An App To Help With Fear Of Flying
Afraid to fly? Your phone might be able to help. Virgin Atlantic is introducing an IPhone app to help customers who are afraid to fly. The app includes a video-based in-flight explanation of a flight, frequently asked questions, relaxation exercises and a fear attack button for emergencies with breathing exercises. Richard Branson, president of Virgin Atlantic, said in a statement "the app will put many travelers at ease and enable them to prepare for their first Virgin Atlantic flight."
The app is part of Virgin's Flying Without Fear program aimed at helping customers deal with, as Virgin’s website explains it, "those strange noises that an airplane makes, turbulence" and helps people cope with "claustrophobia, panic attacks, anxiety, or the fear of losing control."
This "app" is old stuff we used in the Pan Am program in 1975 in a new wr-app-er. It only worked for mild fear of flying cases, so I have spent almost thirty years developing advanced methods that work for serious, even extreme, cases.
Unfortunately, the people who put this app together didn't even check the research that shows breathing exercises (what this app is based on) are completely useless for fear of flying. (You can see the research by searching using the phrase georgia state fearful flyer.
That is effective help available, but not via this app.