did you smile? So, try to relax yourself too, and not stay alert the entire flight.
How to help a person with aerophobia
It is important for friends and relatives of people suffering from aerophobia to understand that what is happening to your companion is not a whim, not stupidity, not coquetry, not a desire to attract attention to oneself or to find an excuse for an extra glass before a flight. It's a disease. Trying to reassure an aerophobe with reasonable arguments is like treating the flu with lectures about how being sick is harmful. Even worse are jokes and banter, which do not relieve panic, but, on the contrary, drive one into complete despair. Yes, for you it looks as if he, with tears in his eyes, admitted that he is afraid, for example, of the table in the kitchen. But if you treat the aerophobe next to you well, never laugh at his fears while you are on the plane.
About 30% of the population are afraid of flying to one degree or another. About 20% experience serious psychological discomfort on board. 10% reach a state of panic, hysteria and horror. 6% end up giving up flying altogether.
The calmer you behave, the better the panicker in the next chair will feel. It’s better to try to distract him from disturbing thoughts - ask him questions about those areas in which this person is well versed. Try watching some exciting movies together. Girls are perfectly turned on by the offer to look through the catalog of duty-free goods and choose a gift for themselves. And for girls in love - an invitation to kiss whenever turbulence occurs: then they will wait for air pockets not with horror, but with a sparkle in their eyes. Tested in practice.
How to get rid of it? Treatment of fear of flying
Most cases of aerophobia go away quickly without resorting to drug treatment. If the anxiety disorder lasts more than six months, and the fear of flying does not subside, despite the efforts made, you should seek help from a psychotherapist. You should consult a specialist if:
- Aerophobia causes constant, intense, incapacitating fear, which turns into panic as the time of the event (flight) approaches;
- A person realizes that fear of an airplane is excessive, groundless, selective and exceeds adequate anxiety in frequency and intensity;
- The person begins to consciously avoid flying by plane, always trying to find and use an alternative, but often time-inefficient, method of transportation.
Today, there are many effective techniques with which you can quickly overcome aerophobia . Successfully used in the treatment of fear of flying on airplanes:
- neurolinguistic programming (NLP) technique,
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT);
- modern methods of hypnotic influence;
- drug therapy.
How is the treatment going?
Anxiolytic drugs are usually not required. To heal the fear of flying, it is enough to talk with a doctor, explain the actual nature of the physiological symptoms and draw up an individual program to overcome/correct/get rid of the fear of flying. The doctor’s task is to provide an accurate, logical explanation for the physical symptoms associated with the phobia. For example, the patient must understand that a rapid heartbeat is not a sign of cardiovascular disease, but the result of an exaggerated reaction to a stressor. It is necessary for the aerophobe to completely get rid of the uncertainty and ambiguity of what is happening to him and have a clear plan for reducing anxiety.
What do you recommend?
How to overcome your fear of airplanes? John Malkovich found an excellent solution to this situation: “I learned a long time ago not to worry about those things that I cannot control. Are you worried that the plane is going to crash? Are you a pilot or something?
Indeed, awareness and acceptance of the fact that there are situations whose outcome does not depend specifically on the individual can significantly reduce anxiety.
Psychologists recommend starting to “prepare” for the flight in advance. It is necessary to perform activities that bring pleasure and joy, without fixating on the continuous calculation of time before the flight. It is useful to do pleasant things: for women - go shopping, for the stronger sex - do something extreme that will help “throw out” the adrenaline. That is, in the hours before a flight, the strength of the emotions experienced should exceed the intensity of the anxiety that is taking place.
It is worth noting that if the emotions experienced from an action, both negative and extremely positive, become strong stressors and “outweigh” the fear of flying on an airplane, the entire body (including the psyche) will be forced to “throw” all available reserves and energy to fight the new significant stressor. It has been established that the “launch” of the first phase of a typical reaction to stress takes up about 90% of the activity of all organs, comes first in the “schedule” of the body’s actions, and sometimes overshadows in importance the satisfaction of vital (primary) needs.
The human psyche is designed in such a way that when an alarming situation is discussed out loud, anxiety and emotional stress are significantly reduced. Therefore, it is important to establish in a calm environment what was the primary cause of anxiety associated with the fear of flying.
Psychologists recommend avoiding watching news about negative incidents not only in the air, but also on other types of transport, which only aggravate the state of stress. A patient diagnosed with aerophobia should not watch television programs that describe the details of plane crashes.
And the easiest way to get rid of the fear of flying on an airplane is to use air transport as often as possible! In the case of aerophobia, the saying is quite appropriate: “We knock out a wedge with a wedge.”
Drug treatment for fear of flying
The prescription of medications for aerophobia should be individual and selective. Medications should be used to restore rapid control of symptoms only for the period until the desired effect from other, less fast-acting methods is absent. Drug therapy may be prescribed to those patients whose condition has not improved after applying other measures. In the case of aerophobia, the following are used: benzodiazepines, antidepressants and anxiolytics.
A bad outcome of aerophobia can be predicted with extremely severe symptoms, such as: fainting, hysterical manifestations, agitation, derealization, suicidal ideation. In this case, the prescription of tranquilizers and antidepressants is completely justified.
What happens if…
...turbulence will begin
Turbulence is the most absurd fear in the world: not a single plane has ever crashed because of it in the entire history of civil aviation. These are just small fluctuations associated with non-uniform air temperatures. The overloads that the plane experiences are much less than those encountered by a car on a rough road. And there are no air pockets at all. The feeling of falling into a hole occurs when the plane loses only a little vertical speed, without losing horizontal speed. It’s just that our vestibular apparatus, not accustomed to sensations in 3D format, perceives this as a sharp fall.
...the engines will fail
It is not the engines that keep the plane in the air, they only create acceleration, and the car flies thanks to the difference in pressure above and below the wing: approximately the same force lifts your hand up if you try to put it out the window of a moving car. If all the engines fail, the plane will not fall down like a stone, but will only begin to slowly descend, sliding along a cushion of air. After all, under the belly is not emptiness at all, but a gas that has a certain density - the higher the speed and the lower the temperature outside, the higher this density. Thanks to its aerodynamic properties, the plane can glide, slowly sliding down the air slide for more than 40 minutes - usually this time is enough to find some airport and land calmly.
...won't graduate
landing gear The plane will land either on a plowed dirt strip or on concrete filled with special foam, slide on its belly for some time and stop.
...the plane gets hit by lightning
This happens all the time and does not lead to any incidents. When designing the aircraft, the possibility of a lightning strike was taken into account; the discharge passes through the aluminum skin and is discharged into the air without causing any damage.
...the wing will fall off
This is impossible. It is completely normal for the wing to vibrate during turbulence and landing. Flexibility is precisely what guarantees that the wing will not fall off - just like a flexible tree will not break in a storm. The wing, like all other parts of the aircraft structure, is designed in such a way that during testing it can withstand loads many times stronger than during a real flight.
...the pilot will fall asleep
Most of the flight is not controlled by people, but by an autopilot. In addition, there are always two pilots. They even eat different foods to eliminate the possibility of simultaneous poisoning.
...the weather will turn bad
Fog, wind, hail, and heavy rain are not considered bad weather. Modern airports are equipped with an automatic landing control system, thanks to which the plane can land even blindly, and pilots constantly undergo special training for flying in adverse conditions. If the weather is too bad, the plane will simply not take off or land at another airport.
How to overcome aerophobia: 5 tips and 4 “star” tricks
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Even though celebrities are called “stars,” many of them don’t want to get too close to the sky. Dutch footballer David Bergkamp earned the nickname “the non-flying Dutchman” due to his fear of flying. Alla Pugacheva travels around the country exclusively in her own train carriage, equipped with a toilet, bathroom, bedroom with a personal servant in addition.
Briton David Bowie, for the sake of his tour of Japan and Russia, accomplished a feat that not even every Russian is capable of: he crossed our vast homeland along the Trans-Siberian Railway. True, not all stars doom themselves to such ordeals, because they have learned to cope with their fear of flying.
hellomazine.com
The actress and her husband buy tickets for different planes. Kate believes that both planes are unlikely to crash, and if something happens to one of them, the children will not be left orphans.
minmote.no
Megan o
deceives fate by listening to the music of Britney Spears on the plane (who, by the way, is also a known aerophobe): “I know for sure that dying while listening to a Britney Spears album is not my destiny,” says the actress.
diariolibre.com
But Enrique Iglesias is not so inventive: before the flight, he simply gets drunk and, having reached his seat, falls asleep.
fanpop.com
The actor is frightened by the situation itself during a flight, when nothing depends on him. This fear forces Colin to constantly listen to the noise of the engine and the negotiations of the crew members during the flight. In an interview, the actor said: “It's a big train flying in the sky, and I hate it! I think this is the most unnatural thing in the world!” In order to finally force himself to board a plane, the actor needs to get really angry.
However, only select aerophobes can afford a private carriage or a leisurely journey across the entire continent, at the end of which fans are patiently waiting. An ordinary aerophobe does not have such opportunities, so he is forced to refuse business trips, while away vacations in the Russian south or shake, legs crossed, in a stuffy bus, collecting pits all over Europe. And if an ideological aerophobe, who is disgusted by the very concept of flying where you can’t even crawl, is still affected by alcohol and sleep during the flight, then with an inveterate aerophobe, with an aerophobe to the core, such things will not work. “My flight was in the evening, but in the morning I began to systematically prepare for it,” says a certain Alexey on a thematic forum. “I drank so much alcohol that they took me to the airport and dragged me by the arms to passport control. But as soon as I was at the gate and saw my plane through the window, all the intoxication blew away like the wind. I instantly sobered up and could barely drag my legs to board the landing, no longer from intoxication, but from fear.” The moral of this story is this: aerophobia, and with it drunkenness, fight!
It's time to take action and not be a pedestrian slave to your fear.
1. First determine the scale of the disaster. Suddenly it turns out that you don’t have a phobia at all, but just anxiety. By the way, it is quite natural: even pilots are nervous before flying, since the sky is an unnatural habitat for humans.
2. Try to drown out anxiety with the voice of reason : “My paratrooper friend helped me cope with my fear of flying,” says Ekaterina. “He just said that planes actually crash very rarely, and that’s why every crash becomes an event.” If there were as many plane crashes as accidents involving cars, no one would report them anymore. But there are a lot of planes in the sky, about the same as cars in one city.”
3. Another effective way is to knock out a wedge with a wedge . “Two years ago, I was very afraid of flying: I squeezed into my seat, tormenting the handle the entire flight, listened to the sounds of the engines, peered into the faces of the flight attendants,” Margarita recalls. – But then I began to travel more: last year, for example, I made about 14 flights to different parts of the planet. When boarding a plane became an everyday ritual for me, like traveling by train, the fear stopped tormenting me. Yes, I still get nervous before takeoff, but throughout the flight I feel almost like I’m on the ground.”
4. But these are all mild cases, not burdened by unpleasant situations, such as those when a mask falls out of the panel above your head, and panic is visible on the face of a hitherto cold-blooded flight attendant. A true phobia cannot be calmed down with exhortations; it needs to be treated.
They say that aerophobia is incurable, but in the company, founded by the pilot Alexey Gervash, they claim that this is not so: you just need to find your own “key” for each cause of the phobia. Such solutions could be detailed lectures about the structure of the aircraft and the mechanism of flight as such, simulator classes, relaxation sessions and skills in working with your thoughts.
5. The most impressive, of course, seem to be literacy classes . Probably because passengers are simply not told everything that pilots know (they know, and therefore are not afraid). For example, the average passenger does not know that not a single plane in the entire history of aviation has ever crashed due to turbulence; does not know that the wing cannot fall off, because the plane has only one wing; Not a single passenger fully understands that the plane was invented as a machine for an unusual situation and everything in it is arranged in such a way as to maintain flight safety. Finally, he does not know that the risk of getting into a plane crash is one in ten million, and in a metropolis a person has a much higher chance of dying. If the average passenger knew all this, perhaps he would be more afraid of riding a bus than flying an airplane.
