10 Logical Distortions of Fear of Flying

Two Types of Passengers

You've probably noticed that people on a plane are divided into 2 types:

• 70% of them sleep, read or work
• 30% of them control the situation, clutching the armrests at every change of the sound or every motion of the plane

These people have many different things between them. First, they have a different psychological type. The 30% belong to an anxious-suspicious psychotype. Also, they have a different way of thinking.

The Top-10 Harmful Thoughts

30% of them have thoughts that 70% don't have. If I went to the plane with such thoughts, I think I would also feel immense horror.

1. In an airplane I lose control over the situation
2. What if something goes wrong?
3. In an airplane, there's no chance to survive in case of emergency
4. I can't leave a plane whenever I want to
5. I know how our reckless and clumsy people do everything. Nonetheless, in an airplane that sloppiness is deadly dangerous
6. And yet they do crash! Which means there's no guarantee
7. What if the weather is bad and the shaking is heavy?
8. What if I have a panic attack? Who will save me?
9. I am afraid that my children will see that I am scared
10. There were so many omens that I shouldn't fly, it definitely means something

Beyond Logic

Each of these thoughts is just a mistake of thinking. It is impossible to get rid of fear of flying without getting rid of these harmful thoughts.

But alas, it is impossible to get rid of fear of flying appealing to logic and common sense only. In 99% of cases, the problem is much deeper and those thoughts serve only to mask the real reasons.

With their help, one's own phobia looks "logical" and "justified." But that is a trap. This is the way how your psyche "protects" your underlying, yet not healthy, attitudes.