Ready for takeoff

Phobics conquer their fear step by step

July 09, 2006|John Koch, Globe Correspondent

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The tape is played twice more, louder and louder, to approximate the experience of flying. During the ``takeoff," Forgione coached the class through a short relaxation exercise called ``jamming." When the recording is turned off, class members are asked to report their ``SUDS levels" during the simulated flight; they vary between about 25 and 50. (SUDS stands for subjective units of discomfort. The numbers range from zero, which is relaxation bordering on sleep, to 100, which is sheer panic. ) It's a shorthand way of assessing one's anxiety level, and during the program, Forgione will often ask ``What's your number?"

No one even flirted with 100, although during the loudest playing of the tape, one woman cried briefly. ``You can entertain thoughts of flying and not panic. You're different now than when the course began," Forgione told the group. ``The relaxation is inside you. In my mind, you've passed the ground course. Congratulations."

Class member Lynne Hagopian, who hadn't flown since her honeymoon 27 years ago, went on to her graduation flight last month. Not only does she consider the course helpful in making flying possible again, she also said she now uses the breathing and relaxation techniques she learned to reduce other, more ``everyday," anxieties. A realtor and interior decorator from Framingham, Hagopian added that the discipline helped her deal with physical pain when she was ill recently.

It's difficult, if not impossible, to persuade someone with a deep-seated fear of flying that techniques such as these really work. In some mysterious sense, our fear becomes a friend we hesitate to lose. But you can break away. I did.

Does that mean that my graduation flight was an unalloyed joy, a sky-high celebration? No. Even with a half a milligram of Klonopin as insurance, I was mildly nervous -- maybe a 20 at times, perhaps a 30 for a moment or two. (These are good numbers, and I gave up the Klonopin the last time I flew.)

Flying is not yet routine, but my vistas are broader. It's a new life.

Contact John Koch, a freelance writer in Cambridge, at jlivekoch@comcast.net.