Here's a thought for combating fear of flying: cartoon characters!

[Iberia Airlines]

Most people, of course, board airliners and have little or no difficulty during their flights. And the reason is due to automatic regulation of arousal. It's a response which develops over time when an attuned and empathic caregiver assures a child that feelings of arousal are normal, and will soon go away. When a caregiver does this consistently, links between arousal and the attuned empathic face are established in the psyche. These links provide automatic regulation throughout a person's lifespan. But when an agitated child is not consistently responded to, the child does not establish the links needed to automatically regulate arousal. When automatic regulation is not developed during early childhood, the person has no choice as an adult but to attempt to regulate arousal intellectually. Intellect, however has limited control over emotion.

read post