How to Cope With Aviophobia
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Cope With Aviophobia
Aviophobia is a type of panic disorder related to flying. The classification of the disorder depends on the intensity. If the attack lasts for less than 10 minutes it is an anxiety attack, more than 10 minutes is a panic attack. Aviophobia can occur on or off an airplane. The thought of flying can cause this phobia to appear. A person with aviophobia will have fears of crashing upon airplane take off or landing.
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Know the signs. Trembling, shaking, chest pain or discomfort, sweating, dizziness, unsteadiness, faintness, fear of losing control and fear of dying are symptoms common to aviophobia disorder.
Consider professional treatment. Physicians prescribe anti-depressants, anti-anxiety medications or a combination of the two for treatment of phobias and panic attacks.
Take charge of your own treatment. Traditional personal treatment methods for phobias are medication and therapy. Alternative methods include hypnosis, biofeedback, yoga and Pilates.
Reserve an aisle seat on an airplane. Looking out the window can cause added stress. Read or listen to music during the flight to help distract panic.
Inform the airline staff of the aviophobia disorder. This information will assist the staff if medical assistance is needed on the airplane.
Aviophobia Pills & Medicines
Many different types of medications are used in the treatment of phobias like aviophobia, including traditional anti-anxiety drugs such as benzodiazepines, and newer options like antidepressants and beta-blockers.
Drugs can seem very effective in the short term, but they are not a cure. Anxiety medication can provide temporary relief, but it doesn’t treat the underlying cause of the disorder. Once you stop taking the drug, usually all the symptoms of aviophobia return in full force.
You need to be aware of the risks of anxiety medication, too:
Anxiety drugs often cause a wide range of unpleasant and sometimes even dangerous side effects.
Many anxiety meds are habit forming and physically addictive too, making it difficult to get off the medication once you’ve started. The bottom line is that anxiety medications can be helpful in the short term but can only ever mask the symptoms of aviophobia, never cure and tackle the root cause.
The Best Drug or Medication for Aviophobia
We strongly believe that no medication is the best prescription for aviophobia. If you are currently taking meds, of course, you should consult with your doctor before changing anything, but we believe the goal should always be to deal with the source of the problem, so you will not need pharmaceuticals.
That said, three types of medication are commonly used in the treatment of aviophobia (aviophobia):
Beta blockers
Beta blockers are used for relieving performance anxiety. They work by blocking the flow of adrenaline that occurs when you’re anxious. While beta blockers don’t affect the emotional symptoms of anxiety, they can control physical symptoms such as shaking hands or voice, sweating, and rapid heartbeat.
Antidepressants
Antidepressants can be helpful when the feelings of fear are severe and debilitating. Three specific antidepressants — Paxil, Effexor, and Zoloft — have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration phobias.
Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines are fast-acting anti-anxiety medications. However, they are sedating and addictive, so they are typically prescribed only when other medications have not worked.
Flying is considered one of the safest forms of transportation there is and yet this fact has very little to do with the absolute terror that some people experience at the thought of air travel. This fear is so intense, that whenever possible, many people will find alternative ways to travel to their destination - or just not go at all. Others will consult with their doctors and are prescribed medication to help them relax during the flight.
What causes such great fear?
The emotions that come with the fear of flying stem from many sources but the most common factor is the feeling of not being in control. The person may feel helpless and trapped because unlike car travel they cannot just pull over and get out or even open a window.
Other components of this phobia may include the fear of heights (acrophobia) and the fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia). For others, the thought of turbulence and the fear of crashing is enough to keep them on the ground.
Although Aviophobia has always been noted as one of the most common phobias, the fear of flying has increased dramatically since the events of 9/11. Now we have added fears of hijacking and terrorism to an already anxious and stressful situation.
The Physical Symptoms:
The physical and emotional reactions of someone with Aviophobia are just real as if something dangerous actually were happening. For some people the mere sight of an aircraft can trigger a panic attack.
1. Some common symptoms are as follows:
2. Muscle tension and or tremors.
3. Difficulty in breathing.
4. Dry mouth, flushed or pale face.
5. Chest pain and heart palpitations.
6. Abdominal discomfort and or vomiting.
7. Sweating, dizziness, and weakness.
Aviophobia is one of several kinds of anxiety disorders. The fear is more concerned with what might happen than the actual risk involved. Statistically speaking, flying is much safer than driving a car, however for individual who is afraid to fly, statistics are usually not relevant to the fear.
(Author: Dawn Gilbert) Did you know that phobia’s affect over 10% of the population? Is the fear of flying preventing you from travelling? You can conquer your phobia!
Are you looking for an aviophobia treatment without medication?
Aviophobia is when you are afraid of flying. It is a quite common fear, even though flying is one of the safest modes of transportation when you look at the statistics. Yet, the idea of sitting in a huge machines that weights tens of tons flying thousands of feet high in the sky doesn't make you feel safe at all. No surprise here.
Among the people with aviophobia are also celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Cher, Colin Farrell, Whitney Houston, Enrique Iglesias, Jay Leno and others.
Lots of people are using benzodiazepines or other drugs with similar effects to calm their anxiety. While medication actually does provide temporary relief from anxiety, in the long term it can cause more problems.
The Stanford University School of Medicine conducted a study to find out what the long-term effects of using medication to calm your nerves are for people with aviophobia.
It found out that people who fly without medication gradually become more and more accustomed to flying, and are able to relax more and feel more comfortable with each flight. People who take medication however tend to experience anxiety and panic attacks more often in the same conditions.
Systematic desensitization is a common non-pharmacological aviophobia treatment. It basically means that you are gradually confronted with the situation that causes you anxiety.
However, it should be noted that systematic desensitization doesn't work as effectively for the fear of flying as it works for many other phobias. One reason is simply that it is not easy to gradually expose a patient to the experience of flying on an airplane.
Even flight simulators don't do a good job of gradually exposing patients to the real experience.
Many hypnotherapists use hypnotic regression techniques to bring a person back to the moment their original phobia first developed. They then try to resolve this phobia with different psychological techniques.
However, this going back into the past approach isn't particularly helpful either as an aviophobia treatment.
What has proven to be most effective to help people to fly without fear is hypnosis that teaches people to better react to worrying thoughts and sensations when sitting on an airplane. Instead of panicking when there are turbulences, they are then able to remain relaxed and calm down their nerves safely and quickly again.
