One of the most cherished dreams along mankind's history has been dominating the skies, to be able to rise up the sky, fly, and moving like birds do. It has been during the past century when the human being has witnessed, amazed and admired, the vertiginous progress made in aeronautics.

Now, we not only master the skies and are able to fly overseas in just hours, but also have laid our eyes beyond the stars. However, many persons do not benefit from this technological progress and lose many opportunities (job, leisure, etc.) because they suffer an intense fear to travel by plane. In plane related situations the person may be afraid of having an air accident, of experiencing distressing anxiety sensations (even a panic attack), of going away a sage place (one's own home), of being enclosed in a reduced space, of heights, of the apparent aircraft's instability or its unpredictable movements, of "losing control", etc.

The situations feared by a person with fear of flying are not circumscribed with the actual flight. They may include to drive or accompany someone else to the airport, buying the ticket and confirming the flight, waiting at the boarding lounge, or even packing at home or watching planes on TV. In these situations the person experiences great concern and fear because he/she believes that something bad will happen. One consequence of this is that they remain "hyper-alert", plenty aware of any "unusual" noise that "doesn't sound normal", of the aircraft movements indicating that "something is wrong", or scanning the aircrew's faces looking for signs of concern. In addition to the fear and the preoccupation, the person afraid of flying experiences bodily symptoms such as palpitations, shaking, upset stomach, muscular tension, confusion, etc. Another characteristic feature of fear of flying is that the person tries to avoid this situation. In case the avoidance is impossible, the person will try to protect her/himself taking pills, drinking alcohol, asking for an aisle seat, trying to distract him/herself, etc.

As it has been mentioned above, anticipatory anxiety is common and the person may start feeling anxious even months before the trip. Anticipation of the horrible things that may happen take the form of very distressing thoughts ("the plane will crash with another plane in the air", "engines could explode", "bad weather may make the plane crashing", "I might be unable to endure the situation and lose control", etc.). These thoughts may affect considerably not only to the person wellbeing (he/she is moody, has trouble sleeping, etc.), but also to his/her efficiency in daily tasks (has problems concentrating, feels tired, seems more forgetful, etc.), and to his/her personal relationships (the others may become irritated and tired of their moaning and continuous complains about their fear).

Fear and avoidance related to fear of flying may be due to different reasons. Some people's fear relate exclusively to actual fear of flying, that is, to the plane having an accident. However, many others fear of flying may be secondary to claustrophobia (fear of being in an enclosed space), to agoraphobia (fear of not being able to escape or of not receiving help if something bad occurs to them), or to panic attacks (they fear having a panic attack in the plane).

It might be that while reading this site you identify yourself with the descriptions of the problem provided above. The Test questions inquire about the presence of some of its features. Although they do not substitute the assessment process necessary to establish a clinical diagnosis, they might be considered as a first approach and a preliminary screening of the problem.

The situations feared by a person with fear of flying are not circumscribed with the actual flight. They may include to drive or accompany someone else to the airport, buying the ticket and confirming the flight, waiting at the boarding lounge, or even packing at home or watching planes on TV. In these situations the person experiences great concern and fear because he/she believes that something bad will happen. One consequence of this is that they remain "hyper-alert", plenty aware of any "unusual" noise that "doesn't sound normal", of the aircraft movements indicating that "something is wrong", or scanning the aircrew's faces looking for signs of concern. In addition to the fear and the preoccupation, the person afraid of flying experiences bodily symptoms such as palpitations, shaking, upset stomach, muscular tension, confusion, etc. Another characteristic feature of fear of flying is that the person tries to avoid this situation. In case the avoidance is impossible, the person will try to protect her/himself taking pills, drinking alcohol, asking for an aisle seat, trying to distract him/herself, etc.

As it has been mentioned above, anticipatory anxiety is common and the person may start feeling anxious even months before the trip. Anticipation of the horrible things that may happen take the form of very distressing thoughts ("the plane will crash with another plane in the air", "engines could explode", "bad weather may make the plane crashing", "I might be unable to endure the situation and lose control", etc.). These thoughts may affect considerably not only to the person wellbeing (he/she is moody, has trouble sleeping, etc.), but also to his/her efficiency in daily tasks (has problems concentrating, feels tired, seems more forgetful, etc.), and to his/her personal relationships (the others may become irritated and tired of their moaning and continuous complains about their fear).

Fear and avoidance related to fear of flying may be due to different reasons. Some people's fear relate exclusively to actual fear of flying, that is, to the plane having an accident. However, many others fear of flying may be secondary to claustrophobia (fear of being in an enclosed space), to agoraphobia (fear of not being able to escape or of not receiving help if something bad occurs to them), or to panic attacks (they fear having a panic attack in the plane).

It might be that while reading this site you identify yourself with the descriptions of the problem provided above. The following questions inquire about the presence of some of its features. Although they do not substitute the assessment process necessary to establish a clinical diagnosis, they might be considered as a first approach and a preliminary screening of the problem: