FOR YEARS, I WOULDN’T BOARD A PLANE, EVEN WHEN MY JOB CALLED FOR IT
My first flight was involuntary. I had no recourse when Mom and Dad planned a family trip to Tasmania in the summer of 1991. I was 15 years old and already suffering from a raging case of aerophobia.
And now my parents wanted to force me onto one of these death traps?
Resistance was futile. They laughed off my concerns, told me how safe flying was, and made fun of me for my sudden obsession with 1970s disaster movies.
I was, even at age 15, well aware that the likelihood of dying in a plane crash was about the same as the odds of John Candy passing on dessert.
It was the mere possibility of a catastrophe, one over which I would have absolutely no control, that petrified me. We’d be cruising along above the clouds, then some loud, awful noise would puncture the calm, and we’d be pointed nose-down, hurtling at 100’s of km an hour toward a fiery end. Passengers would be screaming, my parents would be clinging to each other, and I’d be thinking: We could have just stayed home.
When we finally returned home, I vowed that I’d never fly again. I’d pushed my luck enough, and soon I’d be 18 – no one would be able to force me onto a plane again.
As I grew into adulthood, though, saying no to flying became harder to manage. There were bachelor parties in far-off locales, opportunities to visit friends who’d moved overseas, and chances to travel for work. I refused them all.
I was talking with my Grandma who had her fear of spiders removed in one simple painless session. She said go see Sydney Phobia Therapy. Why is it so simple to fix, I asked. She said it only required simple phobia therapy, which, if done correctly, can remove the phobia in one easy painless session.
I almost stopped breathing. Just one simple session and I no longer would be paralysed by flying?
I have no idea why I’d never heard of it before, but it worked. After my first session, the fear was completely gone, I can remember I used to be scared witless, but it just doesn’t trigger any emotion any more.
I’m not going to say I never give flying a thought. I do. Then I realise how relieved I am, and I thank Grandma once again for telling me about this amazing simple painless process.
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