What makes fear of flying different from other simple phobias?
Fear of flying is different because stepping aboard a plane means giving up control. Then, the farther the plane rises from the ground, the more removed the person is from control, and from escape as a source of relief. When concerned about an outcome, any of us would seek better control of the situation or want a way to escape the situation if things go badly. The person who lacks the internal ability to down-regulate [calm down] depends upon external strategies – control and escape – to compensate. When the person flies, these two ways of compensating are unavailable. Left with only internal resources, affect cannot be regulated. High anxiety, and possibly panic, develops. As soon as arousal reaches the level at which self-reflective function disappears, imagination of that which is feared becomes reality to the fearful flier. So fear of flying is a particular kind of phobia, one caused by psychic equivalence that arises when self-reflective function fails. In your comment about my p
