Features

Shy flyer

21 Apr 2008 by Mark Caswell

Does the prospect of flying on your next business trip make you uncomfortable, nervous or downright scared? If so you’re not alone – fear of flying is one of the most common phobias. Katharine Cooke suggests some ways to tackle it.

Not everyone enjoys flying – in fact a surprising number of us dread it. Up to one in four people has some anxiety about flying, making it one of the most common fears (known as aerophobia). There are many aspects of travelling high in the atmosphere at 600mph inside a cramped metal tube that tap into our deepest anxieties.

Nicky Lidbetter of the National Phobics Society explains: “Fear of flying is a catch-all term for a raft of phobias, including fear of heights, of being in a strange or artificial environment, of being in a confined space, of travelling to new places, of feeling overwhelming anxiety in front of others and of making a fool of oneself.”

It is not restricted to people who fly rarely or have never flown. Lidbetter says that the biggest category of anxious flyer is “people who experience a panic attack apparently out of the blue while flying, and then go on to fear flying again for fear of experiencing another anxiety attack”. In other words, being a frequent flyer doesn’t make you immune to developing a phobia – so what can you do if it happens to you?

HELPING YOURSELF

If you have to take a flight soon and don’t have time to prepare yourself, it can be tempting to go for a quick-fix option and ask your GP to prescribe an anxiety medication (usually a tranquiliser such as Valium, or a beta blocker). It is important to take such medication according to instructions, and to take the recommended dose.

Karina Lovell, professor of mental health at Manchester University, says it is common for people to self-medicate before flying with sleeping pills or alcohol, but this may cause more problems than it solves. “People might not sleep well the night before so they self-medicate and then do it again just before the flight. Any delays cause real problems because they feel they have to medicate again or ply themselves with alcohol, which means they might not even be allowed on the flight.”
Medication should not be seen as a long-term solution. Lovell says: “If you only fly every couple of years it’s not such a problem, but if you’re a frequent flyer you need to do something about your fear.”

For those with milder anxiety, this need not mean getting expensive professional help. There are plenty of non-medical self-help techniques that can help you manage your fear, although they can take practice to perfect. These include breathing and relaxation techniques that you can use when you start to feel nervous.

Nicky Lidbetter suggests listening to a relaxation CD both before and during a flight. Fact sheets on suitable CDs and other suggestions for managing your anxiety are available at phobics-society.org.uk, along with the book Beat Your Fear of Flying by retired pilot Captain Chris Harrison (£7.95), which contains advice on relaxation and coping strategies.

TALKING IT THROUGH

For those with a more entrenched fear, a course of psychological therapy might be beneficial. There are many different types of therapy but Lidbetter of the National Phobics Society recommends cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which helps you change the way you think about a problem and therefore how you deal with it. Karina Lovell, who has extensive experience in anxiety and phobias, agrees: “CBT is the most researched therapy and has a better evidence base than other psychological techniques.”

Courses typically consist of between five and 20 weekly sessions with a therapist, who will help you to question your negative or upsetting thoughts and eventually replace them with positive and realistic ones. Waiting lists for CBT on the NHS can be long. To find a private therapist near you, visit babcp.com. Bear in mind that the cost of sessions varies hugely, from £30 up to £200. The National Phobics Society offers CBT at reduced rates to its members.

Another professional technique is clinical hypnotherapy, which involves achieving a hypnotic state during which suggestions can be made directly to the unconscious mind. Lidbetter says some of her members have found it helpful, particularly self-hypnosis, in which you learn to put yourself into a state of deep relaxation. It is important to use a registered hypnotherapist (see websites on page 49); this service is not available on the NHS.

TAKING THE WHEEL

For many people, aerophobia is based on a lack of comprehension of what is involved in flying a plane, so one way to address the problem is to increase your understanding. Several airlines run courses which take you through the science involved in jet aviation (see box on page 49); alternatively, if you want a more hands-on approach, Virtual Aviation offers a Fear of Flying course at training centres at London Gatwick, Heathrow and Luton.

Here, you can sit in the cockpit of a full flight-simulator designed to train commercial pilots. The captain and co-pilot will tailor the “flight” to your needs, stopping at any time, repeating manoeuvres that you find nerve-wracking, or demonstrating how they handle turbulence or unexpected situations such as engine failure. The course lasts three hours, including time both before and after the flight to talk through your fears (the timings can be flexible).

After conquering her own fear of flying, course director Susie Stevenson now works closely with others with the same fear. Very few of her customers have never flown before; often, they have had a bad experience, such as a “go around” (where the plane is ready to touch down but unexpectedly takes off again) and this has triggered an anxiety.

This is where the simulator comes into its own. Stevenson says: “We can recreate this [situation] for people so that they can see how controlled it is – it demystifies it for them.” The simulator can provide a storm or turbulence on command and can even conjure a particular airport or route for someone to relive a specific flight.

People are encouraged to call and talk about their fear as often as they need to before visiting the simulator. Virtual Aviation doesn’t have a trained psychologist, but the principles follow those of cognitive behavioural therapy, says Stevenson. “It’s about approaching your fear in incremental steps and changing your thinking and your perceptions.”

Often people have already worked on strategies with a cognitive therapist, but in some cases Stevenson recommends a course of cognitive therapy alongside using the simulator. The course costs £1,280 and is popular with business people, many of whom value the one-to-one attention as they may be reluctant to discuss their fears in a group or admit their problem to colleagues. The course is not proactively advertised and Stevenson warns against buying it as a gift; she prefers people to come to her “when they are ready”.

TOP 10

The top ten reasons people give for their fear of flying, according to Virgin Atlantic…

1 Lack of control
2 Enclosed spaces
3 Turbulence
4 Air pockets
5 Crashing
6 Noises
7 Engine failure
8 Terrorist threat
9 Falling out of the sky
10 Panic attacks

AIRLINE ALTERNATIVES

Several carriers offer courses to help people conquer their anxiety. Details of the main options in the UK are given below…

AVIATOURS/BRITISH AIRWAYS

Aviatours, in partnership with BA, offers a one-day Fly With Confidence course led by working senior BA pilots. Course organiser Celestine Carroll says: “People say ignorance is bliss, but it’s not when it comes to something like fear of flying –
the more information you’ve got the easier it is to deal with.”

The course starts with the pilots explaining aviation from first principles, so that you understand why a plane can fly and a grand piano can’t. A clinical psychologist then tackles fear and how to handle it using cognitive therapy. Carroll says: “It involves training your brain to change the way you think. It’s about understanding how your body reacts to stress and teaching you relaxation and coping strategies.” After a relaxation session, participants are taken on a 45-minute flight during which the pilot talks about the different stages of the flight.

Aviatours offers individual courses for people who prefer one-to-one attention, as well as tailored courses for companies. It can also arrange flights in light aircraft so people can watch what the pilot does.

COST £198 (plus VAT), including refreshments, a relaxation CD and a book.
AVAILABILITY Courses are held throughout the year at nine airports in the UK and Ireland, including London Heathrow, Gatwick, Dublin and Bristol (visit the website for upcoming dates).
CONTACT Call +44 (0)1252 793 250 or visit aviatours.co.uk.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC

Virgin Atlantic also offers a one-day Flying Without Fear course, run by Virgin pilots. Course director Richard Conway sees all levels of fear, ranging from “people who can’t even say the word ‘aircraft’ to those who have to fly all the time and hate it”.
The pilots explain the basics of how a 400-tonne aircraft stays in the sky, what the different noises on board mean, how pilots are trained and how airlines are dealing with terrorism. A safety expert talks about how cabin crew are trained to respond to safety alerts, and psychotherapist David Landau offers techniques to combat fear – these include a session of “interactive mind communication”, a method developed by Landau which uses relaxation, visualisation and neuro-linguistic programming (helping people to change their behaviour by examining how they think and communicate). In the afternoon, participants are taken on a short flight, followed by a discussion session. There is also a flight-only option for £100 (plus VAT) so people can bring a friend for support.

This is a popular course and there may be up to 200 participants on each one, but people are seated in groups of ten, each headed by a cabin-crew trainer. The audience is invited to submit questions at the start of the day to ensure that the course covers everyone’s needs. Feedback from previous participants is available on the website.

COST £199 (plus VAT), including a hot meal and refreshments throughout the day, a CD, a booklet to take on future flights and 2,000 Virgin air miles.
AVAILABILITY Courses are held throughout the year at ten airports including London Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton and Newcastle (visit the website for upcoming dates).
CONTACT Call +44 (0)1423 714 900 or visit flyingwithoutfear.info.

FLYBE

This course, run in conjunction with Flybe, takes place at Exeter airport and lasts about six hours. It covers similar ground to the courses offered by BA and Virgin, beginning with a talk from a Flybe representative about what happens during a flight, as well as pilot training and safety issues. This is followed by a member of the cabin crew describing their role on board.
An aviation doctor covers the psychological aspects of flight phobias, and passengers are escorted on a 30-minute flight to try out their newly acquired techniques for coping with fear. One-to-one discussion is encouraged during the day to allow participants to reveal their particular fears about flying so that the course can be adapted to suit individual needs.

COST From £199 including refreshments.
AVAILABILITY Courses take place on Saturdays according to demand, with group sizes of 25–30 people (check the website for upcoming dates).
CONTACT Call +44 (0)1805 804 888or visit flyingfear.co.uk.

USEFUL WEBSITES

phobics-society.org.uk
fearfreeflying.co.uk
airfraid.com
flyingwithoutfear.com
virtualaviation.co.uk
fearfighter.com
  This is a computer programme self-help tool which offers CBT. You need to visit your GP to gain access to it.
rcpsych.ac.uk
  Offers more information about CBT (you’ll need to search for “cognitive behavioural therapy”).
general-hypnotherapy-register.com ; hypnotherapists.org.uk 
  Both websites offer lists of accredited hypnotherapists.

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