Fear of Flying

Amygdala (pronounced a-mig-da-la)

The Amygdala is the part of the brain that records and recalls body memories. Body memory is different from head memory. You use head memory for things like remembering where you parked your car.

Body memory is different.

You experience body memory all the time without being aware of it. Say you are driving along, and, all of a sudden, you realise that you are far too close to the kerb.

Fortunately, no brain surgery is involved!

The sensation you get is like a pain, and your subconscious mind turns the steering wheel slightly to move the car away from the edge of the road. It isn’t a conscious thing - your subconscious mind does it for you.

What Causes a Phobia?

Any phobia is caused by some unpleasant incident that got recorded by the Amygdala.

Say you were in a car crash when you were little, and your Amydala recorded that this possible life-threatening event was associated with the fact that you couldn’t see where you were going.

Now you get on a plane, and your Amygdala starts sending warning messages to your Pre-Frontal Cortex, based on the facts that you are in a vehicle and you can’t see where you are going.

You experience these messages in your conscious mind as a very real awareness of danger.

Using Your Conscious Mind

Because you are not consciously aware of any immediate threat to your existence, you try to reason them away.

However, although the link from the Amygdala to the Pre-Frontal Cortex is very fast and wide, the link back is slow and tortuous.

Here Comes the Cavalry!

There is a part of the brain called the Orbito-Frontal Cortex (a.k.a. the self-soothing centre), and this has a fast and wide connection to the Amygdala.

Phobia therapy is about getting the Pre-Frontal Cortex to talk to the Amygdala via the Orbito-Frontal Cortex.

Fortunately, no brain surgery is involved!