How do I get over my fear of flying?

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: ironwing
Before you flight go to the convenience store and buy one of them big pickles in a bag. As the plane takes off and you feel the fear build, take your pickle out of your pocket and squeeze it. Watch the juice move from one of the bag to the other. Then squeeze the other end of your pickle and watch the juice flow back. Repeat until the fear passes.

The problem with this is, the poor guy trapped next to him won't be able to sleep after witnessing this...i'd be like wtf if some creeper pulled out a bagged pickle and started playing with it in the seat next to me. ugh.

 

[Muse]

Easiest way is to just get over your fear of dieing. If you have some unresolved conflict, some unfinished business you have been refusing to face up to, well, get over it. Look your demons in the face and get over it.

Then look straight at the incontrovertible fact that flying is far safer than getting in a car or bus and you'll soon start feeling damn comfortable in airplanes. Take a good book, an MP3 player with some favorite music and isolating ear buds, relax, have a drink if you need it.

 

[JTsyo]

Just realize it's not the fear of flying but the fear of crashing. So no need to get anxious about flying, wait until you're crashing for the fear to kick in*.

*hope this day never comes.

 

[skace]

I like to spend the entire flight imaging how the crash would occur and how the events would take place. Would we slam into land or the ocean, would it be better to go down with the plane or get ripped out and fall to my death. Could I really use the seat cushion under me as a flotation device? It doesn't look very buoyant.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Learn to skydive. Yes, you have to conquer a couple of fears to do this.

First, the fear of flying...especially in a small airplane.

Then, the (natural) fear of jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft.

The first time may scare the beejeezus out of you...but do it again and again...pretty soon, climbing into a commercial airliner won't be any more scary than getting on a city bus.

I have had no problem skydiving but still have developed a fear of flying recently.

For some reason a couple years ago I lost almost all faith and trust in the airlines' procedures and their mechanics etc. I used to really enjoy the quick takeoffs and never really worried about the landings (maybe some in bad weather only), but that has rapidly eroded to an underlying nervousness whenever I fly.

In fact when I wasn't nervous, I was well aware of the slight risks, but was content knowing the statistics. I also had a fatalistic view on life...'if I die on this plane, that's the way it goes'... For some reason I lost that casual outlook as well.

People change, maybe its age, who knows.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Red Irish
Compare traffic accident statistics with airplane accident statistics, you can then shift the focus of your fear to crossing the street or driving your car.

This.

You can take up yoga. Until you get into it you might not understand how it would help you conquer your fear of flying, but I think it's apt to do just that.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Genx87
I say take a class or jump on a short flight. I dont understand the fear because flying has been in my family since I was born. But I guess it is probably like my fear of heights. Yeah dont ask, how the hell can I be a pilot yet scared of heights? Dont know, get me in the cockpit and it is no problem. Put me on a 6 foot step ladder and I am frozen with fear.

I had quite a fear of heights as a kid and teenager. My friends would climb trees but I couldn't get more than a few feet off the ground. Looking over the railing at Hoover Dam gave me vertigo in the extreme. Ladders were a problem. Now, I'm no daredevil but I can climb ladders without much of a problem. I'm reasonably careful, but my rational side rules my mind. I know when I'm doing something risky on a ladder and don't push myself. I get up on the roof of my 2 story house all the time. A friend of mine didn't dare get up there with me, but I'm confident and don't worry about it. It's lots and lots of experience doing it. I have probably been up there 100 times! When I saw the latinos reroofing my house, I was blown away, though. Those guys had to really get used to the risks associated with heights. You get used to it. I'm sure that there are lots of accidents with roofers falling off roofs, though, but it didn't happen when they did my house.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Look out the window and enjoy the view.

Any time I get on an airplane, I am always that guy that's glued to the window looking out and watching everything I can see ... I hate flying in clouds.

That said .. It's probably been a good 6 or 7 years since I've flown anywhere ...

 

[AstroManLuca]

Get tranquilizers. My mom used to be afraid of flying and she often gets them. She tells me they help a lot. Since then she's been on enough flights for it to not really bother her anymore, even if she doesn't get tranqs.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Muse
Easiest way is to just get over your fear of dieing. If you have some unresolved conflict, some unfinished business you have been refusing to face up to, well, get over it. Look your demons in the face and get over it.

Then look straight at the incontrovertible fact that flying is far safer than getting in a car or bus and you'll soon start feeling damn comfortable in airplanes. Take a good book, an MP3 player with some favorite music and isolating ear buds, relax, have a drink if you need it.

I don't believe that it's an "incontrovertible fact." Statistics are too easy to manipulate to "prove" any point that you want to make. Find statistics that compare the safety of flying to the safety of an alert, non-intoxicated driver, who is not text messaging on his phone, is not fiddling with the radio, is not talking on the cell-phone, etc. As a car driver, I have *nearly* complete control of what's going to happen to me. If it's raining, I slow down. If the roads are slippery, I slow down.

Also, to determine which is safest, we'd have to determine a single metric which is best. Do we agree to compare flying to driving on a trip by trip basis, a mile by mile basis, or hour by hour basis? Are we going to count all accidents? Fatal accidents? Accidents that lead to hospitalization? Do we count total traffic fatalities (which includes deaths to pedestrians.)?

And, in the wake of the accident this past winter outside Buffalo, I think we can pretty much forget about the old argument that flying was safer because the pilots are all experts.

OP: the fear of flying seems rather irrational. What seems to be far more logical is a fear of crashing.

edit: I left out "seat-belt wearing driver"

Once you have your seat-belt on, are driving sober, and free of distractions, your risk of death while driving plummets dramatically. I'm also a subscriber to the theory that there are very few cases of "just an accident." The vast majority of "accidents" have a very specific cause - and the driver is at fault for most of these.

Given that ?most injuries and their precipitating events are predictable and preventable,? the British Medical Journal decided to ban the word ?accident.? The journal editors say that ?crash? is a statement of fact while ?accident? draws a conclusion about cause.