This is the time of year when I get lots of calls regarding this problem. The usual conversation starts with ‘I am due to go on holiday soon and I cannot face it. I am so afraid. Can you help me – the thought of flying ruins it for me and the effect it has on my family and friends.’
All phobias, for indeed this is what a fear of flying is, are due to irrational thoughts and excess anxiety about the area of concern. But, phobias are just intense fears over something that poses little or no danger. So it is important to get a real perspective and understand that it is the focusing and the anxiety about flying that is most distressing.
The phobia and the thoughts around it is partly due to you misusing your imagination. In the same way that you learn to use your imagination in a negative way, you can relearn in a positive way. There can also be other aspects that are not really about flying, such as feelings of loss of control, fear of heights, mild claustrophobia etc.
Feelings about flying may have become a pattern from previous flight experience, perhaps it was turbulence or some other aspect that you found worrying, or back to that misusing your imagination, worrying about the ‘what if this’ or ‘what if that’.
Fear of flying is very common and responds very well to hypnosis in order to resolve this unnecessary problem. People who are not relaxed on planes generally build up the worry and anxiety a long time before the actual flight and the more that occurs, the worse the actual experience becomes.
It is vital to become more relaxed around the idea of flying, even learn to enjoy the experience. Hypnosis can help you to do this and enable you to look forward to your next flight in comfort.