Fear of flying – Sophrology News

The holidays are approaching, and for some, the stress of travel too. Every day around the world, more than 80,000 planes take off and land. Airport security is increasingly reinforced these days. The aircraft are designed to withstand turbulence and lightning, maintain optimal speed during flight without slowing down and prevent them from overturning. In 2015, out of 39 million thefts, only 4 accidents occurred, killing just under 900 victims. In comparison, the number of road accident victims, all countries combined, amounted to more than 1.2 million over the same period.

The probability of experiencing a crash is almost comparable to that of winning the national lottery, which is almost unthinkable.

Air travel is unquestionably the safest form of transportation in the world.

And yet fear of flying is one of the most common phobias. More than a quarter of the French population is said to express a real fear of air transport.

Complex phobia, if any, since it can group fear of an accident as much as fear of emptiness, fear of being afraid, fear of loss of control, fear of heights, fear of microbes or claustrophobia.

Media images of crash, hijacking and terrorist attacks fuel this unreasonable fear with their anxiety-provoking treatment. Airplane phobics also tend to maintain their own fear by focusing during the flight on suspicious noises or watching for potential aircraft malfunctions.

Sophrology can be beneficial to best support stressed travelers to regain a taste for travel. Dynamic relaxation exercises offer effective tools to manage apprehensions and regain calm during takeoff or landing. The visualization exercises work more in depth on the projection of the next flights with full confidence, calm and serenity, replacing anxiety in particular by pleasant sensations. The person thus experiences his flight positively several times.

In their work I’m no longer afraid on a plane, psychologist Vélina Negovanska and aviation safety specialist Xavier Tytelman discuss abdominal breathing as a useful way to manage stress before and during flight. This type of breathing exercise makes it possible to relax the body, but also to prevent the mind from getting carried away.

Note that to succeed in your next flight requires, you must provide support over several weekly individual sessions at least 2 and a half months before departure in the most serious cases.

KM