I Am Sh*t Scared Of Flying
Fear of flying, or aviophobia as it’s known by smart arses the world over, affects millions of individuals – according to one survey 50% of adults experience some sort of anxiety or fear when they fly. The stats help a little bit – for example flying is second only to elevator travel in terms of safety (1 in 11 million chance of a fatality) and you can get to Malaga a lot quicker on a plane. But with so many stag and honeymoon destinations requiring a flight of some kind to get there it’s something that might be weighing on your mind prior to the big day so we thought we’d look at how to beat the fear and, maybe even, enjoy flying.
Why, with this bevy of lovelies on board, what man could be anxious!
Why are you scared of flying?
Despite the impression that the average Briton is endlessly zipping from A-Z worldwide every other Sunday, it’s simply not the case. Lots of people have still yet to fly, and many more are unsurprisingly unnerved by finding themselves 25,000 feet above the sea in a tin can, with only a tiny, overpriced can of Stella for comfort.
Fear of flying can stem from any number of things in a person’s background, but it’s principally linked to four main fears:
- lack of control
- vertigo
- motion sickness
- claustrophobia
The main point to bear in mind is that all of these are actually pretty reasonable reactions to the experience of flying, but the key point is in accepting you have one of these fears, dealing with it head on and not letting your reaction result in an unreasonable response – e.g. a refusal to fly.
Before the Flight
The weeks in advance of a trip might seem arduous. You might suddenly notice the skies seem a lot busier, and that aircraft seem closer than they should be, and if you’re particularly unlucky, the soap your other half watches will feature some sort of ridiculous flight nightmare storyline.
On the day of the flight, ensure you’re packed and set with your passport, tickets/print out and currency in advance. If you’re anxious, stepping on an aircraft is likely enough without the associated stress of travelling, so plan well in advance and make it nice and calm. Often, you’ll find the slow service at WH Smiths or the weirdly overpriced Burger King (what’s with that anyway?), act as cover for your actual fear of stepping on a plane.
It’s possible that your travelling party – be they your new wife or a bunch of mates – aren’t aware of your fear. It’s a pretty common affliction though, and if you think you’ll get a sympathetic response it’s for the best if you let them know in advance, as not only can your co-travellers help you through it, but it’ll explain why you might be a bit more intense than usual and not, say, miserable about being married.
Knocking back a sleeping tablet before the departure is also an option – you should make an appointment with your GP to discuss your fears and appropriate pharmaceutical responses well in advance. Be aware though that if you take a sleeping tablet before a stag-do flight then you’re effectively delivering yourself to the stags on a silver plate. If you suffer from motion sickness now is the time to pop the medicine your GP prescribed. Once that kicks in you’ll be fine.
Avoid drinking coffee, Red Bull or any other substance likely to make your pupils dilate – over awareness will only make your fear and anxieties much more prominent and frightening.
Seen this, Ryanair? There's no £1 usage charge when the sky is your toilet.
Taking Off
Once you’re seated and the cabin door has closed shut, you’ve really done most of the hard work. Your anxieties haven’t kept you from flying and that’s an achievement in itself. It sounds trite but keep calm. Keep your breathing calm and measured and if it helps you keep distracted with music or a magazine.
If squeezing into your tiny airline seat is what kick starts your claustrophobia then try booking in advance to get the seats next to the plane doors (or bagsy the aisle seat) which will allow you extra leg room. Alternatively, just reassure yourself that everyone feels the same, keep calm and wait until you can get out of your seat to stretch your legs.
Watching the safety demonstration is a difficult part – on one hand, it’s immensely reassuring to know just what to do in the extremely unlikely case of an emergency, but at the same time, the airline are illustrating the possibility of disaster. Don’t ignore it though – keep breathing and relaxing. Monitor your own body for signs of tension – are your shoulders tensing? Then take a deep breath and move yourself back into a state of relaxation.
There’s a compendium of useful relaxation techniques here – a good tip is to try them out before you get on the plane so you know that you’ve got some resources to help you cope.
Up In The Air
Congratulations! You can officially Lord it over a pigeon, finally. From here on in, it’s time to relax, settle into those peanuts, order yourself a congratulatory tipple and pat yourself on the back. But it’d be wrong of us not to bring up the elephant in the corner of the aircraft – it’s an elephant we call turbulence.
Turbulence, the term for when an aircraft dips and judders through the atmosphere, feels much more serious than it actually is. Commercial airlines prefer to fly ‘straight and narrow’ (which is good news) and there’s no rule that suggests aircraft have to fly perfectly straight and at a consistent altitude.
90% of airline injuries emerge from unfastened seatbelts during turbulent moments, so as long as you remain secure, you’ll be perfectly fine. Of course, the pilot will switch on the seatbelts indicator if things get particularly bumpy, but you might like to leave yours loosely fastened for the duration anyway.
To combat turbulence fears – when you are on your way to the airport shut your eyes (not if you’re driving obviously) and notice that you experience “turbulence” in the car every single time you travel. Why aren’t you scared of that? Because you’re more used to it than you are with air turbulence. What’s incredible is that for the vast majority of a plane flight you experience a silky smooth passage through the skies, which just serves to make the turbulence you do experience more noticeable – truly this is the future of transport!
Another sometimes uncomfortable experience is the feeling of differences in air pressure which can cause some pain and discomfort (especially to ears) as your puny body adjusts to the environment. Have a Werthers Original to suck on, close your eyes, and think of Des Lynam. Lynam cures all.
Lynam + Werthers = normalised atmospheric pressure.
Landing
This can sometimes be a bit panicky because of the changes in air pressure (Werthers and Lynam again) and because you return to your cramped seat.
There are also a lot of noises at this point in the flight as the landing gear is deployed. However, the key at this phase is to focus on the excitement – you’ve done the flight and you are now about to have a fantastic time on your stag-do or honeymoon.
Set that excitement and anticipation as the top thing in your mind, take your seat and focus again on your breathing. Don’t forget to cheer when you’re wheels down and kiss the tarmac at the airport – you know you want to.
In Conclusion
If you feel your fears can’t be beaten by googling the issue away then it might be best to speak to your GP and get him to refer you to a counsellor or therapist.
Alternative therapies such as hypnotherapy and NLP also have a great success record in dealing with phobias.
Most airports also run fear of flying courses which can be a brilliant way to beat your fear.
There’s also a great free audio guide to download and help you through the experience at www.fearofflyinghelp.com. There’s also a free forum to swap and read other people’s advice.
Bon voyage.
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Fab article – having flown quite often and having a mother who has a chronic fear of flying my advice is a ‘drowsy’ antihistamine and one (ONE) gin and tonic to ease any niggles. Alternatively, on long haul journeys check out the in flight movie selection before hand. Nothing distracts you more than a decent run of comedy and/or gunshot wounds.
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