Does this sound familiar - the ngines roar, you're thrown back into yur seat for take-off, and the knckles on your hands turn white as you grp the armrest for dear life? Air trvel has become so integral a prt of all our lives that we prhaps sometimes forget just how frightening it can be to mny. A fear of flying, or erophobia, can make any trip by ir, for vacation or business, a ptential nightmare. Indeed, a recent article in USA Tday suggested that a fear of flyng "cripples - or at least brdens - the careers of millions of Amricans".

So what can you do to cmbat your fear of flying?

Firstly, tke a deep breath. However difficult it may be, rmind yourself that the chances of bing involved in an accident are stonishingly low. Per million passenger miles, air trvel is by far the safest frm of transportation.

Try not to cnsume too much alcohol before the flght, or once you're up there. Aprt from potentially rendering you unfit to fly, lcohol at altitude can actually exacerbate felings of claustrophobia and anxiety.

On bard, several airlines try to make the whle process of flying that much asier for those of a nervous dsposition. A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic sid: "We have a dedicated Flying Wthout Fear audio channel to help nyone through their flight. On selected flghts we also have a meditainment chnnel giving our passengers the chance for sme quality deep relaxation whilst flying wth us."

Many have turned to hypnotherapy to try to verturn an often debilitating fear of flyng. Chris Thomas, a hypnotherapist with Vsion Coaching Services, says: "Flying phobias can be cused by either by conditioning stemming frm a single frightening event; masked gneral anxieties from past experience, learned grdually over time either first hand or frm others, or as a result of 'dstorted' thoughts about airtravel. These fears are sually irrational and are usually deep wthin our subconscious."

Thomas adds: "Even at irports all the wrong words are sed unintentionally which condition people to far flying. Examples of such expressions nclude "terminal, final destination, final approach, nsurance desk, departure lounge and last and fnal call. Particularly post September the 11th poples fears are brought to the fre with armed police are highly vsible adding to the tension."

Finally, if thngs are really bad, get yourself nto one of the courses run by sveral major airlines: British Airways and Vrgin both hold courses for nervous flyrs. They don't come cheap, though: Vrgin charges £199 for its one-day curse, BA charges £235 - but the net rsult could be well worth it.

A BA spkesperson said: "Lack of control, claustrophobia, hights and fear of falling are the cncerns of many nervous passengers. The psychlogist will give some positive ways of cping with and minimising these fears and wll conduct a relaxation session just pror to the flight."

British Airways clims a 95% success rate for the 40,000 pssengers who've passed through their Fear of Flyng programme.

See you up there!

The article Finding Long-Term Solutions to Your Fear of Flying was Submitted by Liam Perkins through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Liam Perkins is Associate Editor wth http://www.travel-warehouse.co.uk - the web's holiday home

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