I could feel my heart palpitating and sinking into my stomach. Thats the best way I can describe my reaction to flying. As soon as the plane starts taxiing, I start praying that we reach our destination safely. I have tried to be practical, tried to rationalize, but it doesn’t seem to help. Until recently, I thought people weren’t as affected by flying as I was. Then I stumbled upon this website, actually I shouldn’t say stumbled. I was conciously searching for sites on turbulence and found this amazing one. It has a lot of information about anything & everything to do with planes and was started by a pilot to ease the fears of people like me. I read about turbulence and also about different emergencies that can arise in a flight. The best part was knowing that there are people out there who feel the same way. I know what you must be thinking, there are lots of people scared of flying, but trust me I haven’t come across even one who is as phobic as me. I have interacted with most who have experienced turbulence or other problems while flying, but this has not deterred them from sitting on a plane again. Among these, there have also been some who have told me horror stories the day before I am supposed to catch a flight. These stories range from their planes having caught fire to it dropping a few hundred feet. What amazes me is that they are still comfortable flying and I on the other hand am in constant tension. So you can imagine, here I am thinking that I should probably go see a shrink because everyone else seems to be ok.

Looking back, I have come to the conclusion that my fear has aggravated over the years. I never used to give a second thought to flying until one particular flight a few years ago. I am not too sure how the fear suddenly crept on me. It didn’t help that the day before I watched ‘Final Destination’ and as previously stated was informed about the horrors of flying (planes on fire, etc.). During the ascent, my mind was in continuous turmoil. I remember asking my dad during the flight that if the plane starts falling, how long would it take to hit the ground. I know I sounded pretty crazy and the look on my dad’s face confirmed it. He didn’t bother answering, so I continued that since we are at 37000 feet, it would probably take around 10 minutes. After saying it, I felt better because I was sure that in those 10 minutes I would have a heart failure. I am also not a good flying companion as I am sure you have already concluded yourself. As soon as it is announced that all cell phones and electronic portable devices are to be switched off, I do so right away. I actually don’t even wait for the announcements, as soon as I am seated, I proceed to do so. If I see anyone around me who hasn’t switched it off when the plane starts taxiing, I make it a point to tell them. It is very annoying and I do realize that, but the fear of flying overrides all my sane thinking.

My fear goes hand in hand with my fear of pain as I am sure it is for most of us. If I am sure that I won’t feel pain, I would be more comfortable flying. I have heard that flying is a lot safer than driving and that gives me a little consolation. Reading about it has also helped a lot to placate my fears. There is a lot of information out there about flying phobias and if any one is suffering like I am, I think gaining any sort of knowledge can be therapeutic. A quick search on google will pull up many sites related to this. Have fun researching and (safe) flying. (more…)