fThe eAr facto feAr facto Finding help for phobias

By CynthiaMcFarland

Valerie Greene* was fully aware that flying is one of the safest methods of travel. She’d actually flown for a number of years before debilitating anxiety symptoms struck in her early 20s.

The increased security measures following 9/11 added to her anxiety about flying, but it wasn’t until she missed her sister’s wedding because she couldn’t make herself board a plane that Valerie had to admit she had a problem that was a ecting her life.

Aerophobia, the fear of flying, is a phobia that a ects approximately 6.5 percent of the world’s population. Until the wedding disaster, Valerie did what most people do to “deal” with their phobias: She simply avoided flying.