The news has not been kind to nervous flyers lately. Reports of extreme turbulence and doors blowing out mid-air make for anxious reading, especially if you’re one of the estimated five per cent of people who suffer from aerophobia.
As the summer holidays arrive, those of us with a fear of flying are already psyching ourselves up. We understand that there were almost two million flights in or out of the UK in 2023 and that only a tiny number of those suffered serious mechanical failures or anything worse.
But what’s a phobia if not a first-class departure from logic?
“The brain has a tendency to overestimate risk when we’re feeling anxious about something,” says Prof Robert Bor, director of the Centre for Aviation Psychology. “It makes that risk more palpable, more real – but it doesn’t mean it is more likely to happen. You’re far more likely to be kicked to death by a donkey than die in a plane crash.”
If that’s not good enough news, Bor says the fear of flying is also very treatable. And he should know. As well as being a pilot and consultant for the RAF, he’s a specialist in helping people overcome their fear of flying.
“For anyone who’s ever had a fear associated with flying, it’ll manifest in the same way, which is: ‘I don’t want to be on the aircraft, thank you very much’,” he says. “But the causes and triggers are often quite different between people.”
For some, it’s the height; for others the lack of control or claustrophobia. Some people may have pre-existing issues with anxiety and flying is just one of the triggers. Whatever it is, Bor says it’s vital to deal with the specific issue, but there are techniques most nervous flyers find helpful.
“Don’t leave it until you’re on the plane,” says Bor. “Equip yourself with cognitive and behavioural tools in advance.”
First is to challenge your fears, with knowledge. Understanding the noises and movements a plane makes during flight renders them less frightening. Know that the pilot will reduce the throttle shortly after take-off. Study your flight plan online so that when the plane banks soon after take-off, you know it’s to point you towards Budapest, not that something is wrong.
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“Having technical explanations is very useful,” Bor says. A good way to think about turbulence, for example, is to imagine the plane in a little parcel of air, like a blueberry in jelly. When the jelly moves, the blueberry does too, but it doesn’t plunge to the bottom of the bowl and it isn’t damaged either.
Bor says that behavioural tricks can be even more effective at reducing the anxiety of air travel. The first one is to breathe.
“If we change our breathing, we better control how much oxygen is available to us, and that brings our heart rate down. Take slow breaths in and exhale slowly for five to seven seconds, pumping the last of the air out.” This physically calms you down.
Next, clench your butt. No, really.
This is called progressive muscle relaxation and doing it with your glutes is especially good on a flight. “Nobody can see you do it,” Bor says. “Squeeze your buttocks really tightly for five seconds, then relax for five seconds. You’re hijacking the body’s central nervous system, which is telling your whole body to tense up. By making the involuntary, voluntary, the body stops emitting these messages.”
One more trick. “Take your long middle finger – the rude one – and tap it as fast as you can while keeping the other fingers still. This uses a huge amount of brain power and that detracts from all the worried thoughts that we have. Your brain literally can’t worry about flying at the same time.”
In extreme cases, a doctor may prescribe drugs to help people stay calm. Airlines also run fear of flying classes and you can even try some virtual reality therapy.”
Bor says that a combination of all of these techniques usually helps people. “You may not fall in love with flying, but [your fear] will ease. Each time you cope better on a flight it’s a message to your brain – actually, this is not going to defeat me.”
About our expert
Prof Robert Bor is the director of the Centre for Aviation Psychology, practicing psychologist and a Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He's published over 30 books and his academic work has been published in Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors, Safety, and Frontiers in Public Health (to name a few journals).
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