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Newsletter Special Edition



Tomorrow, I'll be sending out a special edition of the newsletter on travel. My wife, Marie, and I  traveled to Italy a few months ago. I asked Marie, who has a degree in interior design and is an amazing cook, to write about the architectural and scenic highlights and out-of-the way places we discovered, plus a taste of the culinary pleasures of our trip.



The first special edition will be about the Chianti region of Italy. Editions on Rome, Florence and Venice will follow.



I hope that some of you will write at least a few paragraphs about special delights experienced during your travels. Please email them to me so they can be included, if brief, in the regular newsletter, and if lengthy, in a special edition.



Roger, who grew up in Paris, has agree to give us some special things to do in his original home town.



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Fish Oil Improves Mental Health



UCLA scientists have confirmed that fish oil is indeed a deterrent against Alzheimer's. More info at this link.

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Believe Nothing Will Work?

An email: January 13, 2008



I used to enjoy flying.  During my years in the Navy, I had flown in everything from an F-14 to a rickety Vietnam Era Huey.  One day, however, I discovered I was terrified of flying.  I had my first panic attack flying to Buffalo from Florida: my wife and daughter were taking a different flight, and I left them in the airport, convinced I would never see them again.  As I boarded the plane, I was a dead man walking.  I knew we were going down.  That flight was awful: I closed my eyes, sweated, and prayed for the entire two hours, bracing myself for the explosion or sudden corkscrew into the ground.



After that, I could no longer fly.  If I had to travel, I drove: to Florida, to NYC, to Philadelphia.  I even took the train to West Palm Beach, a 36-hour ordeal.



My son's diagnosis with autism, however, was the final straw.  Every year, we visit my-in-laws in Florida, and it was becoming harder and harder for my wife to handle my son by herself on the plane and in the airport.  She needed me to fly.  I started a year of therapy with a psychologist.  When it came time for my test flight - a quick trip back and forth to NYC -- I backed out.  I was convinced I was going to die. 



In desperation, we turned to Fear of Flying on the recommendation of a friend.  As soon as I put the first DVD in, I knew I was in good hands.  Capt. Bunn is so calm, so reassuring, and so knowledgeable, that I felt at ease just watching him talk.



I bought the whole enchilada: the DVD's and the CD's.  They were worth every penny.  I felt I knew everything about aeronautics, but Capt. Bunn took me to school.  His explanations of the physics of flight, and of what exactly goes on before, during, and after a flight, were fascinating, and very helpful. 



But his Strengthening Exercise and 5-4-3-2-1 are revolutionary.  Somehow, by following his exercises, and practicing them, he made flying FUN for me.   I have no idea how it works, but I can honestly say I enjoyed my flight down to Florida and back.  On the way down, I did two crossword puzzles; on the way back, I spoke with my seatmate the entire time.  On both flights, I was calm and relaxed, even when we hit a couple bumps.



I now know I can fly.  I never thought I would say that again.



I still have a real problem with anticipatory anxiety, and I know I need to continue to work on it with Capt. Bunn.  In fact, I was so scared about flying, I called him before my flight.  On Christmas.  And he answered.  And he counseled me right over the phone.  I know few other professionals, or even friends, who would show that much compassion on Christmas.  And then again on New Year's Eve, when I called him about my return flight.



But, just as Capt. Bunn predicted, as soon as I met the pilot, and shook his hand, my anticipatory anxiety vanished.  Both captains were very kind, telling me about the flight plan, what kind of weather we expected, etc.  I will always fly Southwest because of the kindness they showed me and my son.  Once you meet the pilot, and buckle in, something magic happens.  The Strengthening Exercise kicks in, and you can actually enjoy the flight.



Believe in this course.  It can change your life.  It worked for me.

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You, Too, Can Fix The Flying Problem Now



Get started with the program that works. SOAR
was established in 1982 because no programs existed which could help
people with moderate to severe difficulties. Even today, no other
program offers help that is effective except for mild difficulties. No
matter how difficult flying is for you, we can help.



Full Length Course



We have the full length SOAR Video Course on 11 DVDs and we have the accelerated FastTrack course. The full length course provides the maximum help possible.



FastTrack



FastTrack is for you if you have a flight coming up soon, even tomorrow! It includes three hours of the most important video clips from the full length course.

Get started now. The SOAR FastTrack program can be on your computer's screen in two minutes.

• Fast Track is inexpensive.
  


• Fast Track gives you the most help possible in the shortest time.
  


• A twenty-minute private session and unlimited group counseling sessions are included.
  
  


• What you pay for Fast Track is 100% transferable to the complete SOAR Course DVD or CD.

Getting started may be difficult, but you will feel better as soon as you do by clicking here.

We
are always here to help. As you go through the program, whenever you
have a question or a concern, please call me so we can talk it over.

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Like Seinfeld, About "Nothing"



It isn't easy to figure out what kind of "nothing" an anxious person will make into something. So, to -- hopefully -- head it off, let's discuss the two "nothings" that happened this week.



Monday night at San Francisco Airport, a SkyWest plane backing off a gate and a United 757 backing off another gate collided tail to tail. Obviously it was the responsibility of the ground crews pushing the planes back off the gates to foresee the problem. Though the speed of the collision was estimated at 2 MPH,  the San Francisco Chronicle writer Tanya Schevitz repeatedly termed it a "crash". Give me a break!



She writes, "The crash . . . is certain to raise new questions about safety at the airport." So, my question is, is she mindless or just aware that other people are. It has nothing to do with safety. Think about times you have backed your car out of a parking space at the supermarket and realized a car behind you is doing the same thing. Even if you do collide, it has nothing to do with safety. Same with the plane. If you want to read her article click here.



But, anxious people will ask, "How could it happen?" Which means, "If THAT could happen, then ANYTHING can happen."



In the anxiety-prone mind, anything can happen. Unfortunately, that "anything" isn't seen as pure imagination. Nothing -- or very close to nothing -- can be made into something shocking. Then, once imagination has produced shock, that imagination-generated shock is taken as meaningful in terms -- not of imagination -- but of reality.



The other nothing made into terror is the Air Canada Flight 190. Based on the fact that the pilots intentionally changed the flight altitude by 4,000 feet, the press transposed fact into fantasy, saying the flight "dropped thousands of frightening feet". The incident lasted no more than fifteen seconds.



On every flight, we tell passengers to keep their seat belts comfortably fastened in case there is unexpected turbulence. But a lot of passengers ignore that advice.



If you interviewed a hundred-thousand passengers who, over a lifetime, never wore a seat belt, you probably would not find one who got hurt.



Here are the choices:

• 
  make something out of nothing and cause distress, or


• wear a seat belt and know you are 100% protected.
  
  

Patrick has written about turbulence from time to time in his salon.com blog. To read one of them click here.



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Which is more of a threat to your health: Al Qaeda or the Department of Homeland Security?



An article in the New York Times says, "the chances of the average person dying in America at the hands of international terrorists to be comparable to the risk of dying from eating peanuts, being struck by an asteroid or drowning in a toilet." To read the article click here.



Yet, according to a study published last week in the Archives of General Psychiatry, worry about this extremely small risk of being a victim or terrorism appears to have caused 10 million people to have been given a new diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.



You may see it in a different way, but I have seen first hand how many people have been terrorized when it comes to flying because they have been victimized by the current administration into believing their life is in danger when  they fly.



The most disgusting example of how the administration has exploited us is the liquid bomb fiasco. There is no practical way to mix a liquid bomb on an airliner. That is, unless you think flight attendants are so ditsy that they would agree for a passenger to have exclusive use of the toilet for hours and a constant supply of ice (to cool the liquid as it is painstakingly mixed.



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