It is quite surprising just how many people have a deep rooted fear of flying.
Personally I am one of the lucky ones and I am pretty comfortable on board a plane and always have been.
That makes it all that much harder to properly understand those who have a flying phobia, and why.
Some people seem to develop their fear from nowhere, quite suddenly.
Sometimes this can be linked to an actual experience that they have been through that unnerved them.
Take for example a friend of mine who used to be fine with flying, until one day he had a bad incident and that was enough to put him off almost for life.
The highest points of risk during any flight are the take off and landing.
The bit in between, (the journey itself), is usually quite uneventful apart from the odd spiral of warm air in summer that can make things a little bumpy.
But to get back to my friend, his fear of flying stemmed from a bad landing.
The flight itself was quite unremarkable, but when the plane came to land, a really fierce cross wind had developed over the landing runway.
The wind was so fierce that the pilot abandoned the landing twice, just a few feet above the runway with the plane being blown every which way.
When the pilot finally did put the plane down it was one of those kangaroo landings, I'm sure you know the type I mean.
That was enough for him to develop a healthy fear of flying that is still with him to this day.
Sometimes however, he has no choice, (business trips etc) so he usually has himself a couple of large bourbons beforehand for a bit of Dutch courage.
A fear of flying and a flying phobia are one and the same thing.
A phobia is sometimes described as being an irrational fear.
However, a fear of flying is made up of both the rational and the irrational.
From time to time we all hear of a plane crashing with loss of lives and it is rational to fear that happening to you.
It is quite irrational though in as much it is many, many times more dangerous to go out walking around the city, or to go driving our cars than it is to fly in a plane; people know this of course, but it still doesn't quell that irrational fear.
A fear of flying can be quite severe.
I once saw a young child go berserk on a plane.
I'd actually watched him in the departure lounge prior to boarding when his parents had tried to soothe away the fear.
They managed to get him on board, but once the plane started to taxi, he just broke down.
In the end, he and his parents had to be taken off with their luggage.
Just how the child's flying phobia had developed is anybody's guess, but he was absolutely terrified, I can assure you of that.
Heightened security checks, the one time presence of air marshals; these thing can work both ways.
On the one hand they can serve to alleviate fear because of the fact that things are being checked so much more carefully.
But they also serve as a reminder that there are some pretty scary people about there who would do us harm if they could.
Whether you enjoy flying or fear it, is a very personal thing.
But one thing is for sure.
It will take you so much longer to get anywhere far away without jumping on board a plane.
There is help available, either an expensive professional, individually or in group sessions.
The internet has many therapy courses, some excellent some not quite so good; but which ever route you take, do it now and start to enjoy flying.
Personally I am one of the lucky ones and I am pretty comfortable on board a plane and always have been.
That makes it all that much harder to properly understand those who have a flying phobia, and why.
Some people seem to develop their fear from nowhere, quite suddenly.
Sometimes this can be linked to an actual experience that they have been through that unnerved them.
Take for example a friend of mine who used to be fine with flying, until one day he had a bad incident and that was enough to put him off almost for life.
The highest points of risk during any flight are the take off and landing.
The bit in between, (the journey itself), is usually quite uneventful apart from the odd spiral of warm air in summer that can make things a little bumpy.
But to get back to my friend, his fear of flying stemmed from a bad landing.
The flight itself was quite unremarkable, but when the plane came to land, a really fierce cross wind had developed over the landing runway.
The wind was so fierce that the pilot abandoned the landing twice, just a few feet above the runway with the plane being blown every which way.
When the pilot finally did put the plane down it was one of those kangaroo landings, I'm sure you know the type I mean.
That was enough for him to develop a healthy fear of flying that is still with him to this day.
Sometimes however, he has no choice, (business trips etc) so he usually has himself a couple of large bourbons beforehand for a bit of Dutch courage.
A fear of flying and a flying phobia are one and the same thing.
A phobia is sometimes described as being an irrational fear.
However, a fear of flying is made up of both the rational and the irrational.
From time to time we all hear of a plane crashing with loss of lives and it is rational to fear that happening to you.
It is quite irrational though in as much it is many, many times more dangerous to go out walking around the city, or to go driving our cars than it is to fly in a plane; people know this of course, but it still doesn't quell that irrational fear.
A fear of flying can be quite severe.
I once saw a young child go berserk on a plane.
I'd actually watched him in the departure lounge prior to boarding when his parents had tried to soothe away the fear.
They managed to get him on board, but once the plane started to taxi, he just broke down.
In the end, he and his parents had to be taken off with their luggage.
Just how the child's flying phobia had developed is anybody's guess, but he was absolutely terrified, I can assure you of that.
Heightened security checks, the one time presence of air marshals; these thing can work both ways.
On the one hand they can serve to alleviate fear because of the fact that things are being checked so much more carefully.
But they also serve as a reminder that there are some pretty scary people about there who would do us harm if they could.
Whether you enjoy flying or fear it, is a very personal thing.
But one thing is for sure.
It will take you so much longer to get anywhere far away without jumping on board a plane.
There is help available, either an expensive professional, individually or in group sessions.
The internet has many therapy courses, some excellent some not quite so good; but which ever route you take, do it now and start to enjoy flying.
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