Phobia for air travel soars after MH370 and MH17 disasters

[webfact]

Phobia for air travel soars after MH370 and MH17 disasters
Christine Cheah
The Star

Flight phobia is on the rise in the country following a spate of air disasters

KUALA LUMPUR: -- Malaysian Mental Health Asso­ciation president Assoc Prof Dr Andrew Mohanraj said he had treated more patients who confessed to a fear for flying following the MH370 and MH17 tragedies. He declined to reveal the numbers.

According to The Wall Street Journal, air travel suffered badly worldwide after the Sept 11 attacks with US Transportation Department records showing that the number of air passengers from October to December that year fell by 20 per cent, 17 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.

Last Thursday, deputy women, family and community development minister Chew Mei Fun offered counselling services to MAS caregivers and staff, saying that many of them were traumatised by the two tragedies.

Dr Andrew, who has a special interest in aviation psychiatry, said in an interview that his patients included cabin crew.

“Many could be suffering in silence,” he pointed out. “They are afraid to admit that they are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, fearing that they might be phased out if their work requires them to travel.”

Post-traumatic stress disorder, he said, was easily treatable with short-term medication and cognitive behavioural therapy, which had been proven to be effective.

“It is a difficult situation for people who need to travel to admit that they are having sleeping disorders and nightmares, being hypervigilant and having palpitation,” he said.

“This could lead to irritability, depression and possibly suicide if it is severe.”

Dr Andrew urged such people to seek help. “It could be overcome between six months and a year.”

Source: http://www.asianewsnet.net/news-62878.html


-- ANN 2014-07-30

[HerbalEd]

Mile for mile, flying is the safest form of transport in the world ... and yet people are afraid to fly but don't think twice about riding in or driving a car which is much more likely to kill them.

[falang07]

it is a psychological thing, in a car you can directly influence your fate whereas in a plane, you are helpless with 0 options to influence your fate

[DiDiChok]

Maybe air travel is the safest but as ever, you can prove anyting by statistics - I've told you this a million times!

The safest travel is by other public transport (bus & rail) when you do the comparison of deaths by the number of passenger miles travelled.

[attrayant]

I'm currently having this argument with a Vietnamese friend. He's in his twenties and somewhat superstitious, but a college grad in - of all things - statistics! He agrees with me on every point I make about air travel being the safest way to go because I show him the numbers. But in spite of rock-solid evidence, he still clings to his irrational fears.

[3NUMBAS]

this year had been the best ever till these 2 crashes

[Ulysses G.]

I'm currently having this argument with a Vietnamese friend. He's in his twenties and somewhat superstitious, but a college grad in - of all things - statistics! He agrees with me on every point I make about air travel being the safest way to go because I show him the numbers. But in spite of rock-solid evidence, he still clings to his irrational fears.

He and I share something in common. I really hate flying these days and avoid it as much as possible.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Ulysses G.

[connda]

Mile for mile, flying is the safest form of transport in the world ... and yet people are afraid to fly but don't think twice about riding in or driving a car which is much more likely to kill them.

Car wreaks can kill you immediately.

Planes falling out of the sky at 35K feet. You got some time for some serious panic and freaking out. That thought scares people.

But I agree with your statement and use to fly general aviation until it just got ridiculously expensive to rent. As a passenger you're totally out of control. As pilot, you stay occupied trying to remedy the situation until that "Awww s**t!" moment that is often heard at the end of communications in the black boxes.

[Dublin]

this year had been the best ever till these 2 crashes

It was 3 crashes and one disappearance,

[spidermike007]

Driving a motorbike on Koh Samui has to be 100 times more dangerous than flying on a commercial flight. I have no fear whatsoever. I consider death to be fated, to some extent. I just think when it is your time to go, not much you can do to stop the reaper from doing his work. LOL. But seriously, how many flights crash these days? And how many flights are there per day? I have seen estimates ranging from 93,000 to 180,000 flights per day, worldwide. And that does not include private planes and jets. And how many crash? You hear about nearly every one that crashes, so it makes it seem like more incidents that there really are. Personally, I love flying. I have loved flying ever since I was a kid. I do not care if the flight is one hour, or 20 hours. I love it. And I will continue doing it for the rest of my life, if I am fortunate enough, and never will I fret over the safety of flying. Never. I have better things to do with my time and energy. Some people are just phobic. Give them something to be phobic about, and they let their minds get carried away. For me, I have little time for fretting, or worry. A waste of energy. It is a shame what happened to MA. They are a good airline. They probably will not survive both of those crashes.

[Harsh Jones]

Driving a motorbike on Koh Samui has to be 100 times more dangerous than flying on a commercial flight. I have no fear whatsoever. I consider death to be fated, to some extent. I just think when it is your time to go, not much you can do to stop the reaper from doing his work. LOL. But seriously, how many flights crash these days? And how many flights are there per day? I have seen estimates ranging from 93,000 to 180,000 flights per day, worldwide. And that does not include private planes and jets. And how many crash? You hear about nearly every one that crashes, so it makes it seem like more incidents that there really are. Personally, I love flying. I have loved flying ever since I was a kid. I do not care if the flight is one hour, or 20 hours. I love it. And I will continue doing it for the rest of my life, if I am fortunate enough, and never will I fret over the safety of flying. Never. I have better things to do with my time and energy. Some people are just phobic. Give them something to be phobic about, and they let their minds get carried away. For me, I have little time for fretting, or worry. A waste of energy. It is a shame what happened to MA. They are a good airline. They probably will not survive both of those crashes.

If a motorcycle loses its abilty to stay upright, there is many diffrent chances of the rider surviving.

If a jet loses its ability to fly, you are dead.

This is why some people are not entirely comfortable with flying. And statistics are just statistics. They are not a safety feature.

[puck2]

Going from Chiang Mai to Bangkok by airoplane is 1000 times safer for me than going by bus or car, inspite of MH and other "desasters". Remember the road fatalities during the big yearly holidays.

I would prefer dying very fast through an air accident over waking up with broken legs, arms, a squashed kidney or eye or ....hm.

Edit: My father told me, most people dy in the bed, but go in it every day. Now, most traffic fatalities are on the roads, but .......

Edited July 31, 2014 by puck2

[Basil B]

Flying will be nicer with fewer of the lesser intelligent crammed in, flying is still probably one of the safest ways to travel, if I was so concerned about not taking chances I certainly would not travel to Thailand, well not until there is a vast improvement in road safety.

[Harsh Jones]

Going from Chiang Mai to Bangkok by airoplane is 1000 times safer for me than going by bus or car, inspite of MH and other "desasters". Remember the road fatalities during the big yearly holidays.

I would prefer dying very fast through an air accident over waking up with broken legs, arms, a squashed kidney or eye or ....hm.

Edit: My father told me, most people dy in the bed, but go in it every day. Now, most traffic fatalities are on the roads, but .......

They were just showing on CNN today that the missile blew the front cockpit off of M17. They surmised that the people in the middle fell, but the people in the back half flew for a considerable amount of time. This is why the front of the plane was found in a diffrent city then the rest of it.

We all fly but Im not going to say that I feel comfortable when the wings of the plane mimick the wings of a bird in turbulance

[attrayant]

They were just showing on CNN today that the missile blew the front cockpit off of M17. They surmised that the people in the middle fell, but the people in the back half flew for a considerable amount of time.

If true, then the passengers most likely lost consciousness quickly due to sudden cabin depressurization. They would have had no time to panic and would not have consciously experienced the impact on the ground.