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Phobia of flying and Planes

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dobsd	Phobia of flying and Planes	Lead	[-]
Posts: 1 (12/30/09 04:57:21) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Hi all, I just came across this site and thought I might get some advice.... I am a 22 yr old female with a dibilitating fear of flying. I have been flying all my life, then when I was 13, completely out of the blue I had a panic attack on take-off. Got up out of my seat and tried to run for the door.... Rather embarrassing! Since then it has just got worse and worse. I can force myself to fly, which I have done 3 times since 2004, but I basically have to make myself come to terms with dying to actually get on the plane..... The last time I flew was in May 2009. My doctor gave me Diazepam and Propranolol, which didn't work as I still had panic attacks on both inbound and outbound flights. For weeks before I fly I can't breathe with the thought of it. I constantly have nightmares about plane crashes (at least twice a week). Even if a plane flies over (which they regualrly do as I live in Manchester, UK) I start to panic and have to close my eyes and cover my ears, even if I'm stood in the street!! I have researched most commercial planes too. I know everything you can possibly find online about them. I know what every noise is, every wobble etc... But still i'm too scared. I'm really at my wits end with this and I just don't know what to do.... I don't want it to get to the point where I can't step foot on a plane and I'm stuck in the UK forever. I just don't know how to make it better because as it is now, it's just getting worse and worse. Has anybody else had it this bad? If so, what have you been able to do about it? Thanks for your help...
dobsd		#1	[-]
Posts: 3 (12/30/09 05:36:15) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Also, I will add that I have some morbid curiosity with planes too. A few times I have been to the Aviation Viewing Park at Manchester Airport and each time I panic and hate it, but I can't stop myself looking. Same with the news... If there has been a crach, I will seek out all of the news stories I possibly can. I look for pictures of it too and I have no idea why because it just scares me even more!! Does anybody else do this, or am I just weird?! :P
Capt Tom Bunn MSW LCSW		#2	[-]
Posts: 2793 (12/30/09 08:54:19) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	This may be difficult to understand, but let me try. This may be an embarrassment, but unless you understand what is going on, you have no chance to remedy it. Medication is not effective. Since it dulls the mind, it makes it impossible to distinguish what you fear from what is actually happening. What is needed is automatic control of feelings. We are born with half of the emotion regulation system in place, the half that revs us up. The half that calms us down does not exist at birth. By eighteen months a part of the brain develops that can let the child calm itself. The child memorizes the steps caregivers use to provide calming. If the steps are highly effective, the child can calm itself independently using the steps memorized. Obviously, caregivers - regardless of how much they care - vary in their ability to tune in the child and assure the child effectively. As a result, few of us get an optimal ability to calm ourselves. Since we can't control feelings inside, we try to change what happens around us. We hope nothing happens to upset us. Then, when we become teenagers, we discover things happen physically with our bodies that we can't control. We start having panic because control, the thing we counted on, is not working. If we can't control things, we want to escape. But we can't escape our own body where panic is going on. That changes everything. We can't do things we used to be able to do because we might panic. The feelings you are troubled by are caused by stress hormones, mainly adrenalin and cortisol. They rev you up. When you get too many "hits" of these stress hormones from too many thoughts, worries, concerns, etc., you get high anxiety or panic. Fortunately, there is a way to control feelings. We prevent the release of adrenalin and cortisol by causing the release of oxytocin. We cause the release of oxytocin by linking each thing that happens on a flight, and each thing you worry about, to the memory of a moment that causes oxytocin to be released. Oxytocin shuts down the amygdala, the part of the brain that triggers the release of the hormones that cause fear. Once the links are established between an oxytocin-producing moment and troublesome moments of flight, high anxiety and panic are automatically controlled. This is an advanced way of controlling the feelings, and it was not possible to do this until research using brain scan technology showed us how the brain works. To establish the links, a person follows step-by-step the linking sequences shown on video available at http://www.fearofflying.com/relief Once it is set up, you will fly (no matter how doubtful you are) like everyone else does. When you fly, you will be totally amazed and wonder what happened to the feelings. Enroll in Complete Relief. View the videos online, or download them. (We can also send you DVDs while you are using the online viewing.) There are forty video clips. When you get to clip number nine, call me so I can make sure that the way you are doing the exercise that establishes automatic control is set up just right. The details are important. Please go to: www.fearofflying.com/relief/ and sign up. That WILL give you what you are looking for. Most people doubt anything will work, but this does, as you can see from the thousands of comments on the message board.
dobsd		#3	[-]
Posts: 4 (12/30/09 09:20:27) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks for getting back to me with such a concise answer. I will definately give it a go. I'm willing to try anything, I don't want to be stuck in England forever! Failing that I'll just book myself onto a flight to Australia and take the bull by the horns! :-)
Capt Tom Bunn MSW LCSW		#4	[-]
Posts: 2795 (12/30/09 15:56:48) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	You will be amazed at the results when you fly! No one ever thinks, even as they are going through the program, that the flying will become as easy as it does.
Capn Steve		#5	[-]
Posts: 642 (01/02/10 16:37:46) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hi dobsd -- Actually, I can think of worse places to be stuck forever than England. (I am a retired American Airlines pilot, who used to fly to England once a week. And thoroughly loved it.) But seriously -- SOAR has helped many people, including those who thought they were the ONLY ones who "couldn't be helped." Best to you. You can do this. Cheers. Steve
dobsd		#6	[-]
Posts: 5 (01/03/10 10:36:10) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I suppose I can think of worse places to be stuck for life too, but I guess the prospect of being stuck anywhere for life is pretty depressing! I will definately try the SOAR programme. I have also just booked in to see a hypnotherapist. No idea if it will work though. The final straw came yesterday when a 747 flew over pretty low and I actually screamed. Definately need to get this sorted now!! Thanks for your replies :-)
Capt Tom Bunn MSW LCSW		#7	[-]
Posts: 2799 (01/03/10 12:53:27) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'm trained in hypnotherapy. So was Captain Cumming who was the first person to do fear of flying programs. Hypnotism is "hit or miss". Not reliable.

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Note from Capt. Tom

I know everyone worries about weather, but pilots really do not worry about it. We simply - instead of worrying about it - completely prepare for it. Before going to the plane, we review the weather at the destination. If it is not 100% sure to be within legal limits when we arrive at the destination, we must specify an alternate airport in our planning documents, and load on plenty of fuel for going to the destination airport, and then if need be, diverting to the alternate airport.

The legal limits are conservative. Even when weather is slightly outside the legal limits, any airline pilot could still land safely. You can rely on the captain never to land when the weather is not legal, and legality limits are reached prior to safety limits.

If you are still anxious, call me and we can talk it over. I'm at 877 332-7359 from 10 AM until 7 PM Eastern time.

For effective help, even if you are flying in a day or two, sign up now at www.fearofflying.com/fasttrack and call me when you finish Clip 9 so I can make sure you are all set.

Using Weather Information

If you enter your ZIP Code or City at the top of the weather presentation, it will give you weather for your area. Or, you can enter your destination ZIP Code or City.

Click on the "LOCAL RADAR" button to see whether or not there are thunder-
storms. Keep in mind, however, that we can either fly above the storms when cruising or fly through gaps between storms. During landing, we cannot fly above them, but fly through gaps, or through the area of the storms where the turbulence is least.

Turbulence, though it may cause anxiety, does not mean anything is wrong. Turbulence does not mean danger. The plane can handle far more turbulence than Mother Nature can dish out.

Though flying in turbulence is safe, it doesn't feel safe. And here is where the SOAR programs come in. We can help you feel as safe when you fly as you actually are.

You can see these programs at www.fearofflying.com/store.

For questions on aviation or the psychology of aerophobia, click here to e-mail Capt. Tom Bunn, MSW, LCSW.

To contact the SOAR business office (media contacts, brochures, replacement tapes, billing, shipping), click here to e-mail Lisa Hauptner, MS.