The engines roar, the plane jumps and your body rises without you having to put your belt on and put the table upright. Your mind knows that you are moving far away from the ground at full speed. Under your feet a plastic and metal casing separates you from the abyss. However, if you look at the horizon your eyes tell you that you are at ground level and in your ears no sign of vertigo warns you about the immense altitude that you are. The mind knows that you are suspended in the air, your senses tell you that you are touching the ground. A cognitive conflict that two out of three people solve by loosening their mind: they read a magazine, talk to the neighbor, watch a movie, write on their tablets or take the opportunity to take a nap. They can be distracted and thus, mind and body, fly in unison.
But one person out of three does not get it. In her case, an unexpected companion travels: the feeling of loss of control. The experience of being suspended in the air with nothing to anchor them to the ground is difficult to assume for people who tend to worry, are difficult to trust, are imaginative and like to keep control of situations. That fear can be a slight anxiety that is felt in the mouth of the stomach: before, when flying was less common was more afraid, so there were (and still are) "anti-nausea" sachets in the back of each seat . "Flying is a necessary evil," says Jenny, who travels to the USA every two to three times with that concern. Others have thrown in the towel and have given up flying; Is the case of John, one of those brave cops that catches the bad guys in his daily life, but when he gets on a plane, his aplomb comes down, starts to tremble, hyperventilates, has tachycardia, tightens all body muscles, Feels trapped and with a compulsive desire to get out of there and really believes that he will die at that moment. To different degrees, Jenny and John suffer from airphobia or aviophobia, that is, fear of flying by plane.
Fear can be felt throughout the flight, activated at takeoff or landing, propelled you to escape when there is turbulence or lead you to imagine an air disaster event if you travel alone. What characterizes the phobia to fly is selective attention, which makes your senses focus only on the small details perceived as negative: a strange engine sound, the suspicious face of a passenger (now the fear of flying must be added The suspicion of terrorist acts), the vibration of the cabin or an "unusual" gesture of the crew. Laura, to overcome her phobia, verified the calm expressions of the flight attendants. One day these were late, her horror grew so much that she invented a pregnancy so that they would come to calm her quickly. When he arrived on the mainland, he decided to take a course to overcome the phobia. He did not know how to explain to his family why half of the passage wished him a happy birth! Fear can focus on having an accident, but also having an anxiety crisis in flight or making a fool of yourself if you can not calm down.
The numbers say flying is not dangerous, the IATA (International Air Transport Association) shows that the safety of airplanes in the last sixty years has increased and continues to improve. The chances of having an accident are tiny. There is more risk of lightning (1 probability over 10.5 million) than of having an air accident (1 probability over 29 million). Overcoming the fear of flying is possible, just that when you board the plane do not give all your energy to the only thing you do not have to put in the suitcase: fear. You can do the anti-phobia course in an airline and inform you about the technical aspects of the aircraft or go to a professional, virtual reality helps a lot now in therapy, but while you decide, let us make some suggestions.
Facing the fear of flying
Learn to breathe. When we are afraid the breathing is disturbed. If you change it, you change your emotion. Inhale from the abdomen paying close attention to the exhalation that must be very slow.
Mental trip. Make an imaginary essay on your trip before leaving. Get in the airport quiet, get on the plane and take off. If you get nervous, breathe. Do it until you have become accustomed to managing your fear.
Imagine a happy ending. Aerophobia visualizes catastrophes. Change the script. Contain the plate in the destination happy and relaxed enjoying your leisure or doing a big business.
And during the flight:
Just relax. With your positive image in your head, take a trip inside your body, close your eyes, feel your breath, walk your body from head to toe, stopping to breathe in the most tense parts. Then, complete the same operation but in the opposite direction: from head to toe. Repeat your inner journey two or three times, we take off!
Credits: ISABEL SERRANO ROSA / JESÚS MARÍA PRADA
As one Goon comedian writer, Spike Milligan once said: "It's not the fear of flying, it's the fear of crashing".
I experienced my first time flight a few months ago, I was pretty anxious at first but slowly learned to enjoy the flight.:D