From panic to peace: understanding the psychological roots of fear of flying
Such pictures we, the pilots, often see during a flight. The sky is sometimes simply swarming with airplanes, side, top and bottom of our aircraft. In the sky, we feel that we are a part of a huge system, we see and hear tens and hundreds of aircraft around us. There are so many airplanes in the sky that even the radio can be really overcrowded. Often the air traffic controllers constantly communicate with other aircraft, so that it's not so easy to intervene in the radio talk to report a taken level, for instance.
Unfortunately, views like this are practically unavailable for passengers. Also passengers don't get to hear our conversation with the ATCs. To some of you it may seem that your airplane is alone in the middle of the endless sky. Fearful flyers may feel lonely, lost, isolated, alienated during the flight. It most frequently happens during the night flights. In extreme cases those feelings can even lead to panic attacks.
Such painful perception of isolation, feeling that your airplane is alone in boundless element, has deep psychological roots.
As a rule, the reason is lack of stable, reliable and predictable bond with significant adults in early childhood. A lack of one or both parents, their emotional unpredictability, their betrayal or absence, lack of close and warm emotional connection - it all activates painful attitude to the feelings of isolation and loneliness in the adulthood. That's why for many fearful flyers, among other factors, take-off, PARTING with the ground is precepted so hard.
In our mobile app "Flight Buddy: Calm down&Fly" we talk about aircraft a lot. But much more do we talk about psyche and the REAL reasons for fear of flying. The reasons that make taking part in one of the safest processes in the world so hard. That is why the changes after go far beyond making your flights easier for you.