Video About How I Overcame Flying Anxiety

Full Video Transcript

Narrator (00:00):
I have a confession to make: I'm terrified of flying!

But, and this is key, I still travel a lot! My name is Eric and I'm a performance consultant and advisor at PerformZen, where we create products to help professionals perform better under pressure.

In the last year alone I have taken a flight over 20 times, and most of that was long-haul! This was a pretty average year of flights and travel for me.

This makes no sense to people who know me, because they're highly aware of my fear of flying.

Ever since taking yearly vacations with my family as a toddler, every flight I've been on has been an exercise in stress. There's a whole lot of frantic and negative self-talk, and I've even cancelled flights and made up excuses to myself (and others) about why "I just can't make this trip!"

But a while ago, something changed. I went through an entire journey to finally address my fear of flying and figure out how I could fix this life-long limitation.

In this video I'm going to share what I have learned about flying anxiety, touch on the latest research, and pinpoint several techniques, books & tools that you can use to overcome your fear of flying.

Hopefully this video can help you see that you are not alone with your flying anxiety issues, and the really good news is that a fear of flying is definitely something that can be managed, controlled and - with patience - overcome completely!

So let's get into it...

(00:20):
What is Flying Anxiety?

Aviophobia is the clinical term for flying anxiety, meaning 'flying phobia' or 'the fear of flight'. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines it as "a specific phobia, characterized by a marked aversion towards flying on airplanes or any type of aircraft in general".

For some watching this, even the simple idea of traveling, or the process of booking tickets can bring out their anxiety symptoms.

(01:20):
Symptoms of flying anxiety can include any of the following before or during an air flight:

Shaking and shivering
Increased heart rate, or heart palpitations
Profuse sweating
Shortness of breath
Dizziness
Nausea
and clouded or panicked thinking and confusion

Basically, flying anxiety symptoms are super intense, and are often indistinguishable from panic attacks.

(02:09):
My own Journey to overcoming a fear of flying

My fear of flying has been intense for as long as I can remember, but today I can confidently say that I have my flying anxiety under control. This doesn't mean that I don't still feel the same fears; just that I've been able to take my fears from a 9 out of 10 level, down to a 2 or 3. Flying for me these days isn't luxurious, but is definitely manageable.

When booking a flight I can calmly smile, confident knowing that sitting in a plane is one of the safest places I could possibly put myself.
If I can overcome a debilitating case of flying anxiety, I'm almost certain that you can do it, too.

The first step is understanding why we even experience a fear of flying in the first place.

(02:49):
Why do we suffer from a fear of flying in the first place?

I think that the most common causes are news and media coverage of flying accidents and tragedies, combined with other preexisting phobias and anxieties.

(03:00):
There's a Netflix documentary called 'Downfall: The Case Against Boeing' where they reveal the unfolding news story of two back-to-back airplane crashes in 2018 that took the lives of 346 passengers.

The filmmaker behind it said in an interview that she made the film due to her "primal fear of flying"

This documentary made it clear that there is an alarming effect that follows media coverage of plane crashes, airplane malfunctions, hijackings, etc. The tragedies are all that people can think about when getting on planes or talking to friends and family with an upcoming flight. This is understandable; it's a strange, yet perfectly natural human reaction to events that are, by all metrics, quite rare!

(03:43):
This increased fear of flying in the wake of increased media coverage of an aerial accident is a clear case of availability bias.
Availability bias is a mental model that says our brains tend to make decisions based on two kinds of information: recent memories and vivid memories (or both).

Things that have happened recently, or things that stand out in our minds are perceived as being more likely to happen again. This is because something that has just happened is top of mind, so related thoughts about it pop-up quickly and easily. And when an event is vivid, it becomes easier to imagine it happening again.

All this can mean that if we aren't that knowledgeable about the actual risks involved, or we have little to no experience with flying, broadly, and we've recently seen media coverage of crashes or accidents, it makes sense that we might form preconceived notions about airplanes, flights and the safety of it all.

(04:28)
This is all multiplied if we have preexisting phobias that may mix with (and possibly worsen) our fear of flying. Conditions like claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), fear of heights, or the fear of terrorism and hijacking are all good examples.

(04:43)
And of course, it's entirely possible that a fear of flying is 100% the result of a bad experience in the past. Examples include a previous flight with severe air turbulence, plane controls going haywire scaring passengers, or a forced landing that was jarring (physically and emotionally).

(04:58)
Underlying Causes of Flying Anxiety

If none of these reasons really resonate with you, then it's worth understanding that human fears and anxieties can be multi-variate, meaning there's multiple causes, and each individual may have different (known or unknown) root causes of their anxiety.

(05:15):
The psychotherapist and spokesperson for the UK Council for Psychotherapy (or U K C P) Yuko Nippoda, explained in one interview how a fear of flying can often stem from a lack of control. She said:

"If you are on a train and you need to get off, you can do so at the next stop. If you're in a car, you can get out almost anywhere. But once you get on an aeroplane, you cannot leave. This sense of losing all authority over your actions can be very frightening."

Nippoda highlighted that humans are used to feeling their feet on solid ground. It follows, then, that the idea of floating in the sky can easily lead to imagining worst-case scenarios. She continues:

"If catastrophic situations, such as engine failure, bad turbulence or a hijacking occur, the plane could crash. This fear of death can cause major flight anxiety, even if someone knows deep down those things are extremely unlikely. Their mind can go into overdrive."

If we understand that a simple lack of control, whether it is rational or not, can lead to a severe fear of flying, then we can better understand that the psychology of our fears can go very deep!

The key point is that the start of your journey towards overcoming your fear of flying begins with questioning yourself. Delve deep into your psyche and try to understand what the root of the fear is. If you can understand the root, you can properly address, and potentially solve it.

(06:30)
Flying Anxiety Solutions: Medications

There are several over-the-counter medications that people use to manage their flying anxiety symptoms, or to help them sleep during flights. The most common include dramamine, diazepam and benzodiazepine drugs like lorazepam, temazepam or clonazepam.

Personally I don't mess with prescription medications to help with my flying anxiety, the risk of side-effects and possible dependency are just too high for me. But, if you consult with a medical professional who knows your situation, they might be able to advise you in what will work and what should be avoided.

(07:06):
There's also a few natural (and non-addictive) alternative medications and solutions to help with flying anxiety that I have tried. I can recommend looking further into Melatonin, GABA supplements and natural calming solutions like our PerformZen supplement.

(07:20):
Flying Anxiety Solutions: Books

In my own journey of learning about flying anxiety and the different techniques and medications that could help me overcome it, I read a bunch of literature about anxiety, and more specifically about the fear of flying and the aviation industry in general.
Here are the books that I found the most useful, and there will be links to all of these in the video description, of course.

(07:43):
Cockpit Confidential

This is written by Patrick Smith, a pilot and writer of the ‘Ask the Pilot’ column for Salon. The book covers nearly every question you could possibly have about flying. And the fact that the author is so matter-of-fact about everything, while he makes even the most scary-sounding situations seem as though they were not a big deal in any way (because they likely weren't), can really help set your mind at ease about flying.

(08:07):
SOAR - The Breakthrough Treatment for Fear of Flying

This book is all about the psychology behind a persons fear of flying. 'Soar' teaches you exactly why you have this fear, what's going on in your body when you experience anxiety aboard planes, and it even shares some incredible coping methods for when you're actually up in the air.

I highly recommend this book as it's particularly good at dampening down anticipation anxiety when you're, for example, wondering if you should cancel your trip.

I recommend that you read this book at least a week before your flight, if not longer, as some of the calming exercises can take a few days to be effective.

(08:41):
The Easy Way To Enjoy Flying

This book takes a totally different approach to the ‘Soar’ book just mentioned, and I got the most from it when reading while on the plane.
It's all about dispelling the most common myths around the safety of planes, for example understanding what's happening during the take-off, or when there's any turbulence during a flight. If there's one part in particular about the flying process that you really don't like, this book will help you understand what's going on when it happens and, most likely, will help you realize that it's not necessarily as big of a situation as you first thought.

(09:12):
Flying Anxiety Solutions: PerformZen

And of course, this video wouldn't be complete without me mentioning PerformZen, our calming supplement that can absolutely help with relieving your flying anxiety symptoms.

PerformZen is designed to help you stay calm under pressure, whether that's getting up on stage to perform in front of an audience, or stepping onto a plane for the first time in months or years, even though the mere thought of flying used to invoke fear, negative thought cycles and extreme flying anxiety.

PerformZen was made to get you through situations like this with a calm, eased, focused mind.

If you're interested in learning more about the PerformZen supplement and how it can help with your flying anxiety, visit www.PerformZen.com/flying-anxiety.

(09:56):
Finally, a resource that really helped me in my journey to beat flying anxiety is the sub-reddit at r/fearofflying where people regularly post about their own experiences with flying fears and share their struggles and wins in getting it under control. Check the sub-reddit out, I'll leave a link in the description.

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Good luck on your personal journey to overcome flying anxiety. You can do this!