Wikipedia Resources
Fear of flying is a fear of air travel. Commercial
flight has become an important, for many essential, part of life, and yet the seeming
unnaturalness of human flight continues to cause a significant proportion of
the public to feel anxiety before, during, or while thinking about flying—this
despite that driving in an automobile
is statistically many times more dangerous. United States
Department of Transportation. "A Comparison of
Risk" http://hazmat.dot.gov/riskmgmt/riskcompare.htm Accessed
There are many things that cause one to fear flying, including a fear of closed
in spaces (claustrophobia),
such as that of an airplane cabin; a fear of heights (acrophobia);
a feeling of not being in control (since a passenger is not piloting the plane
and can't get out at will); previous traumatizing experiences while in flight;
fear of hijacking
or terrorism;
fear of deep venous
thrombosis; fear of turbulence;
etc. While most people who are afraid of flying but to whom flight is a
convenient way to conduct necessary business manage their fears well enough
that they are able to fly, they may spend considerable time and emotional
energy thinking about the dangers that may befall them during flight.
A few people are nearly incapable, however, of getting on a plane, and must use
cars, trains, buses and ships – all of which are slower and usually less safe
than airplanes – to achieve long distance travel. Some people blame the media
as a major factor behind fear of flying, claiming the media sensationalizes
airline crashes (and the high casualty rate per incident), in comparison to the
perceived scant attention given the massive number of isolated automobile
crashes.
Like many phobias, fear of flying may "generalize" to cause fear of
flight-related situations or stimuli. Many individuals with a strong fear of
flying report anxious symptoms or panic attacks when discussing air travel,
when seeing airplanes overhead, when visiting airports (even when not embarking
on air travel themselves), or when watching television programs or films that
depict air travel.
Some airline and travel companies run courses to help people get over the fear
of flying – for example, Virgin Atlantic's
"Flying Without Fear".
Fear of flying may also be treated by the use of psychoactive medications. For
individuals experiencing anxiety due to a phobia, the standard psychiatric
prescription might be any of a number of different psychoactive medications
such as benzodiazepines
or other relaxant/depressant drugs. Psychiatrists are sometimes reluctant to
prescribe any medication for the treatment of fear of flying due to the need
for patients to medicate irregularly.
Some individuals with fear of flying may self-medicate
with other psychoactive substances—particularly alcohol, which is served in
many commercial airline cabins—in order to deal with their anxiety. Most mental
health professionals would advise against consuming alcohol as a medication
both due to the strong risk of dependency (alcoholism)
and due to the particular physiological effects on the body of air travel. In a
pressurized cabin, the lower-than-normal oxygen content of the air will cause
an alcoholic beverage to have a significantly enhanced effect on the
body--resulting in a perhaps surprising level and rapidity of intoxication from
only one or two drinks.
On the other hand, some professionals believe that if an individual is capable
of controlling his or her drinking—i.e. is not an alcoholic—and
consumes only a small amount at a time, that an alcoholic beverage before or
during a flight may be beneficial as a short-term treatment of the fear of
flying. Most would still advise a more long-term strategy of systematic
desensitization therapy.