The Media’s portrayal of the story of Qantas flight QF 30 which developed a hole in its airframe mid-flight only serves to exacerbate the widespread phobia of flying
New York, NY, July 28, 2008 — Fear of Flying is unusual among serious phobias because hardly any of the people who have it have actually experienced a real traumatic event on a plane. An intense past experience is one of the leading causes of all phobias, but not, it seems, of flying fear.
“Over half the people who come to us for help with fear of flying run ‘movies’ inside their head of really bad stuff happening on a plane” says Seymour Segnit, Founder and President of CTRN: Change That’s Right Now. “This is true of all phobias – but usually the person has actually been bitten by a dog, or died in front of an audience. We’ve never had a single case where the client had actually been on a plane that went down.”
The team at CTRN believe that many of the aviophobia-inducing movies clients run in the minds are inadvertently ‘installed’ by the media. Network and cable news, TV dramas and movies often depict planes going down with dramatic visual effects from a passenger’s-eye point of view, providing the perfect images for a flying phobia inclined mind.
The shaky real-life cell-phone movies from inside Qantas flight QF30 which landed safely this week after developing a hole in the fuselage mid-flight are a perfect example, according to Mr Segnit:
“To overcome fear of flying, it is critical to understand exactly how you are creating the fear. Vivid disaster movies in which the person imagines themselves right in the middle of an extreme situation are the hallmark of many phobia cases. But the images have to come from somewhere, and as flying is so safe, almost everyone is either making stuff up, or playing over visuals they’ve seen in the media.”
CTRN offers the following advice to fearful flyers:
1: Always take your doctors advice, but go easy on the drugs. There’s no drug specifically for fear of flying, so any you take won’t get to the root cause, and may have significant side effects.
2: Understand that the thinking comes first, not the fear. If you notice the fear starting, just thinking nice stuff won’t make a significant difference. You need to immediately interrupt the fearful thought patterns. Do that dramatically enough and the mind will break the neurological associations at the heart of the problem.
3: Get help – but make sure the solution you seek gets to the root cause of the problem: the patterns of thought that trigger the fear.
“Overcoming Fear of Flying is actually very simple;” says Segnit: “First the person must be truly committed to successfully overcoming the fear, then with the right direction they can quickly learn to eliminate the patterns of thinking that were triggering a fear response when they think about flying.”
CTRN: Change That’s Right Now can be found on the web at www.ChangeThatsRightNow.com or by telephone at 800 828 7484.
About CTRN
CTRN: Change That’s Right Now, Inc. was founded in 2002 to help people stop the worst fears, phobias and anxieties from stopping their lives. They offer two programs to overcome fear of flying. Their ‘VIP’ fear of flying program is a short series of intensive sessions with a specially trained practitioner who directs clients quickly through the processes. ‘Vanquish Fear & Anxiety’ is a CD-based program that includes many of the techniques used by the practitioners, but at a significantly lower cost. The direct link is here: http://www.changethatsrightnow.com/fear-of-flying.asp
With customers in 67 countries around the globe, CTRN is recognized today as one of the leading organizations in the field. With clients from local businesses to the Fortune 500, CTRN has developed a deserved reputation of discrete help for serious fears and phobias. Based in New York, CTRN can be reached at 800 828 7484 or www.ChangeThatsRightNow.com.
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Contact:
Dave Lockman
Change That’s Right Now, Inc
New York, NY
800 828 7484
[email protected]
http://www.changethatsrightnow.com
