The fear of flying keeps many people from going on that amazing trip. According an ABC News article around seven percent of people suffer from aerophobia. (This statistic was found on Statistic Brain.)
Aerophobia according to Merriam-Webster is the fear or strong dislike of flying.
After my first flight to California at around 11 years old (which went fine), I started suffering from motion sickness during flights. This definitely led to a very strong dislike of flying for many years. It wasn’t until flying during a Spring Break trip in college and not getting sick that led to getting over this fear.
When I was younger, I didn’t really fear flying itself, I feared getting sick or nauseous during a flight.
These days, just to be safe I take meclizine before every flight. I’m not sure if I’d feel sick or not without the meds but I don’t see a reason to find out!
2014 has not been a very good year for the airline industry. With all of the negative attention in recent months with planes gone missing, being shot down and crashing, I’d expect more and more people to be hesitant to fly.
ABC News had an article last month with 5 Tips to Combat Flight Anxiety. CheapAir.com CEO Jeff Klee shared his top five tips.
- Trust the industry
- Go with your feelings
- Drink responsibly
- Hold fast to the facts
- Distract yourself
When reading into the 5 tips, I’d definitely agree with a few of them.
While a drink or 2 is OK during a flight, I still mainly stick to water or ginger ale. I do enjoy a beer or 2 at times but still think alcohol isn’t the best drink option while up in the air.
When it comes to airline safety, I think the article nails it saying that you should “hold fast to the facts”. Flying is supposedly much less dangerous than driving in a car with “your chance of being in an air disaster approximately one in three million”.
Keep busy during a flight with movies, music, a good book or whatever else takes your mind off of things. The time will go by much quicker and hopefully you’ll “distract yourself” from your fears.
Do you suffer from or know someone who suffers from aerophobia? If so, do you try to avoid flying or have a good strategy to get onto an airplane?
Find out more in the ABC News article here.
