How to overcome the fear of flying

Do you wish you could travel to faraway places and see the world, but start sweating or perhaps even shaking when you realize you'd need to get on a plane to get there? If you have aviophobia, or the fear of flying, here's how to prevent it from limiting your life.

Steps

1. Face the facts. Don't forget that the statistics are on your side. One study found that it's 261 times safer to take a plane from New York to Los Angeles than to drive the same distance. However, if this rational approach isn't doing much to address your irrational fear, then...
2. Know what to expect. A large part of being scared is not knowing what will happen next. Why is the plane going so fast? Why do my ears feel funny? Why does the wing look weird? Why are we hitting turbulence? Why are we being asked to keep our seat belts on? When presented with an unusual circumstance, your first instinct is to assume the worst. To minimize this, learn everything you can about flying. The plane needs to reach a certain speed so that it can take off, your ears are popping because of a change in pressure, certain parts of the wing are supposed to move, and so on: everything that is happening happens every time a plane goes into flight.
3. Learn to meditate. In other words, before you step onto a plane, learn how to control your thoughts. Sit down in a chair, close your eyes, and pretend you are on a plane. When you something strikes your fear and you start feeling anxious, try to stop the thought process--the imagery--from funnelling out of control. Think about something else you're excited about, or at least something that will take your mind off of your fears. Listen to yourself breath. Recite the alphabet backwards. Count to 5,000.
4. Bring doctor-prescribed anti-anxiety medication, just in case. Make an appointment with your MD and explain your situation. Don't wait until you're on the plane and alcohol becomes your only option. Being intoxicated, or taking any kind of drug that is not prescribed by your doctor to address this specific situation, will probably only make things worse.
5. Face your fear head-on by taking flying lessons. There are countless stories of people who've feared something all their lives only to meet it face-to-face one day and discover that the object of their fear was nothing to be afraid of. One way to conquer a phobia is to immerse yourself in it--in what you know is a safe situation (i.e. in the presence of trained professional). With the guidance of a patient instructor, you might find that flying isn't so scary after all.
6. Accept that you are not in control. Risk is a part of life. You never know what's right around the corner. Fear is all about anticipating, worrying, and wanting to control the future. Once you become more comfortable with the idea that what will be will be, flying will not be as much of a threat to your peace of mind.

Tips

• Get an aisle seat. Not only will you be further away from the window, but you'll also have better access to flight attendants.
• Fly with a friend if you can--preferably someone who's flown many times before and isn't scared of it at all.
• Bring things to keep you distracted: an MP3 player, puzzles, magazines, books, a portable DVD player, etc.

All text by WikiHow under a Creative Commons License