Last year I along with my maternal uncle planned to attend a meet in some other state. For this we planned to fly, as it is not possible to reach their by road in the stipulated time. But at the eleventh hour both of us dropped the idea for some good reasons.

Later on when we met each other both of us confessed that the reason of cancellation of that particular program was none other than the fear of flying. Last week when my brother flied so casually to Finland, I just recapitulated the same small run way on one of the the hill tops of our small town. It is quite small so that only small jets can take off to carry you up to the capital.  Whenever I visit this place I visualize the failure of deadly takeoff just like coming down to the steep valley from a very high rollercoaster.

In this series I seldom dream of falling from a very high point. Personally, I like to be in control of whatever I do. I stay away from any danger and have never been one for things like roller-coasters. I do not need that particular thrill to rock my boat. The thought of travelling by air therefore did not exactly excite me; I have to admit it really scares me. When I drive a car or bike I have an element of control.

You’ll be thinking of me as a timorous, which probably might be correct. For me this is just a concern, since this fear is an indirect manifestation of one or more other phobias. Furthermore this fear is widespread and receives more attention than most other phobias because air travel is often difficult for people to avoid especially in professional contexts.

The thing which worries me is it may spoil from going on a trip with family, and it can knock down the career of a businessperson by preventing him from traveling for business. This fear is a level of anxiety so great that it prevents a person from travelling by air, or causes great distress to a person when he or she is compelled to travel by air. I have not reached the level of most extreme manifestations which can include panic attacks or vomiting at the mere sight or mention of an aircraft or air travel. When this anxiety reaches a level that significantly interferes with a person’s ability to travel by air, it definitely becomes a fear of flying.