Now Im on the Plane Again
Terminal Updated: iv/16/22 | April 16th, 2022
I take a confession to make: I have a huge fear of flying. I hate it. Information technology scares the living shit out of me.
This is how my typical airport experience goes:
Before the flight: "I can't look to get on a airplane and relax and lookout man some movies. This is going to be corking!"
During takeoff: "Why are we turning like this? Are we rolling over?! Why does the engine sound that way? I don't similar this. Are we going to die? Get me off!"
During the flying, every bit I watch a movie or do work: "I can't believe we're flight. Scientific discipline is astonishing. I have Wi-Fi in the sky! Look at all the pretty clouds!"
During turbulence: "What was that sound? Are nosotros supposed to plough like that? Why is this and then bumpy?! That was a big drop! What's wrong? We're all gonna die!!! Ahhhh!!!"
During landing: "Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Information technology'south going to be fine. Breathe."
Subsequently the flight: "I love flying. Let's go practise it again!"
Flying gives me a lot of anxiety. I grip the armrest white-knuckled at to the lowest degree half the flying! Information technology'south gotten so bad over the years, I tin no longer fly without taking a Xanax beforehand. And I'm not alone: over thirty% of people get anxiety while flying.
For me, information technology'due south because I'm scared of heights… or, more specifically, falling. I don't similar bungee jumps, beingness near ledges, or fifty-fifty looking downwardly from a tall building. It sets my heart racing and gives me slight vertigo.
Heck, sometimes on high bridges, I need to walk on the inside of the sidewalk and look downwards at the ground in order to go beyond.
And, even though statistically, flying is 1 of the safest modes of transportation (there is a 1 in 11 million take chances of dying in a aeroplane crash, but 1 in 100 in a car), I don't have a similar reaction when I'm driving. I feel safe considering I'thou in control.
"I'm driving, I'm great — information technology's everyone else I need to watch out for," I (and most people) think.
All the same, when we are in a plane, it'southward all up to 2 strangers nosotros've never met in the front of an aluminum tube going 500 miles an hour 37,000 anxiety to a higher place the air.
A lot of the fear of flying is well-nigh that lack of control. I mean, how do yous know those pilots know what they are doing or don't want to fly into a mountain? You don't really.
On a rational level, I know I'm going to get in to my destination. Almost 99% of planes crashes don't accept whatever fatalities, so even if nosotros do crash, the odds are in my favor.
But the lost sense of control freaks me out. I mean, who are these pilots? Did they get enough sleep the dark before? Are they sane? Are they experienced plenty to know what to exercise in an emergency?
I recently sat on a flight next to a guy who provided counseling for pilots and flight attendants with substance abuse problems. On the 1 manus, I was comforted by the fact the FAA has stringent rules (sadly, non many other countries do) related to the effect. On the other, I was disturbed by how much of a trouble he told me this was in the industry.
In that location I am, 35,000 feet above the ground, with my fate in the hands of 2 strangers. It combines my two biggest fears. I mean, what if nosotros go down? You lot have twenty or thirty seconds of sheer terrifying falling as you realize THIS IS It! (Having experienced a rapid descent once, I can tell you it'due south not fun.)
I basically expect similar Kristin Wiig from Bridesmaids when I'grand in the sky:
But I fly around 100,000 miles a year, then I accept to learn how to bargain with my fearfulness. Flying is office of my job, and gets me to where I desire to go the most efficient way — and I want to become a lot of places.
And since I'chiliad not alone, I want to share three tricks I've learned to help go over the fear of flying (or, at the least, cope with the feet):
- Fake it — As the maxim goes, imitation it until you lot make information technology. When I'm flying, I like to imagine myself equally a normal person. What would a person who isn't afraid of flying do right now? They would sit in that location, read the in-flight magazine or sleep, and be calm. They would tune it out. So I plow my headphones on, take a deep breath, and read a volume or focus on a film. I tune out my fear and pretend it doesn't exist. I distract my mind and have it focus on something else. This play a trick on works wonders, and by the fourth dimension I tune dorsum in, nosotros're at cruising distance and the anxiety is gone!
- Recite the facts — I like to recite facts virtually airline safety to reassure myself that planes are safe and I'one thousand going to be fine. I'm always repeating to myself things like "Planes are safe, planes are safe — they have strict safety rules" or "Turbulence doesn't cause aeroplane crashes — it's only changes in airflow" or "Cars are far more dangerous." Use your rational mind to realize how silly the fear is and how there'due south no reason for you to be agape. The fact that we as a club brand a large deal out of plane crashes is because they are so rare.
- Drink — When I can't fake it or my rational heed isn't working, I beverage to calm my nerves. It works wonders too. On long flights, information technology'southward me, those mini-bottles of wine (or an Ambien), and sleep until my destination. Sometimes simply taking the border off is the only way to deal with it.
- Pay attention — This actually but works because I fly and then much, but I've found that knowing what a normal flight sounds like can really help. I wait at Flight Aware to run into what normal speeds on takeoff, cruising, and landing expect similar for my flight. I pay attending to the engine a lot and then I know, "Ok, information technology's supposed to sound like that." Knowing what a normal flight is like helps me realize that mine is normal likewise — and that takes the border off.
It wasn't always this mode — I used to love roller coasters, heights, and flying, and wasn't afraid of falling off a bridge. But something inverse over the last few years.
Now, I await downwards from the airplane and recall, "We're far upward. We're screwed. Someone go me a glass of wine!"
So, while I might never get over my fearfulness of flying, I tin manage it and not let it control me.
Later on a few deep breaths, some wine, realizing there are safe standards in place, and zoning out on the latest in-flying films, I calm down, enjoy the flight, and marvel at the science that gets me halfway around the world in xv hours.
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