I Need Your Help To Deal With A Fear Of Flying

ByEdward Pizzarello
a woman with her hand to her mouth

No, it’s not me.  I can’t say I’ve ever had a fear of flying.  I’m certainly very thankful for that.  We have a friend who has a fairly robust fear of flying.  I actually never thought she’d venture onto a plane based on conversations we’ve had over the years.  Our friend (Sara, we’ll call her) has a daughter that desperately wants to travel.  Sara’s a great mom and she wants to make sure there are no glass ceilings for her daughter.

So, how does Sara deal with taking her daughter on an airplane?  There’s the medical route, getting a prescription for something to calm the nerves from a doctor.  I guess there’s the self-medication route, where you drink enough to forget the flight.  That doesn’t strike me as a terribly good idea.

How To Deal With A Fear Of Flying?

I’m sure many of you have dealt with a fear of flying.  Maybe it’s you, or a loved one.  I could really use your help.  Please suggest any tips or tricks you’ve used to help deal with a fear of flying.  We really want to help Sara.  We’re proud of her for wanting to overcome her fear to help her daughter realize her dreams.  We just don’t have any experience here.  I’ve Googled a bit and some of the suggestions look good.  But, I have no idea what really works.

Thanks in advance!

The post I Need Your Help To Deal With A Fear Of Flying was published first on Pizza in Motion

My goal in life is to fill my family’s passports with stamps, creating buckets of memories along the way. You’ll find me writing about realistic ways for normal people to travel the world, whether you’re on a budget or enjoy luxury. I also enjoy taking us on the occasional detour to explore the inner workings of the travel industry.

14 Comments

  4. Fear of flying can be dealt with as you do many anxiety-producing things, you take it step by step. For instance, maybe it is the height or claustrophobia or the idea of crashing. You create a “ladder” that allows you to build up your tolerance. I don’t know what it is about flying that triggers her fear, so cannot give exact details. However, for someone that is agoraphobic, for instance, you would have them build up to sitting outside to walking in neighborhood to going to public event very briefly without a goal all before ever going shopping. And even then, you would park by the door, go when it is likely to be slow and only do one thing. The idea is to create positive experiences on the beginner steps to allow them to see the possibility of success on the larger goal. Hope this helps!

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  5. It’s possible that the issue is a problem of lack of control. As a private pilot I’ve known a few folks who wouldn’t fly commercial, but they’re fine going up in a Cessna where they’re sitting with the pilot and can even take the controls for a few minutes. Perhaps your friend should contact a local flight school and schedule a simulator ride, if that goes well schedule a short local hop. This could be one of those laddering opportunities discussed by Nensi.

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  6. Not sure where your friend is located but just reading a few days ago about a program for people with this fear that Alaska Airlines has based in Seattle. Best wishes.

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