CRI听力:Fear of Flying

This flight is not an ordinary flight. The cabin staff are specially trained to deal with people who have an acute fear of flying. That's because every passenger on this flight is convinced they could die at any moment.

Every step of the way, the pilot explains precisely what is happening. Each noise made by the engines and every movement is given a detailed explanation.

In the cabin, a screen displays a raft of statistics showing that we are less likely to have an accident in the air than we are on a road. There is also a physiological explanation of what happens to our bodies during an anxiety attack, or when somebody with a phobia is afraid.

Resident psychologist Dr. Keith Stoll has been helping people afflicted with a fear of flying for the past twenty years. Stoll is always on the flights to counsel sufferers and he's well acquainted with the symptoms all the passengers on this flight are experiencing.

"These feelings sometimes include feelings of tingling in our extremities, we get palpitations, we get other symptoms all of which come together as a rather unpleasant experience and therefore those people on the plane are struggling with a collection of very, very noxious and unpleasant symptoms."

Stoll says the aim is to confront your fear instead of just distracting yourself and avoiding it, so alcohol is forbidden and tranquilizers are discouraged as a prop.

Stoll says claustrophobics suffer so much for on flights because their bodies are telling them to escape, but they can hardly jump out of the plane. He argues that breathing is the key to being able to control our bodies and our minds.

Stoll sometimes deals with passengers who are in danger of hyperventilating, who need to regulate the amount of carbon dioxide in their bodies.

"Breathing into a paper bag, or holding your breath will increase the levels of carbon dioxide and this will ultimately combat the symptoms and allow us to regain control."
 
Stoll also has other suggestions:

"The suggestion is that the feedback that certain groups of these muscles are under tension, is what seems to keep the anxiety going. Remember that the anxiety is aimed at trying to keep us running away from a predator, or from danger, and so it's important to keep us going without us thinking about it. One of the other triggers is the message that the smooth muscles are all under tension. So, if you can challenge that, then in that case you can actually change the response."

The psychologist says that we don't know all of the complicated conditions that have brought people here, there may be a combination of neuroses that prevent these people from overcoming their anxieties.

By the end of the year 172 million people will have flown in and out of London's Heathrow Airport, up to a quarter of them will not be looking forward to repeating the experience.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.