Aerophobia: The Fear of Flying
The fear of flying or aerophobia is one of the most common phobias. This fear of flying can be rooted in various situations or even other phobias. When a person suffers from fear of flying or aerophobia, it can often lead them to avoid flying no matter what the circumstances or may require them to be heavily sedated in cases where flying is something that is necessary.
The fear of flying, aerophobia, is often related to a similar phobia, claustrophobia. Claustrophobia is the fear of being in a tight space with no means of escape. Flying from within an airplane cabin can evoke the same feelings of anxiety in a person with fear of flying or aerophobia. The fear of flying is essentially another form of the fear of tight spaces. For the milder forms of aerophobia, the solution may be as simple as flying first class or flying on an airplane that offers more room to the passengers. The smaller the airplane, the more likely the aerophobia will set in and the person will begin to feel the anxiety they are trying to avoid
For the person suffering from the aerophobia, this fear of flying seems nothing less than normal. They will quote the fact that planes have the ability to crash and they do not want to be placed in that situation. Aerophobia patients will avoid flying at all costs, including driving for days in order to get to their destination and they will avoid the naysayers who try to convince them that flying is a safe means of transportation revealing that if an airplane has not crashed in this long, a crash is overdue. The fear of flying is real to the patient and they will, an all costs, give in to their aerophobia and avoid airplanes.
The aerophobia patient will range in severity from the lesser forms of the aerophobia condition where the person will be able to fly, but will need anxiety medication to do so, to the more severe cases of aerophobia where blackouts, racing heart rates, floaters and increased blood pressure all take hold of the person who suffers this fear of flying, on the way to the doors of the airplane. In the most severe of cases, the aerophobia will stop the person from even entering an airport without feeling anxiety. These cases are the ones that require the most intensive of treatment including medications and therapy.
Luckily, aerophobia can be treated with the help of therapy and medication, that helps decreasing the patient’s physical response to his fear of flying. There is a chance that with this treatment, the fear of flying can be reduced to a point that is manageable enough to allow the person to fly when they wish, and not fly when they do not wish to, not being controlled by the aerophobia. Aerophobia is more of an inconvenience than a disease due to the fact that the person who suffers from it, can avoid the situations whenever they so desire, so this fear of flying will not mess their everyday life.