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%Start Overcoming Fear of Flying As the Pandemic Wanes Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term.
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How to Conquer Your Fear of Flying
Some travelers say their phobia has grown worse during the pandemic
xavierarnau/Getty Images Right after she became fully vaccinated for , last February, writer Molly Jong-Fast took her first flight since March 2020. She brought along her therapist, just in case. Jong-Fast, 42, of New York City, is a lifelong fearful flier who learned to cope years ago, she says, by facing her anxieties and flying frequently.
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But that 11-month gap had her worried that her anxieties might once again spiral out of control. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Many fliers are feeling the same way, therapists say, as COVID-19 continues to spread.
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It doesn't help, they add, that travelers are taking their seats at a time when unruly passengers are much in the news, sometimes due to conflict over mask wearing onboard (required by law). A return to the skies is especially fraught for those who were already afraid to fly. “People who were fearful of flying before [the pandemic] are finding their fears are more intense,” says Martin Seif, a psychologist specializing in anxiety disorders who practices in New York City and Greenwich, Connecticut.
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Some of them "haven't done it in a while," he adds, "and when you haven't done something in a while, your imagination takes over.” Seif and other say they tell fearful flyers that every flight they take can make the next flight easier. “The single most important criteria for determining how comfortable we are doing something is how often we do it,” he notes.
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Just what people are nervous about varies quite a bit, therapists say. “We commonly think of the fear of flying being about fear of dying in a plane crash,” but that's just one variation, says psychologist Reid Wilson, director of the Treatment Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. People who dread air travel may fear heights, crowds, closed-in spaces or being away from home.
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Or they may dread the specific sensations of taking off, landing or turbulence, or the idea of flying over water, he says. Many fearful flyers, therapists say, have a broader and are most afraid of having a panic attack on a plane.
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They fear symptoms, such as a pounding heart, a churning stomach and an overwhelming sense of doom. And they fear embarrassing themselves by losing control in public. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.
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Entertainment $3 off popcorn and soft drink combos See more Entertainment offers > After a couple of sessions with Wilson, she has practiced managing her fears of impending disaster in other situations, such as walking along an ocean pier and climbing up to a roof. Exercises like these are common in cognitive behavioral therapy, the standard approach for people with flying fears, Wilson says. CBT focuses on identifying, understanding and changing thinking and behavior patterns.
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People who fear flying, Wilson says, learn through exposure that their discomfort can be fleeting and manageable. It's time to consider therapy, experts say, if you suffer greatly through every flight or miss out on much-desired travel. “This is highly treatable, so don't despair,” says Cornelia Tietke, a licensed clinical social worker at The Center for Travel Anxiety in Washington, D.C.
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“You don't have to white-knuckle it.” You can find therapists who work with fearful flyers at the website of the Anxiety & Depression Association of America (adaa.org). Some therapists offer group classes and may even take participants on flights.
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But classes held at U.S. airports, once commonly sponsored by airlines, are largely a thing of the past, Seif and Wilson say.
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One exception is the Fearless Flight program (), based at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, where in-person classes taught by Ron Nielsen, a former commercial pilot with a master's degree in counseling, have just resumed after a 14-month pause. The free classes are held aboard a stationary Boeing 737. Nielsen also offers online classes and coaching, as does Tom Bunn, another pilot turned therapist, who runs a program called SOAR ().
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The best therapy is flying itself, insists Jong-Fast, who happens to be the daughter of Erica Jong, author of the 1973 novel Fear of Flying. She says she got through her first flight since the pandemic hit just fine and is back to flying as often as she can — without her therapist.
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AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. More on health AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.
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