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It's based on exposure therapy / systematic desensitization. It has special sections for turbulence as well as other common underlying fear of flying issues.
I successfully overcame my fear of spiders using Fearless for spiders.
I had a fear of flying, which I overcame completely by accident: I started playing a realistic flight sim for a while. Because it was realistic, I had to learn the basics of how to actually fly a plane. It taught me two things: what some of the noises, the vibrations, and the movements were; and how hard it is to actually crash a plane. Once you made it in the air, you'll want to try crashing your plane in the game (…
I also had a fear of flying, one that lasted 3 years. It came on because of 3 terrible flights in a row. It was bad to the point where I could not even think about stepping on a plane. I ended up missing weddings and job opportunities because the fear of flying was so intense. I now fly regularly, and without issue. It took a long time, but I've found a few things that worked for me: 1. No caffeine on a flight day. T…
I went of my first flight recently, that was the bit that really stood out to me - a little before landing the engines sounded like they powered down to nothing. I had an (internal) freak out, while I watched everyone else continue on like nothing happened. After we landed safely I learned that same lesson - don't listen to the engine. Someone else is driving, and listening won't help.
This type of probabilistic thinking, combined with the acceptance of the lack of control I have over the plane's destiny, tends to be more than sufficient for me. Even if the plane hits turbulence, I know that trained professionals are in control of the situation, and that there is literally nothing I can do to help the situation at that point.
I've found that accepting your own lack of control over a situation is instrumental in confronting all sorts of anxieties. There is nothing I can do, therefore I sit back and relax while enjoying the novelty of the current event.
I know not everyone have the means for that, but here we go: Why don't you try to take flying lessons ? Or at least the basics: - Weather - How a plane works, flies and such - Wind, current, clouds, etc.
Often times your local flight school will offer an inexpensive "discovery" flight lesson for Alternatively, if you're in the SF area I've heard these folks are fantastic: https://www.fofc.com/
Here in the UK, several airlines run fear of flying courses. They involve a seminar with a psychologist and a pilot, followed by a short exposure flight. They report very high success rates. Is there anything similar in your country? https://flyingwithconfidence.com/ https://www.flyingwithoutfear.co.uk/
Earlier quoted context omitted.
what was the name of the simulator?
I'm not the person you're replying to, but I've had loads of fun with FlightGear. Its free & open source. The selection of aircraft and some of the graphics are not as nice as the alternatives, but I've heard the realism is hard to beat. http://home.flightgear.org/
That's a very misleading figure. In 2017 there were zero (read: 0) accident deaths on a commercial passenger jet. That a Turkish cargo jet smashed into a village in Kyrgyzstan doesn't affect me in the slightest.
Flying on a jet in the USA had a zero accident death record for over a decade. In this millenium, not counting 9/11, American Airlines Flight 587 in November 12, 2001 and Comair Flight 5191 on August 27, 2006 were the only deaths involving a jet. Three more involving turboprops. That's it. In 2019 February we will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the last one. No matter what happens to the plane they land them. It's quite amazing how bad shape some of them are but yet land in one piece.
I had a fear of flying, which I overcame completely by accident: I started playing a realistic flight sim for a while. Because it was realistic, I had to learn the basics of how to actually fly a plane. It taught me two things: what some of the noises, the vibrations, and the movements were; and how hard it is to actually crash a plane. Once you made it in the air, you'll want to try crashing your plane in the game (…
This is similar to my experiences with getting blood drawn. About two-weeks prior to the draw I would watch a couple of videos on YouTube of blood draws each night. By the time the day came, I was still anxious but fine. I've been told that the anxiety was created by my nearly passing out when getting blood drawn but the mechanism for nearly passing out is different from panic or anxiety. Still, my "exposure therapy"…
I wonder if the visualization aspect of jumping out of a plan would also help my nerves. Maybe set a date and then watch YT videos for a few minutes a day on tandem jumping.