A few years back I went through a period when I became very nervous about flying. A few things which I found helpful in overcoming my fears:
- Fear of flying can be down to fear of not being in control. So find some ways you can control the situation. For me, I read that seats near the wings were the most stable part of the plane in turbulence, so I always asked for a seat in the middle.
- Being able to look outside at the horizon also helped me. So again, I tried to get a window seat whenever I could.
- Find out more about aviation. The more I learned, particularly about how over-engineered planes are, the better I felt.
- I noticed that I was more nervous on some flights than others and that this wasn't always down to the airline, or the weather, or turbulence, or whatever, but about something I was anxious about _on the ground_
For some people, fear of flying is just a manifestation of anxiety about something else entirely. Is there something else going on in your life which is making you anxious ?
- Keep track of which flights you were most anxious on. Are there any patterns ? I noticed I was more anxious on flights travelling away from home than on those going home. Again, your anxiety might be about what's going to happen to you at your destination, or the fact that you feel you're having to travel somewhere you don't want to.
Since 2005 I've taken, at the latest count, 268 flights on business and quite a few more for leisure and had very few anxious moments . So it
is possible to conquer your fears.
Hope this helps - good luck
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