Hi, I'm Dr. Ellen Hendrickson, and you're listening to episode 11 of the savvy psychologist.

I'll help you meet life's challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

We'll use the best of psychology to help you be happy, relaxed, and most importantly yourself.

A full 40% of Americans don't like to fly.

And it makes sense if you think about it. Hurtling across time zones in a

metal tube at the height of Everest isn't something our ancestors evolved to face. So we get by on

white knuckles, a Xanax, or a pre-flight pit stop at the terminal bar.

And about 3% of us are grounded, refusing to fly at all, even if it means being left out of family vacations, spending multiple days

on interstate freeways, or never seen Paris in the springtime.

Now fear of flying can grow from many different routes such as particularly harrowing turbulence,

knowing somebody who was in a plane crash, learning to be afraid as a child from a fearful

parent, or media images of crashes, hijackings, or terrorist attacks.

So what can you do to keep fear at bay?

Here are five tips to deliver you safely and sanely from jetway to jetway.

Tip number one, learn about the physics of flight.

Learning accurate information is the quickest way to calm your fears.

Now there are a number of extensively detailed and very reassuring websites available that explain

how airplanes work, so I won't reinvent the wheel.

An online search will land you on an explanation that works

for you. But here is a quick primer on some of the most common fears.

First, falling out of the sky. The plane can't fall out of the sky any more than you could fall out of a swimming pool of water.

Air has mass just like water, and it's also continuous and secure just like water.

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