Have a fear of flying? There’s an app for that

As family, friends and that woman who sat next to me on my last flight all know, I’m a nervous flier.

So I’m always on the lookout for anything that might ease my anxiety. I’ve downloaded guided meditations for my iPod, brought along fear of flying self-help books and tried to keep my self occupied with a GameBoy.

But now that I travel with an iPad, I’ve found an app that helps.

“Flying Without Fear” is produced by a company called Mental Workout in conjunction with Virgin Airlines.

Formatted for the iPhone, this $4.99 app is a condensed version of Virgin’s real-life “Fear of Flying” course.

Using videos, audio meditations and even a Q-and-A with such queries as “What is turbulence?” and “What happens if both engines fail?” it tries to allay a jittery flier’s fear while in the air.

There’s an interesting video narrated by a Virgin pilot which takes you on a “tour” of a typical flight; there are also various visualization, meditation and breathing exercises for specific scenarios, including links to tap if you are experiencing a panic attack.

I listened to the visualization exercise for the “turbulence” scenario when I was actually going through turbulence; the chirping bird-nature soundtrack and the narrator’s deep British accent were definitely soothing.

Mental Workout and Virgin have another iPhone app worth checking out. Called “Jet Lag Fighter” ($1.99), it uses clinically proven techniques – sleep adjustment or light therapy – to minimize the effects of jet lag.

Similar to the “Flying Without Fear” app, there is an educational component, with a short video explanation of jet lag and its effects on the body and mind.

To use the app, you input some basic information about your flight departure and arrival times. It will then calculate when you need to be out in bright light, when to exercise and when to sleep.

The best part about the app is that if you happen to skip your scheduled time in bright light – or go to sleep later than expected – you input that into the app and it will adjust the schedules for you.