Psychology: where does fear of flying come from?

What if fear of flying wasn't just about... flying? According to psychologists, air travel is above all the trigger for certain specific and non-specific fears and phobias - which, once identified, can be treated separately. By interviewing Thierry Merle, Fofly's resident psychologist. This article looks at what psychology has to say about fear of flying, and how it can be treated.

The psychology of fear of flying: a complex phobia

According to psychologists, fear of flying is rarely a "simple" phobia, i.e. one that focuses solely on flying. Flying can reveal many other anxieties and concerns, and sometimes even a few other phobias.

For Thierry Merle, a psychologist specializing in fears of flying, "the phobia of flying is a complex phobia: it's not so much seeing the plane that's frightening as the fact of flying in it, which means being confronted with specific conditions (turbulence, mechanical fears, weather, etc.) but also with non-specific phobias that exist in other environments but are found in flight, such as claustrophobia, agoraphobia, etc.".

For most people who suffer at the mention of air travel, the plane is first and foremost the revelation of associated disorders that pre-exist the experience of flying. Whatever your degree of anxiety about flying, it's important to identify exactly what your fear is made up of, so that you can be cured with the right treatment.

What are the psychological disorders associated with fear of flying?

Disorders associated with fear of flying

Fear of flying can involve the following psychological disorders:

• Agoraphobia, or fear of not being able to escape from a place
• Fears associated with flying: turbulence, mechanical failure or weather-related fears
• Claustrophobia
• Fear of vomiting
• Fear of flying over the ocean
• Social phobia
• Fear of losing control of events
• Guilt about endangering loved ones
• Etc...

Each individual may suffer from several of these fears to varying degrees. To treat fear of flying, you need to start by identifying which of these disorders are at work, so that you can treat them with a treatment adapted to each one.

Discomfort, fear or phobia of flying: what's your degree?

Fear should not be confused with phobia. Fear is a reaction adapted to a situation of real danger. If I'm faced with a mortal risk, fear is the emotion that will enable me to face up to it and survive. Phobia is an inappropriate fear in which the risk is greatly overestimated, leading the person to believe that he or she is in mortal danger. Most of the time, people are perfectly aware that their fear is oversized. Phobia is not an appropriate reaction, as it does not protect the individual: a person with a fear of flying would rather drive a whole day than take an hour's flight. The risk of an accident is infinitely greater...

There are degrees. For example, there are those who can fly, but with intense discomfort. Most of the time, they compensate with medication or alcohol. There are those who can only fly in cases of force majeure or when it's imposed, and there are those who are simply unable to do so. It has happened, for example, that a phobic has refused to board the plane, leaving his family to go without him...

Why can't our brains stop imagining the worst when flying?

According to psychologists, fear of flying stems from a conditioning process that can be overcome. It's explained by an ability to imagine the worst, and to interpret a harmless event as a threat: "that strange noise, it's probably a problem with the landing gear...". When, in fact, landing gear are extremely secure, with 3 alternative deployment mechanisms. So why does our brain "fill in the blanks" by imagining the worst about flying?

Heuristics, the brain's "shortcuts".

In neuroscience, heuristics is a well-known mechanism. It consists in performing automatic, rapid and intuitive mental operations. This enables the brain to react very quickly, taking shortcuts, but at the cost of errors of judgment.

The heuristic mode is less reliable than the logical mode, which is slower but more faithful to reality. It's like reading a book diagonally: you're bound to miss elements that are essential to understanding. For some people, when flying, heuristic functioning will take over from logical functions and provoke feelings of fear.

How to regain control of your mind when flying.

It's hard to fight, but not impossible, as Thierry Merle explains: "We can't stop the brain from making automatic interpretations of situations, because these functions don't depend on our awareness. When we become aware of them, the brain has already completed all its calculations. We can only create other interpretations that will replace the old ones, creating new automatisms. Hence the fact that healing a phobia is based on repetition."

The solution to fear of flying is to short-circuit these negative associations, replacing them with more positive, logic-based ones. This is what most anti-fear of flying courses and training courses allow you to do, by creating new thought automatisms and using relaxation exercises to avoid activating the brain's "alert" mode.

How to cure fear of flying with psychology.

Contrary to popular belief, fear of flying is not inevitable! It's never too late to treat a fear of flying, whatever its degree. In the experience of Fear of Flying course instructors, patients who have developed a phobia centred on flying are those who respond best to both face-to-face and distance therapies.

To overcome fear of flying, it's essential to start as early as possible. It's a self-perpetuating fear that only gets stronger with time, especially if you're on the lookout for information on (rare) air accidents.

Thierry Merle stresses the fundamental contribution of CBT to overcoming this fear: "Cognitive-behavioral therapies are complementary in curing fear of flying. The cognitive aspect enables us to acquire technical knowledge about airplanes and air safety. The behavioral aspect offers progressive exposure through videos, a soundtrack or virtual reality."

In all cases, professional support is essential. There are many different ways to do this, from consulting psychologists who specialize in fear of flying, to e-learning courses and distance learning, which are more accessible and can be consulted at your own pace. Any way you can to regain control of your brain and discover the pleasure of flying!