Think of an elevator. If you are going from the ground floor to the tenth floor, when do you feel "level out?" Only when you are on the ground floor or on the tenth floor when you feel 1-G? Actually, you feel 1-G throughout the elevator ride accept when it is just starting upward (you feel heavier on your feet) and when the elevator is slowing down its climb and stops (light-headed) as it approaches the tenth floor and stops.

In order to become comfortable on a plane, you need to train your brain to not release stress hormones when you feel heavier (around 1.1 or 1.2 G in an elevator or on a plane), or when you feel lighter (around .9 or .8 G in an elevator or on a plane. I assume the 1-G state does not trigger you, but only leaves you anxious about any change from 1-G.

I wonder if it is really the slight variation from 1-G that triggers you because it only happens in a vehicle (elevator, plane) from which you cannot instantly escape if you panic? Or, is it the fact that the lightness is exaggerated into 0-G free fall.

My guess is that the speed you sense is a signal that, because the vehicle is moving, you can't get out of it. If a car, for example, is moving only one or two MPH, you could open the door and jump, or step, out. But not at 60 MPH. And acceleration, if it is happening beginning at one or two MPH means in a fraction of a second the car will be going too fast for you to jump out.

I don't think you will feel much better after the plane as leveled off; you will know you, far from from the earth, are far from being able to exit.

A person who is subject to panic gets relief by knowing they can instantly escape. Being on the ground floor of a department store is different than being on the second floor. On the ground floor, you may be able to remain mindful where the exit is and stay fairly close; thus be able to head for the exit any time panic should arise. It is that "light at the end of the tunnel" principle that provides relief via promise of relief and expectation of relief, which is imagined, and this IS relief.

And, knowing escape is immediately at hand PREVENTS panic.

This is all well and good, but it is highly restrictive. If you must have instant escape to prevent panic, it causes great limitations. I once dated a psychoanalyst in New York who felt that she had to have an end seat in a movie theater. If we bought a ticket to a movie, went inside, and she could not find an end-of-the-aisle seat, we had to leave and miss the show.

Obviously analysis - or therapy in general - may not relieve panic. The SOAR program does, as many here know. Thus, it is my view that - since this is an investment that will pay off by giving you more freedom for the rest of your life - training the mind to not panic is worth a lot more than you pay to gain your freedom with the SOAR program.

Last Edited By: Capt Tom Bunn MSW LCSW Jan 27 15 7:42 AM. Edited 1 times.