Fear of flying doesn’t have to keep you grounded, says Dr Moira Mizzi as she meets a traveller whose fear of flying was triggered by the 9/11 attacks.
Fear, like hunger, is one of the basic instincts of the human psyche. As from the first moments of our existence, when our simian origins were more evident, this raw emotion triggered off a series of physiological events which primed us for the two most necessary assets for survival – flight or fight.
Another factor that makes air travel less appealing is the fact that a plane is piloted by a complete stranger at 500mph at high altitudes in sub-zero temperatures.
Nowadays, even if our environment is not half as sinister as it evidently was back then, fear is still a central emotion that colours our existence to the extent that our diction is crammed with names of the different fears and phobias we are afflicted with.
Fear of flying, or its more tongue-harassing medical term pteromerhanophobia, is but one of them.
Fear of flying may simply be triggered off by the prospect of elevating ourselves off the ground in any type of vehicle, be it a plane, a helicopter or an air balloon for that matter, or it may be combined with other fears or phobias such as the fear of enclosed or open spaces and the fear of heights.
While we all feel some degree of anxiety before take-off, people afflicted by this phobia simply cannot handle being in an aircraft of any sort. This results in a lot of restrictions on their lifestyle, both in professional and leisure contexts, in that they either avoid travelling in the first place or else have to endure great distress, sometimes even panic attacks or vomiting, at the prospect of having to travel.
There could be a variety of reasons why an individual is afraid of travelling in an aircraft, from fear of crashing to a fear of closed spaces, heights, motion sickness and turbulence. Some are also afraid of suffering a panic attack in a place where they would be exposed to public scrutiny, possibly ridicule, especially since it would be difficult to make a dignified exit anywhere.
A traumatising life event associated with travel, like losing a loved one while on holiday, could also instill a fear of flying to avoid re-living the painful experience. Real life events like the 9/11 terrorist attacks have triggered fear of air travel in people who were previously unaffected – the vast coverage given by the media has compounded the issue to hysteric proportions as did the various number of hair-raising cinema productions on the subject.
Medical doctor Marvin Cachia, 28, is one such commuter affected by the hype surrounding the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers on 9/11.
“Before that, traveling by air was no issue for me,” he explains, “but then 9/11 put things in a different perspective and I started becoming more aware, extremely so, of the perils surrounding air travel and the possible danger coming from passengers around me,” he continues. “In fact, I find myself giving a thorough assessment of every passenger who comes within my view, seeing shifty eyes, suspicious countenances and criminal minds even in the most innocuous of individuals,” he says.
Dr Cachia admits that much of his anxiety revolves around the fact that airplane accidents have always resulted in loss of lives as opposed to car accidents where seemingly there is much less drama and tragedy involved.
“I guess it’s because so many people die at one go in plane crashes, as I know for a fact that statistics prove otherwise.” he ponders. “Another factor that makes air travel less appealing is the fact that a plane is piloted by a complete stranger at 500mph at high altitudes in sub-zero temperatures,” he says. “At least when I’m driving my own car, I have a degree of control over speed and therefore the potential strength of the impact.”
Neurologic research involving the use of magnetic resonance imaging has shown that fear of flying has nothing to do with any event or misperceptions but is the result of the inability to control emotions in the face of uncertainty or the unknown. Carried out by Alan Schore in the last decade, these experiments have shown that this inability stems from lack of support from the caregiver in new, uncertain or fearful circumstances during the first two years of the individual’s life.
The antidote to fear is awareness of reality considering that most of the time fear is rooted in fantasy, old wives’ tales and erroneous perceptions. In fact, if one had to look into actual statistics surrounding air travel, one would realise that on average there are more fatal accidents on the road than in air.
This concept of rooting in reality by educating the public about the truths of air travel is one of the main techniques used to support individuals afflicted by this phobia and many airlines nowadays offer such services. Dr Cachia, in fact, takes solace in the fact that even though thousands of flights operate every day, airplane crashes are a rare occurrence.
For some individuals, education proves enough to eradicate the fear and some even go as far as trying out similar practices like sky diving to overcome it. Dr Cachia finds that what helps him during a particularly turbulent flight and supports him to rationalise his fear and put it into perspective is looking at other passengers and see how they carry on with their reading or chatting without batting an eyelid.
Yet for others, the fear persists and in these cases alternate therapies like behavioural therapy, cognitive therapy and hypnotherapy has been tried with varying degrees of success. Pharmacological treatment using benzodiazepines is a very common choice of treatment – while this can effectively alleviate the anxiety, it was found to reduce the possibility of the person getting accustomed to flying.
Despite all the qualms surrounding travelling by air, the young doctor refuses to relinquish going abroad.
“Getting away for me is a must, even if I have to moisten my pants for a couple of hours in the process,” he grins. “I just cannot give up on attending conferences abroad and the unique feeling of experiencing another country whatever it takes.”
Alas, others do not share his risk-taking attitude and refuse to take the plunge and board a plane. After all, one can always travel the world on satellite at less cost, both financial and existential.