Fear of flying is a general term which covers a number of fears.  The most frequent fear in the fearful population is fear of loss of control of the emotions.   Having a panic attack in the air.  Associated with this fear is being embarrassed in the eyes of fellow passengers, loss of bladder control or bowel control.   Some few cases have been reported of tipping the plane over (distorted body image), falling through the floor, letting other passengers know that one has to go the toilet and the most common, fear that turbulence will damage the plane.  Symbolically, turbulence is feared to shake the plane apart.  It is a projection of the basic fear that it will shake the phobic apart.  Only 38% of those fearful of flying  fear that the plane will crash.  The fearful flyers are hypervigilant of the slightest noise or bump as a sign that the plane will crash.  They want complete control of a perfect flight.  In a word, this type of phobic is a perfectionist - the slightest turbulence is remembered as a terrible flight.

Another fear associated with this problem is claustrophobia, it starts with the closing of the door. The catastrophic thought is that the person CAN NOT GET OFF. Thankfully they can’t. This translates to ,"I can’t get off when I want to." Or more accurately stated, "I can’t get off when I get anxious, to escape the feelings."

It is important to note that when flying on a major airline, you are safer than on anything other than an elevator to get from point A to point B. The stairs in your home are 10 times more dangerous than flying. Being in your automobile is at least 266 times more dangerous than flying. The danger is not in the airplane, it is in the mind of the phobic. This is the point most phobics cannot grasp. They fall into the rational trap that if they feel anxiety, something dangerous is about to occur.

Sometimes agoraphobia is a factor. The greater the distance from home, the greater the fear. It is recommended that this fear be overcome before fear of flying treatment is initiated. Another problem is true panic attacks and chronic high levels of anxiety. It is best to treat these problems first, before flying.

The pivot of fear is the "what if" obsessing that goes on in the mind of the fearful flyer. This type of mental activity pumps up the adrenaline faster than anything else the phobic can do. The final coup is blatantly false statements which are common to the phobic’s language such as: I’m going to die! The plane is going to crash! When the flight is over safely, the phobic never accosts the language as a LIE. So language and conditioned emotions are the targets of any fearless flying program. The phobic has to learn that the fear is the enemy, not the plane. The fear is not a protector, it is a thief which robs one’s quality of life. See help on this menu.

The Institute for Psychology of Air Travel