Having a fear of flying can make any holiday a stress-filled nightmare.
People have tried and tested a whole host of tactics to beat the phobia, from hypnosis to having a chat with the cabin crew.
Now, a travel expert has revealed the ‘science-backed tool’ to help overcome a fear of flying.
Stacey Leasca, a travel writer from Travel + Leisure, flies regularly for work – despite being scared of flying herself.
She wrote that she’s tried most methods to combat the fear – but only one thing has worked.
The tactic?
Learning how to source and read turbulence forecasts.
Stacey says she does so for each and every flight she takes.
If you’re a nervous flyer, this technique could help you to stay calm
She wrote: ‘I use sites like Turbli, which combines data from official weather and aviation agencies to predict the turbulence, wind, and thunderstorm activity along your flight route.’
Turbli is a turbulence forecast tool that was established in 2020.
According to its website: ‘Fearful flyers are frequent users.
‘For some of them, Turbli is a lifesaver that helps them calm down by setting the right expectations; for others, it creates an additional anxiety that makes things worse.’
If you’re a nervous flyer and find knowledge helpful to eliminate the unknown, this could be the site for you.
Bryan Bruno, the medical director at Mid City TMS, a New York City-based medical centre, told Travel + Leisure: ‘When you use tools like Turbli to predict turbulence, you’re engaging your prefrontal cortex rather than allowing your amygdala to dominate with fear responses.
‘Knowledge transforms unpredictable threats into manageable variables.’
He added that the brain can’t be rational and in panic-mode at the same time.
The tactic helps you to be rational, potentially helping you to deal with the fear
As such, if you know what to expect, you could be calmer – and these sorts of apps help you to know what is to come.
Bryan added: ‘When you know moderate turbulence is expected over Colorado, your mind stops creating disaster narratives, replacing ‘What if?’ with ‘I know what to expect.”
There are plenty of other ways to combat a fear of flying. A woman who became a flight attendant ‘to beat the fear of flying’ revealed her top tips for anxious flyers.
Alternatively, one gelatine-based dessert might just be the surprisingly sweet solution to surviving turbulence and beating your fear, it was recently revealed.
