The fear of flying is called Aviophobia. There are millions of vacationers and business people who travel on commercial air flights as well as potential flyers worldwide that suffer from it, to a greater or lesser extent. Even though air travel is about thirty times safer than traveling by car, you very rarely hear about people that have a fear of driving. Maybe the television, radio, internet and print media contributes to this fear when they graphically cover commercial airline crashes and the subsequent large number of air travelers that are injured or perish.

Fear of flying can be started by a number of concerns such as the fear of take off and landing, the fear of crashing, the fear of heights, the fear of falling, the fear of flying over water, the fear of flying at night, the feeling of losing control causing panic attacks, stormy weather, air turbulence, hijackers or terrorists, motion sickness, claustrophobia such as the fear of being sealed in the confined space of an airplane cabin or by being packed into the small confines of the aircraft with your fellow passengers, as well as other phobias.

Some more symptoms of the fear of flying are mild nervousness to extreme anxiety, panic attacks, shortness of breath, tightness in your chest, chest pain, clammy hands, a headache, including nausea and vomiting.

If you feel your fear of flying is severe, you may want to consider enrolling in an intensive treatment program. However, if think your fear of flying is not severe, there are some things you can do that may help remedy this problem.

Firstly, sit in a seat that is over the airplane wings, preferably not a window seat, so you cant look down at the ground. When you sit over the wings you will also experience a smoother flight.

If you can do it, you should leave your seat belt on as much as possible. If air turbulence suddenly occurs, you will not get jarred or bounced about as much.

Eat light and try to not to eat or drink any food or beverage that contains sugar, caffeine, or alcohol.

It will help a lot if you try to stay positive and constantly think only positive thoughts.

It may help to occupy your mind by listening to soft, soothing music on your I-Pod.

Sometimes it may help to wear eye shades and sleep if you can.

You may feel less stressed if you can book flights at off-peak times as there are usually fewer airline passengers to contend with.

If you are contemplating taking prescriptions or over-the-counter drugs to calm yourself down on your flight, always consult first with your family doctor or pharmacist. Keep in mind that if you are already taking prescriptions for pre-existing conditions, any new medication may interact adversely with them. Even over-the-counter drugs can be dangerous.

I have a true story that may help you with this problem. A number of years ago a good friend of mine had a real problem with the fear of flying. He was really concerned about dying in a plane crash. A funny thing is that he had no problem driving all over the country, or taking a bus or train when he traveled on his holidays.

Fortunately he got a job selling ads for a local community newspaper near a busy international airport. As he drove around to sell advertising to the stores in the area, he constantly observed huge commercial airliners taking off and landing every few minutes. He got used to hearing the deafening roar of airline engines day in and day out. Slowly, he eventually started to lose his fear of flying.

He finally made the big decision to vacation in Hawaii, which he had always wanted to do. The only obstacle was that he had no choice but to fly. He then took out flight insurance in case the plane crashed. He wanted to be sure he would leave something for his parents if he didnt get back.

Before boarding the plane he took a sleeping pill hoping would keep him calm. He deliberately booked a window seat because he really wanted to be able to see where he was going and what the earth and ocean looked like from the air.

When the flight attendant told all the passengers to fasten their seat belts, he cinched his belt up so tightly he thought that it would break. On the long flight to Hawaii he only removed his seat belt to go to the washroom. During the flight the only thing that really annoyed him was that his ears got plugged and hurt because of the changes in cabin pressure on the takeoff and landing. A helpful fellow passenger suggested that he should chew some gum and that seemed to solve the problem.

When he landed in Hawaii he was proud of himself! After all those wasted years hung up on that phobia he had finally broken free. All it took was working near a big airport and watching the constant stream of takeoffs and landings by these large jet airliners to reprogram his mind.

If you happen to have a fear of flying you must try and rid yourself of this debilitating, irrational fear. I know that your life will be changed forever when you break free and allow yourself to soar with the eagles and fly anywhere in this big, wide, wonderful world that you want to.

Visit FlyingWithoutFear.com if you would like more information on how vacationers as well as business travelers can lessen their fear of flying. This helpful company offers a free online self-help course that we highly recommend you take. Its conducted by a currently flying airline captain.