Is Therapy Helpful In Treating Fear Of Flying?

A phobia is an excessive and persistent fear of an activity, situation, object, person, or animal. It is a type of anxiety disorder. A person with a phobia either tries to avoid the thing that triggers the fear or endures it with great anxiety and distress.

A phobia doesn't generally require medical intervention unless it causes a significant amount of distress or the fear is preventing the person from living a 'normal life.

For instance, if the person lives in Montreal and has a phobia of tigers, the person can simply avoid the Montreal Zoo rather than seek treatment for said phobia.

However, if the person has aerophobia, a fear of flying, and is required to travel overseas for their work, then their flying phobia may need to be treated.

What is Aerophobia?

A large number of people experience anxiety when they fly. Even thinking about flying before actually stepping onto an airplane can be anxiety-provoking for some. However, others experience an extreme sense of fear or panic when they fly and avoid flying altogether. If they must get on a plane, they are likely to experience panic attacks or other intense anxiety symptoms.

There are treatments available to those who suffer from a fear of flying. Below are several treatments for aerophobia.

1. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

A person who has a fear of flying generally believes that their anxiety is based on reality. Often the person's thoughts revolve around some combination of 'flying is inherently dangerous and a sense of being out of control. These negative thoughts often increase in intensity in the days leading up to a flight.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy in Montreal enables the person to manage their fear of flying by gradually 'tweaking' their thoughts. This CBT is based on the notion that thoughts and beliefs are interlinked with feelings & behaviors. That is if one is able to notice and 'evidence check' one's thoughts, it may prevent the person from spiraling into anxiety or panic attacks. One may need to undergo several sessions of CBT to experience a noticeable reduction in aerophobia.

2. Group Therapy / Psychoeducation

Group therapy and psychoeducation allow individuals suffering from a fear of flying to open up about their feelings without the hesitancy and shame that may prevent them from talking about their anxiety.

A group of people with a shared phobia of flying may assemble at an airport hotel for a weekend, where they'll engage in a range of psychoeducation sessions inside the airport. They will be able to see, hear and perhaps enter a stationary airplane. These exercises are conducted in a calm and extremely safe manner to highlight the safety of planes. By gradually exposing themselves to the aircraft before flying, their confidence will gradually increase, and hopefully become more aware that fears may not be accurate.

3. Individual Therapy

Individual therapy is another effective treatment that involves one-on-one interactions between a therapist and a client. They work together to work out why the phobia arose in the first instance and why they are holding onto the phobia. Individual therapy is often conducted over multiple sessions and usually takes several sessions to reduce the person's flying phobia.

Medications for Flying Phobia

Another option may be meditation. A doctor or a psychiatrist can prescribe medication that will help with the acute symptoms of aerophobia.

These medicines include:

● Beta-blockers: to control the effects of adrenaline.

● Benzodiazepines: to reduce acute anxiety and relax your body.

● Antidepressants: to reduce anxiety over a longer period. It should be noted, antidepressants may take up to one month to be effective.

Whatever the cause of one’s fear of flying, there are a variety of Montreal Anxiety Therapy treatments available to help.