The Three Pillars of Fear of Flying Courses
Fear of flying courses are generally broken down into three segments: education, relaxation and exposure. I am what I would call a very mild aviaphobiac; in other words, I have a marginal fear of flying. A fear of flying is actually the only thing that really bothers me on a fairly regular basis, I guess you could say I am lucky. However, because of this I am always on the look out for information on aviaphobia. Here’s something I recently found in the USA WEEKEND Magazine:
Ever wonder why airport bars open early in the morning? At least one in eight Americans is afraid to fly, and the most common “treatment” for pre-flight anxiety is alcohol. But the best medicine for nervous fliers doesn’t come in liquid form. It’s a three-part therapy cocktail made up of education, relaxation and gradual exposure to air travel.
The keys are education, relaxation and exposure.“People have stylistic variations on that,” says William Scott, a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at the College of Wooster in Ohio. “But they can’t get anywhere without those basic components.”
Education includes understanding safety issues, such as that more people are killed on U.S. highways every three months than have died in commercial airplane accidents in the past 60 years — worldwide.
Relaxation methods range from meditation to medication. Some combine anti-anxiety drugs like Paxil or Xanax with techniques like deep breathing and positive thinking; others skip the drugs.
Technology has made exposure faster and less costly. First came video simulators, which brought the flying experience to the controlled setting of a doctor’s office. Then a company called Virtually Better developed virtual-reality therapy, which is now offered in dozens of offices nationwide. Patients sit in airplane-style chairs and wear virtual-reality masks while therapists run tailor-made programs that reproduce the sights, sounds and motions of air travel. “It’s like an IMAX theater,” says Mark Frazier, a clinical psychologist at Virtual Therapy Associates in Miami. And it’s very effective: Most patients can expect to overcome their phobia in about eight sessions, he says.
Share your experience with us if you’ve tried a virtual-reality therapy fear of flying course,
Steve
4 years ago • 0 notes