So I’ve been going to therapy for my fear of flying. Last week (Dec 2nd) I had a minor epiphany / break through:
My brain has been lying to me! The reason I don’t have to do all those things to help me feel safe is BECAUSE I WAS SAFE!
Logically, I’ve known these statements. I’ve even been saying the first one since I heard it while taking part in a Webinar on fear of flying by the ADAA on Nov 3rd. But that Friday it actually clicked in my head, I actually FELT it! And it was like a door was unlocked and opened in my brain, and when it opened lightness (as in the opposite of heaviness, not as in the opposite of darkness) swept out and washed over part of my head, down my neck, and across the back of my right shoulder and arm. Ahhh, nice!
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For years I’ve been telling people that telling me there’s no reason to be afraid of flying, or quoting statistics at me, doesn’t help at all because you are trying to speak logically to an irrational fear. Now we’re trying to train, or rather untrain, my brain to stop the anxiety loop. I’m told I’ll never be free of feeling the fear, but we can get me to a point where I’m okay feeling it, have it be minimal enough that I can still be functional.