One in four people has a fear of flying – and that isn’t just claustrophobics and first-time flyers. Regular business travellers can also feel uncomfortable during take off and turbulence. Clinical psychologist Dr Keith Stoll – who is part of the team involved in British Airways’ Flying with Confidence course – tells us why we’re all predisposed to be a little anxious when we fly

Why do people develop a fear of flying?
Research suggests that about 25 per cent of people have an appreciable fear of flying. In a way, that makes perfect sense: a huge part of a bird’s brain is devoted to the experience of flying, but since it is not part of our own natural repertoire, our brains struggle to make sense of experiences such as turbulence. When we don’t know what’s going on, then we instinctively become anxious.

Understandably, an unnerving flight can sometimes trigger later feelings of vulnerability, but it’s not always the cause. We can also develop the fear unaccountably. This is quite common after a bout of depression or unrelated traumatic stress.

What’s your role on the Flying with Confidence course?
The course begins with a talk by experienced pilots, who describe their training and explain the mechanics of flying. They also clear up misunderstandings about turbulence and other concerns. This is followed by my talk and a 45-minute flight, with a running commentary by a pilot explaining every noise and movement.

My role is to show people how to handle feelings of anxiety effectively rather than avoiding them altogether. Interestingly, we find that people report surprisingly little anxiety during the flight.

About 35 per cent of the people we see on the course are regular flyers, who find that their anxiety has got worse over time. We help them to go back a number of steps and rebuild their confidence from the start. The huge majority succeed in overcoming the difficulty, with most people reporting an improvement after attending the course.

What techniques do you use to help people conquer their anxieties?
The first step is to challenge the thought that anxiety shouldn’t exist and is a weakness. Anxiety is normal – it’s our survival instinct. If we weren’t anxious, we probably wouldn’t have survived through evolution. Animals survive because of their hair-trigger reaction.

We run through a series of techniques on the course – controlling breathing and specific muscle areas (changes to which give the message to your body that you are in an anxious state). I also include a couple of acupressure techniques. The main task is to try and get individuals to handle anxiety in a different way.

Are people most anxious during take-off, landing and turbulence?
Turbulence is a bugbear for most. But the main problem is that our brains can’t make sense of what’s going on during turbulence – and so we struggle with it until we learn it’s okay. For many, take-off is uncomfortable because they don’t understand the aircraft’s manoeuvres. It’s similar with landing, but take-off is regarded as much more worrying for most people because they’re leaving something they know (land) for something they don’t (air) – while for landing, it’s the opposite.

What tips do you have on minimising anxiety?
Find a book on cognitive behavioural techniques for handling anxiety and rehearse the techniques step-by-step through a flight in your imagination. Practise them in other situations where you feel anxious – for example on trains, buses or the Underground. The Flying with Confidence book (see offer below) explains the technicalities of flying and explores the theory behind a fear of flying.

Book onto one of our courses and acquire the tools to help you conquer your fear of flying. Surprisingly enough, just learning to change your breathing when you’re anxious can help. Breathing shallowly keeps anxiety going, so you can gain control if you force yourself to breathe deeply and slowly. If you can’t do anything else, breathe into cupped hands (to increase the blood carbon dioxide levels).

Lastly, don’t feel that you’re alone. I fly regularly and see people who are anxious on each flight.

For the latest information on courses and to check availability, visit flyingwithconfidence.com

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This article has been tagged BA, Travel Tips