Firstly, and most importantly, you should never force yourself to fly to overcome your fear. We all have a built-in survival instinct, which tries to stop us doing things which we perceive as dangerous. Making yourself get on a plane could in fact set you back in your efforts to conquer your fear.
There are theories — referred to as ‘flooding’ and also ‘aversion therapy’ — which say that terrifying yourself in this way can help to cure the fear, but the evidence is that the effect is short-term. Why battle with your instincts when you can negotiate with them? You may, however, want to try sitting on the plane while it is still on the ground; put yourself through the process while knowing you are safe.
There are many fear of flying courses which can be very effective in addressing and alleviating irrational fears about flying. Most of these are run along similar lines; trained and experienced pilots talk you through the flying process, for example explaining all the noises you might hear during your flight, and what causes them. You then have the option of either a short flight in a real plane, or on some courses, in a flight simulator.
Fear of flying courses can be expensive, but you can try this exercise to start overcoming your phobia about flying. Gently take yourself through the process of planning your trip and finding out about destinations, flight times and prices, but without actually booking anything — looking on the internet is a good way to do this. Think of a place you would love to fly to, and go through the process in your mind of preparing and planning for the journey.
You need to create a positive energy that is stronger than the negative energy of fear. Focus on that place you would love to visit; think about it and make the image and idea of it exciting and positive. Practice and work on this every day until these positive thoughts are more powerful than your fear of flying.
Hypnotherapy is quite often the best way to beat the problem for information about our program click here.
