Afraid to Fly

Have you ever flown? Did you fly to another country to study English? How do you feel about flying?

People who have to fly all the time for business usually find it boring. People who fly only once in a while are excited. However, some people feel only terror when they board an airplane. They suffer from a phobia, an illogical fear.

If you are afraid of poisonous spiders, it is logical. If you are afraid of all spiders, even harmless ones, this is a phobia because it is illogical. Some people have phobias about heights, being shut up in a small area, or being in a large open area. It is not logical to be afraid of these things when there is no danger, but a phobia is not logical.

Fear of flying is another phobia. We always hear about a plane crash, but we don't hear about the millions of flights every year that are safe. Riding in a car is thirty times more dangerous than flying, but most of us are not afraid every time we get into a car. It is not logical to be afraid of flying, but research shows that about 12 percent of people have this fear.

People with a phobia about flying are afraid for one or more reasons. They are afraid of heights. They avoid high places, and if they are in a high-rise building, they don't look out the windows.

They might be afraid of being in an enclosed place like an elevator or a tunnel on a highway. When they get on an airplane, they can't get out until the end of the flight, and the flight might last several hours.

Maybe they are afraid of the crowds and all the noise and people rushing around at an airport. This especially bothers older people. Some people are afraid of the unknown. They don't understand the technology of flying and can't believe that a huge airplane can stay up in the air.

Others are afraid of loss of control. They need to control every situation they are in. When they drive a car, they have some chance of avoiding an accident. In a plane, they have no control over anything. It frightens them to give up control to the pilot and the rest of the crew.

For some people, a fear of flying is not important because they don't really need to fly. But what about someone who works for an international company? What about an entertainer who has to sing in twenty different places in a month? These people have to fly if they want to continue in their profession.

There is help for these people. There are special classes in which people learn how to control their fear. They probably can't lose it, but they can learn to control it. Then they can fly when they need to, even though they probably won't enjoy it.

The class visits an airport and learns how airplane traffic is controlled and how planes are kept in safe condition. A pilot talks about flying through storms, the different noises an airplane makes, and air safety in general.

The class learns to do relaxation exercises to become comfortably calm, and the people talk about their fear. Next, the class listens to tape recordings of a takeoff and landing, and later the people ride in a plane on the ground around the airport. Finally they are ready to take a short flight.

The instructors of these classes say that between 80 and 90 percent of the people who take them are successful. They still have their phobia, but they learn to control their fear.