| Page 2 of 2 < |
In a Brave New World, a Heightened Fear of Flying
Robin Wexler, right, is a claustrophobic who has sought therapy to deal with his anxiety about flying. Flying for such people has become harder since airlplanes became more crowded.
(By Carol Guzy -- The Washington Post)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
But in recent years, more people have sought help as air travel has picked up and as many travelers cannot find ways to avoid flying for business or pleasure, therapists said.
Many fearful fliers aren't afraid that the plane will crash, experts said. Rather, they suffer from claustrophobia, a fear of being in tight spaces. Some are terrified of having a panic attack and embarrassing themselves, or of even getting tackled by security-minded passengers, therapists said.
"A lot of people are afraid that when that door shuts, they are going to do something crazy," said Jean Ratner, a therapist in Bethesda who works with anxious fliers. "The gels thing really raised the whole fear of terrorism all over again. It was a mini-9/11."
Their anxiety can be so intense that when Ratner shows her patients a video of someone taking a flight, their eyes grow wide and their hands begin to sweat, she said.
To help travelers, whose phobias also often affect them in elevators, crowded Metro trains or other passenger compartments, Ratner creates a detailed treatment plan. Each patient gets a personalized audio tape to help deal with stress. Most are taught to think of soothing memories or places when they feel anxiety approaching.
Ratner will even drive patients to the airport, as she did with Birnbach.
Like many claustrophobics, insurance salesman Robin Wexler, 61, waits to be the last person to board a plane.
His wife, Elaine, felt it was "a job" to calm her husband during flights and made him seek therapy from Ratner to conquer his fears. "He wasn't willing to travel on his own," she said. "I told him I wouldn't always be able to fly with him."
What was it like traveling with him? "It was tense," said his 28-year-old daughter Emily Wexler. "We are happy he is seeing somebody."
"In my business and personal life, I am always the one who determines a course of action," said Robin Wexler, who negotiated the maze of travelers at National Airport with his family for a recent vacation to Mexico.
"On an airplane, I am at their mercy," the 61-year-old added. "I get antsy, if we are not moving and just sitting on the runway for a prolonged period of time, I get really antsy . . . I am having a full-blown anxiety attack over it. It used to be painless, and now it is anything but painless."
Sitting inside a plane stuck on the taxiway is particularly unnerving because he feels trapped, he said.
Wexler's hands will begin to sweat and his heart starts pounding until the plane gets airborne. To calm his nerves, he imagines something far removed from the cramped and stuffy cabin: a sunny golf course or playing with his 2-year-old grandson. So far, it has worked.
