Anxiety disorders affect millions of people in the United States. Typically, anxiety disorders are characterized by extreme fear, nervousness, or worry about something specific (for example: fear of public speaking or a fear of social situations). These worries lead the person to avoid specific places or activities. One of the most common fears is a fear of flying, and it is often brought to the forefront in people who suffer from it by media coverage of airplane crashes such as the recent Asiana Airlines disaster in San Francisco.
As with any anxiety, fear of flying (also known as aerophobia or aviophobia) leads people to experience irrational thoughts of the possibility that something will happen when they fly, even though the odds against being hurt or killed in a plane crash are enormous. This fear of flying can be from anxiety over the actual process of flying or can be from a combination of several anxiety components that are not all specific to airplanes. These components can include:
Physically and emotionally, the symptoms that come with a fear of flying are similar to those seen in most generalized anxiety disorders. The physical symptoms can include:
Emotional symptoms can include:
Because flying anxiety can ruin family vacations and make it impossible for business people to travel, it is beneficial to try one of the many effective ways to cope with a fear of flying:
If your fear of flying can’t be overcome with one of these techniques, contact a mental health professional. They can help you find relief through:
The fear of flying can be debilitating, but it can be treated and overcome. For more information on how you can overcome fear of flying, Dr. Andrew Rosen at 561-496-1094 or email Dr. Rosen today.
This webinar discusses sexual anxiety and interventions for the most frequently encountered sexual dysfunction in…
Dr. Rosen and Dr. Spinner recently presented a session on The Uses of Virtual Reality…
Exercise has long been viewed as being beneficial for physical health, but in recent years…
Growing up in the United States, many of us enjoyed a childhood filled with fun…
Lately, likely due to the increased coverage on television and in social media, many people…
This website uses cookies.