 "airline flight aviation")
More people in Singapore are seeking treatment for aerophobia -- the fear of flying -- following the severe turbulence incident that struck a Singapore Airlines flight over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar last month.
Aerophobia can range from slight uneasiness to very severe panic attacks triggered by a thought or impending occasion of flying, according to a Channel News Asia report on Friday.
While aviation experts say that flying remains among the safest forms of travel, some service providers have seen a spike in people seeking to address this fear, according to the report.
On May 21, SQ321, en route from London to Singapore, encountered extreme turbulence. The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft was carrying 211 passengers and a crew of 18 when it made an emergency landing at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.
One passenger a 73-year-old British man died and dozens were injured, some of them seriously.
Some SQ321 passengers painted a harrowing scene in an interview with the channel.
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Those who were unbelted flew out of their seats and onto the ceiling of the plane, before slamming back down. Others described the experience as akin to riding a roller coaster.
A few days later, turbulence on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Dublin in Ireland also led to several injuries.
Specialist psychology clinic Psych Connect used to receive a query about aerophobia once every few months, but now gets at least two enquiries daily.
The clinic's founder, Dr Sanveen Kang, said the Qatar Airways incident was a double whammy for people who thought SQ321 was a rare event.
I think the timing of these two events is also quite notable because they're right before the holidays with the local schools, and with the international schools, they are (going) for summer break. So, people have been travelling for two to three months, she said.
Because of Singapore's limited geographical landscape, many leave the country for holidays as well, she noted.
We don't have the opportunity, apart from some of the surrounding regions, to get on a boat and go on holiday. If we want to leave Singapore and experience other cultures, we are very limited by flying, the Channel report quoted Dr Kang as saying.
Even if people were not on the affected flights, they could be developing aerophobia after listening to passengers' accounts and reading about the challenges they faced, Dr Kang pointed out.
It is a reinforcer for those who are predisposed to such anxieties, she said.
When people talk to their friends and family members about such incidents and their fears, this normalises such anxiety as well, added Dr Kang.
Aerophobia affects about five per cent of the general population. It results in several symptoms, including headaches, sickness, heart palpitations or even sweating.
As for whether some find it difficult to seek help due to societal taboos, Dr Kang said aerophobia is an isolating disorder that can elicit a sense of shame due to how normalised flying has become.
There is a sense of regret. People lose out on experiences, she added.
Since the two turbulence incidents, aviation experts have maintained that turbulence resulting in serious injuries and deaths is extremely rare.
Meanwhile, according to the latest data from the International Air Transport Association, 2023 ranked among the safest years in aviation. Just one flight resulted in fatalities out of about 37 million flights.
Still, this is not enough for some to regain their confidence in flying.
Dr Kang suggested relaxation strategies, as well as breathing exercises and distraction techniques.
But if these fears are a lot more prevalent, and one is experiencing maladaptive thoughts - they buy into the catastrophe, they buy into the overestimation of danger - they're likely to need more than quick fixes, she said.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
