Flying, fear

Harris tried to his fear of flying when he boarded the... 

Panic disorder is characterized by the occurrence of panic attacks that occur spontaneously and lead to persistent worry about subsequent attacks and/or behavioral changes intended to minimize the likelihood of further attacks. Sporadic panic attacks are not limited, however, to those with syndromal panic disorder as they do occur occasionally in normal individuals and in those with other syndromal psychiatric disorders. The hallmark of panic disorder is that the panic attacks occur without warning in an unpredictable variety of settings, whereas panic attacks associated with other disorders typically occur in response to a predictable stimulus. For example, a person with acrophobia might experience a panic attack when on a glass elevator. A patient with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with contamination fears may have a panic attack when confronted with the sight of refuse, and a combat veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may experience a panic attack when a helicopter flies overhead or an automobile backfires. 

Another way that hypnosis is helpful in anxiety disorders is that it is able to produce intense concentration on a particular subject distinct from the source of anxiety or fear. For example, a person with a fear of flying may be told to imagine that he is simply going into a room to get a restful sleep when he is boarding a plane. This concentration on the nonthreatening scenario allows the person to get on a plane without experiencing feelings of anxiety. 

From the depth of the dreamy decline of the dawn through a notable nimbus of nebulous noonshine. Pallid and pink as the palm of the flag-flower that flickers with fear of the flies as they float,... 

My flying was hampered by the uneven, jagged, and steep walls of the cave, which was structured like an immense gallery with a helical twisting course in its upper reaches. I was having the usual mix of conviction (of course I can fly ) and doubt (flying is impossible ), and the associated emotions of elation and fear. 

Specific phobias used to be called simple phobias. They are excessive and unreasonable fears of specific objects or situations, such as flying in an airplane, heights, animals, seeing an injection, or seeing blood. In specific phobias, exposure to the feared situation or object causes an immediate anxiety response or even a full-blown... 

The women also are taught these arts under their own magistrates and mistresses, so that they may be able if need be to render assistance to the males in battles near the city. They are taught to watch the fortifications lest at some time a hasty attack should suddenly be made. In this respect they praise the Spartans and Amazons. The women know well also how to let fly fiery balls, and how to make them from lead how to throw stones from pinnacles and to go in the way of an attack. They are accustomed also to give up wine unmixed altogether, and that one is punished most severely who shows any fear. 

Lastochka races up the incline and vaults the hedgerow, and Natasha is truly flying, riding her very own Pegasus until they touch down on the other side and carry on their run into the woods. Natasha senses her pony s excitement, but it starts to turn into fear in her young heart. Her face flushes she is perspiring in the kind summer breezes. 

Special sprayers were installed on board aircraft so they could vaporise over vast areas of territory a fine, death dealing rain. Groups of nine, fifteen or eighteen aircraft followed one another so that the fog ensuing from them formed a continuous sheet... soldiers, women, children, cattle, rivers and lakes were drenched continually with this deadly rain... these fearful tactics succeeded. The deadly rain that fell made all of whom it touched fly shrieking with pain. In tens of thousands the victims of Italian mustard gas fell.24... 

That s really what s so frightful in flying-the fear of oneself, the feeling that one has got out of one s class, that all the old kindly familiar things below have... 

The one orientational anchor that is never lost in dreams is the self, the T who dreams, the I who thus swims, flies, flees, makes love, fears, and fights. True, some dreamers see themselves as dream actors (rather than being the centre of the action), but the self is always there. It is the construct of constructs, the organizational unit of consciousness. I dream, therefore I am. 

FIGURE13-8 This would not help those who have a fear of flying ... 

A specific phobia is a fear of a circumscribed object or situation, for instance fear of spiders, fear of flying. The diagnosis is not usually in doubt. A course of treatment by a trained therapist, involving graded exposure to the feared stimulus is the treatment of choice and can be very effective. By its nature such therapy generates severe anxiety and a benzodiazepine may permit patients fully to engage in therapy. 

If it s a boldfaced hornet, you may fear its sting. But the only creatures that should be afraid of a hover fly are the aphids in your garden. 

My fear of flying (or some other fear) prevents me from living a normal life. 

Specific phobias are perhaps the most familiar of the anxiety disorders, and are char-, acterized by a disproportionate fear of an object (e.g., spider, snake) or situation (e.g., flying, receiving an injection). When the stimulus is confronted it elicits an intense anxiety reaction, which the sufferer recognizes to be excessive but is unable to moderate. Prophylactic use of anxiolytics for predictably stressful situations is helpful, but in the longterm, medication is less successful than behavioral therapy in the treatment of specific phobias. 

Secondary to the panic attacks, many patients eventually develop agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is anxiety about being in places or situations in which escape might be difficult or where help might not be available in the event of a panic attack. As a result, patients often avoid specific situations (e.g., flying or elevators) in which they fear a panic attack might occur. ... 

For anxiety due to fear of flying or after dinner speaking for example a one-off treatment with a benzodiazepine or a P-blocker may be justified. 

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