Fear Of Flying Impacting Your Career?
January 14, 2010 • Category : Stress Management
Businesswoman Jodi Smith can identify when things began to unravel at her previous profession. Two years ago, she boarded a flight in Atlanta en route to a mandatory corporate conference in Philadelphia. The fear was too nerve-racking. She left her job.
The looming plane trip panicked Kim Daniels. She missed a very critical summit due to her severe fear. Instead of she rented a sedan and drove to the event, but arrived much too late. The sourcing company executives were not happy. It only got worse from there and she resigned.
Fear of flying restricts - or at least burdens - the jobs of millions of Americans. Also known as aviaphobia, it causes many workers to pass up promotions or fail to go to out-of-town engagements, training sessions or sales calls. It can decrease productivity and strain relations with employers. In some cases, it limits jobs by pigeonholing people in jobs that they're not well-matched for but that will keep them confidently on the ground.
It is difficult to summarize the correct cost to a company due to fear of flying. A lot of employers do not totally appreciate the cost they are paying since the loss is unseen. Less-experienced employees could be hired for positions requiring air travel, and less-talented employees must be sent to out-of-town meetings and industry trainings.
Fear of flying "is a huge problem," says Jerilyn Ross, president of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. Like other fears, it is an irrational, involuntary fear that causes a person to stay away from daily experiences.
According to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll, 27% of U.S. adults would be at least somewhat fearful of getting on an airplane tomorrow, including 9% who would be "very afraid." Public phobias seem to have subsided since the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorism. A similar survey taken in November 2001 showed 43% at least somewhat afraid, including 17% who were "very afraid."
Treatment options
Soar
Former airline pilot Tom Bunn sells DVDs that inform fliers about airline flights and safety and recommend ways to establish emotional control by attaching a soothing emotion to each apprehensive thought. A 10-DVD series costs $480, but most people can prevail over their flying fears with four DVDs that cost $195, he says. Bunn, a licensed therapist, also gives private therapy.
The Ross Center for Anxiety & Related Disorders
Jerilyn Ross, president of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, provides in-person treatment sessions in Washington, D.C. Up to 4 sessions and a round-trip flight should be enough to overcome most fliers' fears, Ross says. The fee for four sessions and a therapist's flight time is around $2,000, together with the price of airline tickets.
CTRN (Change That's Right Now)
Seymour Segnit, a neuro-linguistic programming teacher, offers 3- CDs and a workbook for $147, or phone remedy that costs at least $1,500. Neuro-linguistic programming - the use of self-help rituals to program the mind - has been called ineffective by psychologists, but Segnit says it works. CTRN aims to coach fearful fliers to take back control of their emotions.
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