Manage flight anxiety: expert advice to facilitate your fear of flying

• In the past year, there have been more stories of airline accidents.
• Aérophobia, or afraid of flying, can be reinforced with the reading of painful news on theft.
• Two therapists shared advice on how to manage anxiety and fear around theft.

If you are nervous every time you take a flight, reading the news does not help.

On Monday, a Delta plane overturned while landing at Toronto’s main airport, injuring 21 people. The images occur a few weeks after a military helicopter collided with a jet of passenger from American Airlines to DC, killing the 64 people on the two flights.

Those who have airophobia, or the fear of flying, could feel justified in their concerns after reading the stories of the commercial aircraft of the past year, losing doors halfway or stolen through increased turbulence.

“Now they will say:” I was right “,” Tom Bunn, retired airline captain and approved therapist specializing in aviation phobias, told Business Insider.

Prenna Menon, a New York therapist, saw the problem arise a lot in her practice. She said that the symptoms of her customers aggravate as they consume more news on accidents.

Bunn and Menon shared some tips to overcome flying phobias, whether you feel increased discomfort when you land or avoid flying completely.

Where you sit down can help you feel a feeling of control

For many frightening leaflets, the root problem is to feel a lack of control.

Bunn gave an example of a client – a captain of the airline – who felt an anxious day sitting in a central economic seat. “If he was in the cockpit, he would have no problem because he controls,” said Bunn.

Takeoff, landing and bad turbulence can exacerbate this feeling of helplessness, Menon said. The delicate thing is to find a way to treat your feelings at the moment. “Now that the combat or flight response has been activated, and you are confined to a seat, you are not really able to expel this anxiety.”

For anxious passengers, you can choose a seat closer to the front or wing, where you can see outside.

While some experts say that doesn’t make much difference, a flight anxiety coach told Condé Nast Traveler that he recommends to sit at the center of the plane. “Basically speaking, the balance point is above the wings or perhaps slightly forward. This is considered the” best place “by many,” said Paul Tizzard, coach with Lovefly, in The Outlet.

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Do not try to get out of a phobia

For many phobias, treatment involves a certain form of progressive exposure therapy. Airfaper is different because “either you fly or you are not,” said Bunn.

However, you don’t want to force yourself to go on a pile of flights, said Bunn. “Once you are made aware of not controlling and escaping, you are only going to worsen it.”

Instead, he said it was better to start as small as possible, decomposing each part of the flight into pieces of the size of a bite. Takeoff, for example, is not only an event. “The engines increase, and when they do, the ground goes higher,” he said.

He recommends having someone you feel safe, such as a partner or a friend, hold neutral photos of an airplane terminal, a flight in flight and an aircraft landing to change your associations with the images . You can also imagine them by holding the photographs while looking in the eyes, which can have a calming effect.

Menon also said that exposure to more neutral planes images, in particular unlike painful videos on social networks, can help. If your fear of flying is serious, she recommended taking small measures like going with a loved one at an airport.

Engage your senses when you are in the air

Once you are on a flight, your options to calm down are more limited. Some techniques involve engaging your physical senses to move away from rumination.

Bunn suggested using the 54321 earth exercise, in which you identify five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can feel and one thing that you can taste. (Making it in this order makes it more difficult for your brain to quickly pass the steps, he said.)

If you plan to be nervous on a flight, Menon said you can bring a touch activity with you, such as hook, drawing or game with a Fidget toy. “Engaging several senses allows us to anchor our minds and bodies in the present moment,” she said.

Try the breathing tip 4-7-8

It seems simple, but the breathing exercises work to suppress your fears. Conscious breathing “slows down our heart rate and triggers the relaxation response,” said Menon.

Menon recommended the 4-7-8 respiratory scheme, in which you inspire for four seconds, hold for seven and exhale eight.

Bunn accepted. He said he expired longer that you inspire is his tip to calm the nervous system. He added that it may not be a perfect remedy, especially in periods of turbulence.

“When the plane falls, everyone is going to release stress hormones, some more than others,” he said.

To get the most out of this tip, Menon said it was better to do it several times before getting on the plane, as well as when you just sit down.

Look at other stressors in your life

If you have suddenly developed airophobia in adulthood, Bunn said that it could help to look at other stressors in your life, especially those who leave you helpless.

Often, “straws have been put on the back of the camel for years,” he said, making you less tolerant of situations where you feel trapped-as being on a plane.