Topics: Mental Health, Travel, Health, Hacks
Aerophobia is an extremely common - yet potentially one of the most serious - fears that a person can endure.
And as sufferers will be painfully aware, this painful condition sadly goes so much further than just feeling slightly on-edge during takeoff, or feeling a bit squeamish if there's turbulence.
In the most severe of cases, a fear of flying can be wholly debilitating, preventing suffers from ever travelling overseas.
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When it comes to treating this enfeebling phobia, there are countless - often conflicting - claims from the likes of TikTok influencers, mental health professionals and flight attendants.
So much so, that it's often difficult for anxious travellers to find a means of conquering their fears.
This week, however, a group of anxiety-relief professionals working at SOAR - a firm aimed to combat unease when travelling - have opened up on a technique they've observed thousands of nervous flyers implement into their travelling routines.
In fact, runners of the therapy program allege that many of those who've implemented the technique into the routine have managed to alter their entire mindset when it comes to travelling overseas.
The handy hack is known as the 5-4-3-2-1 technique - which has reportedly been encouraged by countless medical professionals, particularly in cases of panic attack sufferers - and has been around for decades.
It is only until recently, however, that it has been found to assist flyers to have been courageous enough to board a flight.
If the name of the nifty trick still doesn't ring any bells, allow us to fill you in on how it works...
Experts believe a good place for anxious flyers to start when they start to become overwhelmed with fear, it to try to focus on five things in front of you you can see.
By noting the details of these objects - like any scratches engrained onto the tray table, or patterns on the seat in front of you - you're afforded time to be distracted.
If you feel yourself continuing to panic, however...
Reach out and feel around for things in front of you. Grab a book out of your cabin luggage and move it around in your hands. Feel the roughness of the pages and the smoothness of the cover.
Pull out a scarf and drag the material through your fingers as it calms you.
Then...
Focus on the noises around you, one by one. The lavatory flushing on one of the rows before you.
An elderly couple nattering on the seats behind, or a mother reading to her baby.
Listen carefully to each and every sound as it calms you, before...
Try to focus your mind on the things you can smell around you, whether that be a snack you've brought on board with you, or the perfume of someone sitting around you.
Pop some chewing gum in, close your eyes and taste the mintiness, the spice, the freshness.
Apparently, activating the senses helps the anxious mind to be redirected, subsequently pushing out fear and allowing you to focus your attention on being present in the moment.
"This is just a way to focus your awareness for a couple of minutes on things that don't cause anxiety," SOAR experts explain.
"It gives you a chance to burn off the stress hormones that have accumulated. A couple of minutes of the 5-4-3-2-1 method and you'll feel better."
