In this edition, we'll be exploring an issue that affects many, both in aviation and beyond: anxiety. Anxiety can be a formidable foe, but there are techniques and strategies to manage and reduce its impact on your life and ability to function adequately. Whether you're a pilot dealing with pre-flight jitters or anyone seeking tools to cope with anxiety, this flight is for you.

Understanding Anxiety:

Before we fly through techniques to deal with anxiety, let's understand anxiety a little better. It is important to recognize that anxiety is a natural response to stress.  The typical example used to make this point is to imagine yourself as an early human having to fight every day to survive.  If you heard the rustling of a bush and thought, oh that’s just the wind, but it turned out to be a tiger, you were dead and your DNA didn’t make it to the next generation.  But, if when you heard that rusting in the bush you thought, that might be a tiger, I’d better get out of here, then you survived, whether it was a tiger or the wind.  And your DNA did get passed on.  So people today are the descendants of the worried well; the humans who worried enough to survive and produce offspring.   

This is why anxiety is often characterized by worry and fear. But a certain level of anxiety can be helpful.  Sometimes feeling some anxiety can prompt us to study a little harder for a test, or prepare a little more for a presentation or performance.  This is not a level of anxiety that needs treatment with medication or long courses of therapy, but can still benefit from techniques to recognize it for what it is and manage the physical and mental symptoms that can distract from performing at your very best.

In aviation, anxiety can manifest as performance anxiety, fear of flying, or generalized anxiety about various aspects of the job. The good news is, whether your anxiety is due to preparing for take off, lining up for a landing, or dealing with the logistics of your flight schedule, it is manageable, and you can take steps to continue to function well in the face of it.

To read the full transcript go to The Flight Shrink substack at https://flightshrink.substack.com

DISCLAIMER:

The views expressed in The Flight Shrink are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense, The United States Air Force, or any other organization with which Dr. Heacock is associated.  The content of The Flight Shrink is not medical advice.  The Flight Shrink is for informational purposes only and may not be applicable to all situations.  Use of the information is at the reader’s own risk.  Any recommendations of treatments, products, or services are made in general and may not apply to a specific person, situation, or illness.  Please seek care from a medical professional if you have concerns for any physical or mental health symptoms.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health, suicide, or substance use crisis or emotional distress, reach out 24/7 to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) by dialing or texting 988 or using chat services at suicidepreventionlifeline.org to connect to a trained crisis counselor. You can also get crisis text support via the Crisis Text Line by texting NAMI to 741741.  For those in countries other than the U.S. here is a Google site with helplines:https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/11181469

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