Aerophobia – Yes it Exists, and it’s Easily Controllable

Everyone has weaknesses. Psychological fears are what compose a human being’s realm of perception. Let’s face it, phobias do exist and they are completely normal. Many patients suffering from phobias do not admit having them due to social pressures or they may think it would hurt their self-esteem in front of others because many people want excuses with the sole purpose of making fun of others in question.

However, having aerophobia, or the fear of flying, is one of the most rational fears to have existent among the list of phobias generally present in our society. Hiding these fears would only make it worse. Psychologists have come up with various therapies and techniques by which aerophobia patients can overcome their hesitation of stepping aboard a plane.

Aerophobia is surprisingly also the most common phobias present in today’s general community. There are numerous celebrities who have simply gone public with it; Jennifer Aniston and Britney Spears are to name a few. How is it legitimate when aerophobia is declared as plain ‘rational’? Frankly speaking, travelling by air does involve changes in air pressure, especially during landing and take-off. Temperature shifts also have a formidable effect on the comfort of travellers.

The fear of ending up in an air crash is indeed horrific, as the mere imagination would dwell over the idea that air crashes are mostly fatal and the chances of survival in case of an accident are very less. Psychologists treating patients in this regard state that the media has excessively created the hype of global terrorism which induces further fear factor for the masses. On an estimate, 65 million flyers on flights from USA suffer from aerophobia generally. They add that hypnotherapy is the most effective treatment to combat aerophobia.

There are flight attendants who have specialized as well as experienced in dealing with travellers on board feeling uncomfortable on a flight with such symptoms. They have highlighted that anxiety is a major reason, which is easily visible by abnormal respiratory behaviour. The most effective remedy is to breathe in deeply for relaxing the lungs and thus letting the heartbeat go normal. Distraction is another effective means of reducing anxiety, with music, videos and magazines available as entertainment options to let you keep your mind riveted off from being on a plane.