Flights – When On Holiday Can People Lessen Their Fear Of Flying?

If you have ever flown on commercial air flights, in smaller propeller aircraft, or in helicopters and have experienced the fear of flying you are not alone. Millions of people around the world who travel by airlines on their vacation or holidays have experienced the same fear to a lesser or greater extent. There are also millions of people worldwide that travel by auto, bus, train just to avoid commercial air flights. Some vacationers may take cruises if they are close enough to drive to the cruise line departure ports.

Incredibly, even though air travel is around thirty times safer than traveling by car, you rarely hear about people that have a fear of driving. Maybe the TV, radio, internet and print media contributes to this fear when they graphically cover commercial airline crashes and the subsequent large number of air passengers that are injured or die.

Fear of flying can be started by a number of concerns such as the fear of take off and landing, the fear of crashing, the fear of heights, the fear of falling, the fear of flying over water, the fear of flying at night, the feeling of losing control causing panic attacks, stormy weather, air turbulence, hijackers or terrorists, motion sickness, claustrophobia such as the fear of being sealed in the confined space of an airplane cabin or by being packed into the small confines of the aircraft with your fellow passengers, as well as other phobias.

Some more symptoms of the fear of flying are mild nervousness to extreme anxiety, panic attacks, shortness of breath, tightness in your chest, chest pain, clammy hands, a headache, including nausea and vomiting.

If you feel your fear of flying is severe, you may want to consider enrolling in an intensive treatment program. However, if think your fear of flying is not severe, there are some things you can do that may help remedy this problem.

Firstly, sit in a seat that is over the airplane wings, preferably not a window seat, so you cant look down at the ground. When you sit over the wings you will also experience a smoother flight.

If possible, leave your seat belt on as much as possible, so if any air turbulence suddenly occurs, you wont get jarred or bounced about as much.

Eat light and try to not to eat or drink any food or beverage that contains sugar, caffeine, or alcohol.

It will really help a lot if you try to stay positive and always think only positive thoughts.

You can occupy your mind by listening to soft, soothing music on your I-Pod.

It usually helps to wear eye shades and try to sleep on the flight if you can.

You may feel a little less stressed if you can catch flights that take off at off-peak times as there are usually fewer airline passengers to contend with.

If you are thinking about taking some prescription or over-the-counter drugs to calm yourself down on your flight, be sure that you first consult with your family doctor or pharmacist. Keep in mind that if you are already taking prescriptions for pre-existing conditions, any new medication may interact adversely with them. Most over-the-counter drugs can be dangerous.

I have a true story that may help you with the fear of flying. A number of years ago a good friend of mine had a severe problem dealing with the fear of flying. His main fear was that he was terrified of dying in a plane crash. A funny thing is that he had absolutely no problem driving all over the country, or taking a Greyhound bus or train when he traveled on his holidays.

Fortunately he got a job selling ads for a local community newspaper near a busy international airport. As he drove around to sell advertising to the stores in the area, he constantly observed huge commercial airliners taking off and landing every few minutes. He got used to hearing the deafening roar of airline engines day in and day out. Slowly, he eventually started to lose his fear of flying.

He finally made a big decision to go on a vacation in Hawaii, which he had always dreamed of doing. The only problem was that he had no choice but to fly. Before he left he took out flight insurance just in case the plane crashed. He wanted to be sure he would leave something for his mom and dad if he didnt come back.

Before boarding the airplane he took a sleeping pill hoping that it would help to keep him calm. He bravely booked a window seat as he wanted to be able to see where he was going and what the earth and ocean looked like from the air.

When the flight attendant told all the passengers to fasten their seat belts, he cinched his belt up so tightly he thought that it would break. On the long flight to Hawaii he only removed his seat belt to go to the washroom. During the flight the only thing that really annoyed him was that his ears got plugged and hurt because of the changes in cabin pressure on the takeoff and landing. A helpful fellow passenger suggested that he should chew some gum and that seemed to solve the problem.

When he landed in Hawaii he was proud of himself! After all those wasted years hung up on that phobia he had finally broken free. All it took was working near a big airport and watching the constant stream of takeoffs and landings by these large jet airliners to reprogram his mind.

If you happen to have a fear of flying you must try and rid yourself of this debilitating, irrational fear. I know that your life will be changed forever when you break free and allow yourself to soar with the eagles and fly anywhere in this big, wide, wonderful world that you want to.

Visit FlyingWithoutFear.com if you would like more information on how vacationers as well as business travelers can lessen their fear of flying. This company offers you a free online self-help course that we highly recommend taking. The course is conducted by a currently flying airline captain.

To quickly locate and book cheap flights and luxury cruises at really great discounts, whenever you want to enjoy a relaxing, pampered holiday, visit Travel Tips Guide for more info.