Fear of Flying
Fear of flying is extremely common. Hypnotherapy to help you with this works by training your mind to remain calm, and also by enabling you to question the assumptions you have about flying, and to think about these more realistically. To use hypnotherapy to help you to overcome your fear of flying, it is important to understand the different reasons people are scared of flying, and to know exactly what it is about flying that you fear. Fear of flying is not usually a fear of a plane flying, and is often more accurately any one, or a combination, of the following:-
fear of loss of personal freedom when flying; fear of heights; fear of being over water; fear of being told what to do; fear of accidents; fear of crowds; fear of being in an enclosed space; fear of feeling sick or vomiting; fear of embarrassment about the way you behave on a flight because of your fear of flying; lack of understanding and knowledge about the activities which make up a normal flight; a feeling of helplessness; a fear of not being in control; fear of being close to strangers; fear of germs on the plane; fear of death.
Being scared of flying is not a rational response; it doesn’t come about because you have weighed up what is safe about flying and what the dangers are; the vast majority of individuals are aware that flying is statistically much, much safer than any other form of transport. Every day we ignore hundreds of things which are statistically a thousand – if not a hundred thousand – times more dangerous than flying; but this knowledge does not stop the very real feelings of stress and anxiety which arise when you contemplate flying, or your holiday is approaching, or you’re waiting at the airport. One of the reasons for this is that we do not fly frequently enough for it to become a “normal” activity. When we hear of a car accident, someone hurting themselves tripping on a paving stone, or burning or cutting themselves when cooking, the chances are that very soon after that we will be in a car again, or will be walking down the street, or in the kitchen. These activities are then carried out without incident and our most recent memories of being in a car, going for a walk, or being in the kitchen are therefore of normal, everyday, uneventful experiences. However, when we hear of something going wrong on a plane, for most people it is unlikely that we will fly again for at least several months, if not longer. We don’t have the experience of flying as something we do frequently, without anything bad happening. Instead our most recent memory associated with flying will be of an incredibly rare accident – so very rare that it gets mentioned on the news! It is not that travelling by car – for example – is safer; it is just that car (and other) accidents are so much more common that if THEY were mentioned on the news the bulletins would fill the whole schedule, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But because we travel in cars and do other every day things all the time, they seem like a very ordinary experience to us and we are therefore able to filter out the stories we hear about the dangers of driving or walking or being in the kitchen, because we have lots of experience of those things being safe and uneventful. We are less able to use that filter when it relates to something which we see as unusual and which we don’t have lots of experience of. Hypnotherapy can help you understand your fear and accept that flying is not, despite your gut reaction to it, dangerous; it helps you to understand why you react to it with fear and to understand why this is an inaccurate understanding. Hypnosis helps you replace your current understanding with a more rational, positive and realistic interpretation. It allows you to enjoy the build up to your holiday, feeling excitement rather than fear.
For some people they simply decide that flying is too risky and that they will just avoid air travel. This has a negative impact on relationships with both family and friends. For others, despite an excessive fear, flying is not something they can avoid as they need to travel long distances for work. Anxiety is meant to work by warning you of threats and danger; but in the context of anxiety about flying, it simply makes no sense. Rather than helping you to avoid something which is dangerous – and it simply is a statistical fact that flying isn’t dangerous and IS absolutely the safest way you can travel – your fear simply stops you from doing pleasant, enjoyable things – flying abroad, for holidays or to see friends or family who live overseas. If you really have to fly – for work related reasons for example – and it is unavoidable, your anxiety and fear of flying make it unpleasant and stressful. You have learnt the habit of feeling anxious when you think about flying; the whole subject of flying causes you stress. Hypnotherapy helps you to unlearn this habit and to associate the thought of flying with thoughts of enjoyment and relaxation rather than stress and anxiety.
Hypnotherapy and hypnosis work by enabling you to learn to switch off the habitual anxiety you feel. It is a physiological fact that it’s impossible to be relaxed and anxious at the same time – just as you can’t be hungry and full, or awake and asleep . Hypnotherapy has a number of techniques which enable you to quickly and successfully “switch off” your feelings of anxiety and stress. This deals with the irrational part of your fear . For many people this is sufficient to enable them to fly without fear and anxiety. If you still question how comfortable and relaxed you will be able to feel on your flight, you will then be encouraged to question your assumptions about the particular aspects of flying that you fear, using cognitive behavioural therapy techniques. Specific suggestions about any aspects of your phobia which remain can then be made to you whilst you are in hypnosis, helping you to overcome your fear.
