Aeronausiphobia
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 3
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From: Brisbane
Aeronausiphobia
Hello all,
I am a trainee pilot very close to completing my first GA licence. Ever since the very beginning of training, I have been dealing with aeronausiphobia - the fear of becoming airsick (leading to feelings of airsickness). Although I've only actually become airsick twice in my life, I seem to always feel nauseous as soon as a few minutes into the flight. It has become an issue for me, and I am seeking to get rid of it completely.
Enjoyment on my flights would go up 200%- I'd love to be able to fly without subconsciously worrying about becoming airsick.
Has anyone ever dealt with the same problem, and if so, how did you fix it?
Thank you very much in advance.
Best regards!
I am a trainee pilot very close to completing my first GA licence. Ever since the very beginning of training, I have been dealing with aeronausiphobia - the fear of becoming airsick (leading to feelings of airsickness). Although I've only actually become airsick twice in my life, I seem to always feel nauseous as soon as a few minutes into the flight. It has become an issue for me, and I am seeking to get rid of it completely.
Enjoyment on my flights would go up 200%- I'd love to be able to fly without subconsciously worrying about becoming airsick.
Has anyone ever dealt with the same problem, and if so, how did you fix it?
Thank you very much in advance.
Best regards!
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,982
Likes: 1
From: In the boot of my car!
You have a fear of being sick while flying that you feel sick ?
Ok challenge that perception by telling yourself that it's ok to be sick, not the end of the world and nothing bad will happen
Why not even try to make yourself sick
I had a friend 25 years ago and we flew a 172 to a grass field near Truro! He flew down and me back
He was a bit off colour when we went so took a sick back and sadly had to use it but it didn't bother him or his flying at all! He just apologised and got on with the job
So really it's your perception just get used to it ! It sounds like you have a fear of the process of being sick confront it which isn't to recoil but the opposite accept it as normal as breathing and take a sick bag as aircraft are hard to clean if you don't
Pace
Ok challenge that perception by telling yourself that it's ok to be sick, not the end of the world and nothing bad will happen
Why not even try to make yourself sick
I had a friend 25 years ago and we flew a 172 to a grass field near Truro! He flew down and me back
He was a bit off colour when we went so took a sick back and sadly had to use it but it didn't bother him or his flying at all! He just apologised and got on with the job
So really it's your perception just get used to it ! It sounds like you have a fear of the process of being sick confront it which isn't to recoil but the opposite accept it as normal as breathing and take a sick bag as aircraft are hard to clean if you don't
Pace
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 165
Likes: 0
From: Greater London Area
Aeronausiphobia is a bad companion, because it may cover symptoms of real airsickness. Motion- and Airsickness is thought to be related to histamine and the easiest way to treat is get vitamin C. A very good friend got a grip on his aeronausiphobia with chewing Acerola-C, which is also not influencing your airworthiness. Cheap, easy to get and I heard a lot of good things.
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 409
Likes: 3
From: The Home of the Gnomes
Joined: Oct 2007
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 1,028
Likes: 121
From: Wherever I go, there I am
Hi tatave,
I had a different, but equally debilitating, issue a number of years ago (10 or so now). I was flying a light single in marginal VFR. The engine began sputtering quite badly and I was certain in my mind the engine was failing. I landed after reaching the closest airport 20 minutes away. Maintenance had a look at the airplane and they figured it was very bad carburettor icing.
At the time I had 80 to 100 hours total time. Even though I could logically explain in my mind what happened, I was damned near terrified to go flying. Any out of place sound had me setting up for best glide and a furious search for a place to let down. My stomach would turn with the engine and I (figuratively) kissed the ground every time I landed. It was a number of years later and almost four hundred hours that I finally found I had stopped worrying every time I went flying that the engine was going to quit. I almost left flying because of it and even then it stopped me from switching from a part-time and full time pilot once I had my CPL. My career definitely took a hit.
My point, I guess, is that it finally just went away. I can't tell you what happened or when it happened but I just realized one day that I had gone a couple of flights without thinking much about the engine. It was probably just a lot of exposure in a short amount of time, but it saved my career. It was a horrible experience, but I now look back on it and realized, much like you have, that I was not enjoying flying at all. I was paying a lot of money, and then got paid a little bit of money, to be unhappy...kind of like a bad marriage.
I hope that you find a bit of exposure cures it, but sometimes just getting it off your chest also helps. Feel free to PM me and I can expand on what happened to me.
I had a different, but equally debilitating, issue a number of years ago (10 or so now). I was flying a light single in marginal VFR. The engine began sputtering quite badly and I was certain in my mind the engine was failing. I landed after reaching the closest airport 20 minutes away. Maintenance had a look at the airplane and they figured it was very bad carburettor icing.
At the time I had 80 to 100 hours total time. Even though I could logically explain in my mind what happened, I was damned near terrified to go flying. Any out of place sound had me setting up for best glide and a furious search for a place to let down. My stomach would turn with the engine and I (figuratively) kissed the ground every time I landed. It was a number of years later and almost four hundred hours that I finally found I had stopped worrying every time I went flying that the engine was going to quit. I almost left flying because of it and even then it stopped me from switching from a part-time and full time pilot once I had my CPL. My career definitely took a hit.
My point, I guess, is that it finally just went away. I can't tell you what happened or when it happened but I just realized one day that I had gone a couple of flights without thinking much about the engine. It was probably just a lot of exposure in a short amount of time, but it saved my career. It was a horrible experience, but I now look back on it and realized, much like you have, that I was not enjoying flying at all. I was paying a lot of money, and then got paid a little bit of money, to be unhappy...kind of like a bad marriage.
I hope that you find a bit of exposure cures it, but sometimes just getting it off your chest also helps. Feel free to PM me and I can expand on what happened to me.
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,982
Likes: 1
From: In the boot of my car!
Being sick will obviously be a fear from childhood when you knew no better. Maybe as a young kid you thought you were dying or about to die and recoiled from the experience
Its funny how these early experiences become inground into our psyche
The best answer is not to recoil but to welcome the experience of vomiting so that it isn't a fearful experience for you anymore.
Some young women with eating disorders make themselves sick after each meal not a good thing to do with such frequency but it shows that their fear of gaining weight outweighs their fear of being sick
Pace
Its funny how these early experiences become inground into our psyche
The best answer is not to recoil but to welcome the experience of vomiting so that it isn't a fearful experience for you anymore.
Some young women with eating disorders make themselves sick after each meal not a good thing to do with such frequency but it shows that their fear of gaining weight outweighs their fear of being sick
Pace
