Get Around Easier, Overcome Your Fear Of Flying
Everyone has something they fear. Whether it's heights, razor blades, or spiders, everyone deals with their apprehensions differently. But for some people, a fear of flying is just as real as the fears we mentioned before. With that said, we wanted to put together a guide for how to overcome your fear of flying and get you through one of the most daunting challenges in life.
The first step to overcoming your fear of flying is to realize that the fear itself is irrational. The fact that you are even alive in the first place is evidence enough that the chances of your plane crashing are extremely low. Your chances at being involved in a crash, even higher. Not only that, but flying has come a long way since it was popularized by the Wright Brothers more than 100 years ago.
Plane crashes have been decreasing steadily since 1944—the year after which most major airline companies were formed—and you have more than a 1-in-9,000 chance of being killed in a plane crash. Although not as low as you'd like to imagine, this isn't anywhere near a 1-in-10,000 chance.
Air travel is actually safer than most forms of land transportation. There are more people who die from falling out of bed (1.4 million per year) than from airplane crashes (320,000).
While it's true that your chances of being involved in a plane crash are extremely low, your chances of dying in an automobile accident are much higher. In 2012, there were 3,328 lives lost on American highways nationwide and 34,385 fatalities from auto accidents overall. There were also 685 deaths due to car accidents on European roads that same year.
So, whether you're flying or driving, you shouldn't feel too safe. The good news is that this doesn't mean that you should give up on traveling altogether. Instead of choosing one mode of transportation over another, make a habit of doing your research before traveling.
If you're flying to your destination and it's your first time doing so, do some research into the airline company itself—its frequency of crashes and customer satisfaction from recent years are both important factors to look into—and the type of plane that will be used for your flight. The same goes for if you plan on taking a train or ship to get to where you want to go.
If you're having a hard time getting over your fear of flying, it might help to know that the pilots are trained specifically to take off and land. That's right—the job of a pilot isn't just to fly the plane, but also to get it back on the ground safely.
Sure, they have instruments that help them determine perfectly where they are at all times, and this is important when they're in the air—but there's no GPS or built-in guidance system that can do what their eyes can. Even when they're coming in for a landing, they'll need to make sure that there aren't any obstacles on the runway, and make sure not to touch down on top of another plane.
When you're on the plane, don't watch the pilot out of fear of crashing. Instead, ask him or her questions. Questions like "Why are we here?" or "How do you know where we are at all times?" The more knowledge you have about how you got there, the less likely it is that something will go wrong.
There are books out there that can help you overcome your fear of flying. The first one we'd recommend is Robert Bor's Freeing Yourself from Anxiety, Phobias and Worry: A Book for People Who Things Get Out of Control. This book will walk you through the process of overcoming your fear of flying and puts together a series of exercises to help you feel more secure in the air.
You could also take an in-person class that has been designed to help people overcome their fear of flying. The Fearless Flight program was developed by Dr. David G. Hanna—a psychologist who has never experienced a plane crash himself—after noticing that his patients were not as afraid to fly when he told them stories about things that had happened on other flights.
The Fearless Flight program essentially gives you a new outlook on air travel by telling you stories of flights that have gone wrong. This may not sound like your cup of tea, but the point is to make you realize that these things happen more often than you think. If the plane's wings are capable of supporting the weight of a plane full of people, it's almost certain that they'll be able to do the same thing for yours.
Another great app is Psych Central's Flying Anxiety, which offers similar tools to help cope with your fear of flying. The best part about this app (besides for its low price tag) is its availability on both apple and android devices.
Try it out and see if you have a better time getting from one place to another.
So there it is: the secrets behind how to get over your fear of flying. And if those steps don't work, well, then that just means we need to find a new person to become a pilot with. We'll see you there!
If you're still looking for more resources, feel free to head over to our blog, where our writers have put together a list of storybooks that can help your children cope with their own fear of flying. Our series "Guide To Handling Fears In Children" has plenty of useful advice on how to deal with irrational fears in children and teens alike.
If you're still hyperventilating at the thought of getting on a plane, don't worry—there's always public transportation. The train system in countries like China and Japan are incredibly efficient and helpful when it comes time to get around. Check out our guide for more info on how to travel by train.
We've also got a number of articles on traveling in general. Check out this piece about traveling with little kids and this one about dealing with long flights. There's also a (rather extensive) list of the best travel websites and apps, and information on booking flights from various airlines. And if you've ever wanted to learn how much it costs to fly a private plane, then check out our article covering the subject in extreme detail.
If you've never traveled before, you're lucky that someone has thought to include an article featuring some tips for how to get your bearings when you first get off the plane at your destination airport.
Conclusion
Here's the bottom line: if you really are afraid of flying, it's time to face your fears and get over them. No one is saying that you have to get on a plane for every single trip you take, but if traveling is something that you're interested in doing, then these tips should help give you some confidence that the experience won't be too bad.
There are few things worse than being stuck in the air with someone who makes it clear how terrified they are at what they think might happen while they're up there in space. But fear isn't something that needs to keep us stuck in one place; it's just a feeling—a choice we make to not conquer our fears.