Are you suffering and wondering how to overcome fear of flying?
This world is big and offers a lot to see. There are ancient places that have been around forever, beautiful beaches, cold mountains, and so much more. But in order to see some of this beauty, you often have to fly to the far off places. And this is where many people get stuck. Because of this common problem, this article will cover how to overcome fear of flying.
It is not uncommon to meet someone who has a fear of flying and refuses to get on a plane at all. Some will never go to a place that they must fly to and some will get on the plane, but have a nervous breakdown the whole time. While flying is considered safe, this phobia makes it hard for these people to relax and just enjoy the ride.
If you have this phobia, you may wonder about ways of how to overcome fear of flying. One answer hypnosis and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). These techniques will help you to learn how to relax and release your anxiety when faced with your phobia, in this case fear of flying, so you can get on that plane and see more of the world. If you are worried about how to overcome fear of flying, let’s take a look at how hypnosis and NLP can help make things easier.
What is a Phobia?
First, we need to look at what a phobia is. According to Medical News Today, a phobia is often looked at as an anxiety disorder. The person suffering from a phobia is going to have an irrational fear about something. This is not something like being scared of someone shooting you when a gun is pointed at your head. A phobia is usually irrational, such as being scared of flying, being scared of the dark, and so on. Usually the person knows their fears are unfounded. But they just can’t get over how scared and anxious they feel.
Symptoms of a Phobic Attack
- A phobic attack generally has the same symptoms of a panic attack.
- Pounding or racing heart
- Dry mouth
- Rapid speech or inability to speak
- Shortness of breath
- Upset stomach
- Elevated blood pressure
- Chest pain or tightness
- Trembling or shaking
Phobias can come in many forms and the person can feel fear for a thing, living creature, activity, or even a place. When a person has a phobia, they are going to go through a lot of steps to avoid this danger. If they are confronted with their phobia, they are going to undergo a lot of distress, usually with some sort of interference in their daily activities. When the phobia gets really bad, the person may become distressed or even have a panic attack just thinking about the object of their phobia.
The actual phobia is going to start when the sufferer starts to move around and organize their whole lives in order to avoid their fear. In the case of being scared of flying, they will drive everywhere or never go on trips that require them to fly.
Traditional Methods of How To Overcome Fear of Flying
If you visit your doctor or a therapist for help with your phobia, it is not uncommon for them to give you medicine. Some are going to use other options along with the medication, but most of the time medication will be present.
According to WebMD, there are a number of medications that are given to those with phobias. Antidepressants are common, but these can cause a lot of side effects such as weight gain, headaches, stomach issues, irritability, and issues with sleep. Beta-blockers are used as well to help with anxiety, but these can lower your blood pressure too much and make you sick. Anticonvulsant medicines, like Lyrica and Neurontin can be used as well, but these can make you drowsy. All of these medications have the risk of messing with your personality and can become addictive.
The other treatments that are offered are meant to desensitize the person to their situation. Some will just throw the person into the situation, such as on a long plane ride, and make them sit it out until they are over the phobia. Others will do this process a bit slower. With plane rides, they may spend some time talking about planes in sessions. Then they might drive by the airport. Then they might go inside a plane just to look around, Next is a short plane ride, and then a longer one.
These methods can cause a lot of distress in the person and can make them feel ill. While some therapists believe this can help, they often just make the situation much worse. Most patients with phobia will drop out of these kinds of therapies because they are too distressing. When that happens, any progress that was made before or at the beginning of therapy, is going to be lost because of these tough techniques.
Hypnotic Techniques For How to Overcome Fear of Flying
Hypnosis and NLP techniques are much gentler on you than using the traditional technique above. Systematic Desensitization is a method of gradually desensitizing the client to the object of their fears. The essence of hypnosis is relaxation and connection to the unconscious / subconscious mind. The irrational fear is programmed into the unconscious.
A simple example can be made with the fear of heights.
While in a deeply relaxed hypnotic state, the client would imagine that she is climbing a ladder. She will climb up onto the bottom step. She checks out how she feels on that step. If she feels safe and confident, she will proceed to climb onto the second step. She continues to slowly climb the steps until she starts to feel a twinge of fear. At that point the hypnotist gives her post-hypnotic suggestions to create a feeling of safety, comfort, and confidence while on that step.
On the next session, the process begins again. The client uses her imagination to climb up to the step that she left off on. If the client feels safe, she proceeds to climb the steps until she feels a twinge of fear. Once again, the hypnotist gives post-hypnotic suggestions. The process continues until the client feels safe at the top of the ladder in her imagination. At that point the client will be able to actually climb the ladder in reality. This is possible because the unconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between what is imagined, and what is real.
NLP Techniques That Help Eliminate Phobias
NLP is going to work to help get to the root of the issue. They aren’t going to force you to go to the source of your phobia and hope that direct exposure will help. You have been exposed to the phobia in the past and this never worked, so why would a specialist doing it actually work?
With NLP, you will work with a professional, or through recorded sessions, to learn how to be relaxed and reduce anxiety when you are faced with your phobia. The most direct and effective NLP phobia relief technique is called the V/K, which stands for visual – kinesthetic disassociation. Like hypnosis, NLP requires that the client use her imagination. But unlike the hypnosis technique described above, NLP, when used on an appropriate client, can work much faster. The V/K technique has the client disassociate from the phobic trigger. So in the above example of the fear of heights, the client will watch herself climbing the ladder (disassociated state), rather than imagine actually climbing the ladder (associated state).
Professional Hypnotists vs. Self-help
A professional consulting hypnotist is a great option for helping you to get over your fears of flying. They will be able to sit down with you and discuss what the issue is. They are going to look at what phobia you have, in this case the fear of flying, and see just how deep the issue is. Some people are just a bit afraid of flying and others will start to get nervous just thinking about it. Each will need different therapies.
Once this is done, the professional hypnotist will be able to start you on a program to help you relax and get over the anxiety so you can get back on track with your life. While this is not a onetime process, it will help to make things easier. Many people choose to go to at least one or two professional visits, even if they are planning on doing most of the hypnosis themselves, to help get the process started.
Self-hypnosis can also be helpful. You will learn to do this process on your own. This will give you the freedom to work when the time suites you and to spend extra time on parts that may be difficult. There are many CD’s and other recordings that can walk you through this process and make it easier to get the results you are looking for.
The Benefits of Recorded Hypnosis & NLP Programs
Many people who use hypnosis and NLP to help them get over their phobias enjoy using recorded programs. Some of the benefits you will notice include:
With the right combination of hypnosis and NLP sessions, the techniques can be used to cure all phobias. Separate programs for different phobias are not necessary!
Lower cost: Recorded programs are often lower cost than visiting a professional for your hypnosis needs. You can purchase a set of CD’s or MP3’s for one low cost and use them over and over again. If you use a professional, you will have to pay fees each time you show up. This can quickly get quite expensive if you need a lot of help with your phobia.
Portable: These recorded programs are portable, making it easy to take them with you. If you have a few minutes at work, while you are waiting for something, or can’t get to the hypnosis until later, the recordings will wait. Some choose to bring the CD’s on a plane with them the first time to help assuage any fears they have during flight.
Works with your schedule: Trying to find time to work with your chosen professional can be a challenge if you’re really busy. With the recorded tapes, you can work on your schedule, whether that is early in the morning, late at night, or any time in between
Words of Warning
All consulting hypnotists have varying levels of training and experience. Similarly, all recorded programs on how to overcome fear of flying are NOT created equal.
Everyone is different. That means that everyone needs to see or hear something different which is suited to their personality, in order to affect a cure for how to overcome fear of flying. This cannot be done with a single session download. For best results, you’ll want to order a multi-session (6 – 8 different sessions) program that employs a variety of techniques.
Do your due diligence and check the reputation of the hypnotist you will hire, or who recorded the CD or MP3 programs. If you have questions, choose a CD provider who is willing to either talk to you on the phone him/herself, or write you a personal email. This is your mental health, so talking to a secretary just doesn’t cut it.
Conclusion About How to Overcome Fear of Flying
Learning how to overcome fear of flying can be a real challenge for some people. They may have worked hard for years and even been told that their fears are irrational and that they should just get over it. But no matter how hard they try, they just feel scared and very distressed when they have to think about flying.
With the help of hypnosis and NLP, whether it is guided by a professional or you do it on your own using recordings on CD’s or MP3’s, it becomes so much easier to learn how to overcome fear of flying and get yourself out to see the world!
Alan B. Densky, CH. is a modern pioneer in the field of hypnosis and NLP, with over 38 years of professional practice. He is certified by the National Guild of Hypnotists, as well as an NLP Practitioner. Mr. Densky offers the multi-session “I Am Fearless!” self-hypnosis for phobia relief program. He hosts a FREE hypnosis article index on his Neuro-VISION.us Video Hypnosis & NLP website.
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I really liked that there were several different techniques in the program.
By G Ringer
I really liked that there were several different techniques in the program, as I’ve used different ones for some specific phobias I have. The “Flash Away” stress works for me for my fear of heights. The one that gets you closer and closer to your issue worked well for my fear of going over bridges. Really liked the general hypnosis tracks also.
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