Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Treating Aerophobia: A Case Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52053/jpap.v6i4.454Keywords:
Aerophobia, Case Study, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Fear of FlyingAbstract
This case study aims to evaluate the efficacy of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for reducing Aerophobia (fear of flying). Aerophobics may be afraid of takeoff, landing, being trapped in an aircraft, or other flying-related experiences. This case study highlights the efficacy of CBT in treating a case of Aerophobia in a 32 years old male, Azhar Qureshi (fictitious name) who was referred by the psychiatrist for psychological intervention. One year ago, he was able to travel in an airplane, but after listening to a traumatic incident, he was unable to travel in an airplane. As he imagined the flight, he felt tachycardia, trembling, sweating, chills, and nausea. These symptoms increased day by day, and that led to avoidance of air travel. After eight sessions of CBT techniques, including psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, systematic desensitization and exposure therapy, he was able to travel in an airplane comfortably without any fear. The present study underscores the efficacy of psychotherapeutic treatment modality in allieviating symptoms of aerophobia.
References
Abuso, A. B. V., Hashmi, M., Hashmi, H., Khoo, A., & Parsaik, A. (2023). Overcoming Fear of Flying: A Combined Approach of Psychopharmacology and Gradual Exposure Therapy. Cureus, 15(5), e39773. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.39773
Albakri, G., Bouaziz, R., Alharthi, W., Kammoun, S., Al-Sarem, M., Saeed, F., & Hadwan, M. (2022). Phobia Exposure Therapy Using Virtual and Augmented Reality: A Systematic Review. Applied Sciences, 12(3), 1672. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12031672
Batouei, A., Iranmanesh, M., Nikbin, D., & Hyun, S.S. (2019). Flight anxiety: investigating the role of airline service quality and flight crew’s competence. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 24(7), 710-724, DOI: 10.1080/10941665.2019.1630457
Beck, A., Emery, G., & Greenberg, R. (1985). Anxiety Disorders and Phobias. A Cognitive Perspective (pp. 300-368). New York: Basic Books.
Curtiss, J. E., Levine, D. S., Ander, I., & Baker, A. W. (2021). Cognitive-Behavioral Treatments for Anxiety and Stress-Related Disorders. Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing), 19(2), 184–189. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20200045
D’Ambrosio, A., Tonelli, C., Martini, V., & Ambrosio, C. (2021). Vr exposure in cbt is effective and efficacious treatment for simple phobia (flight phobia). European Psychiatry, 64(Suppl 1), S110. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2021.317
Gottlieb, A., Doniger, G. M., Hussein, Y., Noy, S., & Plotnik, M. (2021). The Efficacy of a Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy Treatment for Fear of Flying: A Retrospective Study. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 641393. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.641393
Grimaldos, J., Fernandez-Buendía, S., Breton-Lopez, J., Miguel, C., Cuijpers, P., & Quero, S. (2025). Augmented reality exposure treatments in anxiety and related disorders: A systematic review. Internet Interventions, 39, 100812. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2025.100812
Laker, M. K., Bob, P., Riethof, N., & Raboch, J. (2024). Fear of Flying, Stress and Epileptic-Like Symptoms. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 20, 777–782. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S449342
Lotfizadeh T, Zare H Z, Safari M S, Poshneh K, Asayesh M H. (2024). Effectiveness of virtual reality program on behavioral functions, emotional regulation and brain functions in the treatment of aerophobia. Journal of Psychological Science, 23(144), 21-43. doi:10.61186/jps.23.144.2
Mor, S., Botella, C., Campos, D., Carlbring, P., Tur, C., & Quero, S. (2022). An internet-based treatment for flying phobia using 360° images: A feasibility pilot study. Internet Interventions, 28, 100510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2022.100510
Ribe-Vines, J. M., Gutierrez-Maldonado, J., Zabolipour, Z., & Ferrer-Garcia, M. (2023). Efficacy of virtual reality-based exposure therapy for the treatment of fear of flying: a systematic review. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 16, e19. doi:10.1017/S1754470X23000119
Thng, C. E. W., Lim-Ashworth, N. S. J., Poh, B. Z. Q., & Lim, C. G. (2020). Recent developments in the intervention of specific phobia among adults: a rapid review. F1000Research, 9, F1000 Faculty Rev-195. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.20082.1
Van Gerwen, L. J., Spinhoven, P., Van Dyck, R., & Diekstra, R. F. W. (1999). Construction and psychometric characteristics of two self-report questionnaires for the assessment of fear of flying. Psychological Assessment, 11(2), 146-158. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.11.2.146
Xu, F., & Zhang, H. (2025). A case report of cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1520581. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1520581
Zsido, A. N., Kiss, B. L., Basler, J., Birkas, B., & Coelho, C. M. (2023). Key factors behind various specific phobia subtypes. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 22281. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-49691-0
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Bushra Akram, Sehrish Wazir
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License (https://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-Commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the Journal website at (https://iprpk.com/ojs/index.php/jpap)
