As one statistician put it, if you were to fly once a day, it would take an average of fifty-five thousand years for you to be involved in a fatal crash. If you fly much less often than once a day, as most of us do, then the odds lengthen to the point that it’s not worth worrying about.

And yet, for some, the problem isn’t so easily rationalised away. There’s just something about getting into a small vehicle and being propelled into the clouds that is just inherently unnerving. For some, the fear is so extreme that it has its own name: aerophobia. Even if you’re not quite severe enough to be placed in this 5% of passengers, anxiety can be a real problem. So, what can we do to deal with it?

How to overcome flight anxiety so you can take the trip of a lifetime

Let’s run through a few anxiety-busting techniques.

Look at root causes

If you understand the root cause of your fear of flying, then you might be better able to address it. Is it the lack of control? Is it the confined space? Maybe the sense of insignificance that comes with seeing the Earth laid out beyond the window?

In some cases, therapy can be enormously helpful in seeking out the cause of the anxiety. But even if you’re not going that far, you might still look into the root cause of the problem.
Understanding turbulence

For some, the turbulence is a big driver of anxiety. When the aircraft comes into contact with air that’s moving violently in several different directions, it will naturally begin to wobble. This is a design choice, for the most part; aircraft that flex and move around are able to cope with storms better than those that don’t.

Stay hydrated

In some cases, the drivers of your anxiety can be physiological. You might be feeling dehydrated, which can drive up your headaches, and your anxiety. Avoiding alcohol and caffeine, which act as diuretics, can help to tackle these issues.

Keep the attendants informed

If you have anxiety, then you might let a flight attendant know in advance. They’ve flown hundreds, or perhaps even thousands of times, and should have a strong idea of what helps. If nothing else, it can be reassuring to have them check in on you every so often. If you have the budget for private jet hire, then you might benefit from more of the attendees’ attention.

Visualise your destination

Another technique involves forming a picture of your destination, so that you can persuade yourself that the stress will be worthwhile in the end. You might even take a few actual pictures of your destination so that you can give yourself a reminder.

Learn to breathe

Finally, we should mention the role that breathing techniques can play. Try to practice these at home, before the flight, whenever you feel anxiety flaring up. The more you practice, the more effective the techniques will be.

Aiden Winn

Aiden is an editorial and production staffer at Title Media. He’s constantly looking for opportunities to have fun and get creative, whether it be art, baking, storytelling… you name it!

The post 6 tips to help if you’re anxious about flying appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Governments in countries such as the US, Japan, and Canada already have a phone emergency alert system in place, and the UK Government is about to follow suit. But there are a number of reasons why you might not want the alerts on your phone. So here’s how to turn off the UK emergency alerts on your phone.

Testing, testing…

At 3pm on Sunday 23 April 2023, phones connected to 4G and 5G services will receive an Emergency Alert practice notification – brace yourself for a loud siren for around 10 seconds. The phone will still play the alert sound, even if the phone is on silent or vibrate. You’ll need to acknowledge it to make it go away.

In future after the test, Emergency Alerts will appear on your device whenever there is some kind of ‘threat to life’. These threats include extreme weather, public safety alerts, terrorism incidents, and missing persons.

The alerts appear as a notification and may include telephone numbers or website links containing further information. As well as the loud, siren-like sound, your phone will vibrate.

Why wouldn’t you want this?

So, let’s start with domestic violence. There are many victims who keep a secret, silent phone, which can often be their only lifeline to safety. Having that alert go off could reveal the phone. The women and children’s domestic violence charity Refuge highlights that for many women, only a silent phone is a safe phone.

Then there’s the panic the alerts can cause. Reading threads on forums where Canadians and US citizens are discussing the down sides of alerts, high on the list is the anxiety the alerts can create. Not just when they go off, but the constant anticipation that they might.

Imagine a siren going off in the dead of night whilst you’re sound asleep. Talk about stressful.

They can also go off in the night – and again, anecdotal conversation seems to indicate that often the alerts go off during the night for issues that nobody can act on at that moment. Having sleep disturbance isn’t great. Imagine a siren going off in the dead of night whilst you’re sound asleep. Talk about stressful.

People also report getting alerts for issues that are geographically far away, meaning they’re irrelevant. This could be anything from an incoming storm, to a missing senior citizen. And that id then stressful for no reason.

Also, whilst driving, the alerts can go off and cause alarm. And mistakes can be made. One commenter on a forum stated: “… an error at one of our nuclear power plants sent floods of texts to everyone that an accident had occurred and for people to seek shelter. During a test of their systems, the texts were actually sent instead of role-played. It took hours for it to be cancelled… it sent millions of people into an emergency state of shock and disbelief.”

Read: How to stay safe when online dating

Can the government track you using this system?

Well, the official line is no, it’s not possible. The government’s FAQs download states that “The system uses the cell tower your phone is connected to. When an alert is triggered, all towers in the area will broadcast the alert. To do this the Government does not need to know the specific location or personal data on your device.”

However, by responding to the alert, which you have to do to turn it off, you are actually confirming your location. So make of that what you will.

More than anything, many people construe the notifications as an intrusion, a breach of privacy. The alerts override your silent mode, meaning you still get the noise and the message, and not everyone appreciates that.

People who are bed-bound, unwell, neurodiverse, or even in hospital for example. Emergency alerts are highly likely to be most unwelcome.

Is there anything good about the alerts?

Good question. I guess you could argue that being alerted to a sudden storm might be useful, although you could just look out of the window. If there’s an act of terrorism, or a nuclear bomb, my guess is that you’re going to spot that yourself.

If your child goes missing, or your elderly relative, it might be comforting to think that other people were keeping an eye out for them.

Other than that, I’m personally struggling to see the point. New Yorkers, living in an extremely densely populated area, point out that the alerts go off all the time – particularly for missing kids – only to be cancelled hours later (more notifications). Canadians, with their much broader territory, find it irritating to receive alerts from their nearest cell towers, which could mean they’re getting flash information about something happening hundreds of miles away.

Turning the Emergency Alerts off

There are ways to opt out of this. Airplane mode will stop the alerts, although obviously that’s only temporary. Once you reconnect to 4G or 5G you will get the alerts again.

If you’ve got an old phone that only has 2G or 3G, or you only ever use Wi-Fi, you won’t get the alerts. If you’re on a non-smart mobile phone playing Snake, you’re probably pretty safe.

IOS users

Select ‘Notifications’ in the setting app and scroll to the very bottom of the page. You’ll see under ‘Emergency alerts’ two toggles; ‘extreme alerts,’ and ‘severe alerts.’

Turn these toggles off so the buttons are no longer green.

Android users

Go to the settings app and select the ‘Safety & Emergency’ menu. Select ‘Wireless emergency alerts’ near the end of the list. Toggle off the ‘Allow alerts’ button in this page. The button will now appear grey instead of blue.

Samsung Galaxy users

In the settings app click ‘Notifications.’ Scroll to the bottom to select ‘Advance settings.’ At the bottom of the page click ‘Wireless emergency alerts.’ On this screen toggle off the ‘Allow alerts’ button.

For more information, visit the Government Alerts website

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post How to turn off UK Emergency Alerts on your phone; and why you might want to appeared first on Silver Magazine.

It’s not just humans who get nervous and upset or anxious. This can be the case for animals too, including dogs, cats… all animals. So how you can you support your anxious pets?

Just like us, animals’ needs can really vary, when we all live under the same roof. A young puppy might revel in the fact that they have a whole family of people to play with all day long. But an elderly dog or cat could be desperate for some alone time.

Have an older dog with arthrits? You might like this feature

Have a routine, and stick to it

So how can we help our pets feel secure? Emily Birch of Canine Consultancy says it’s all about sticking to the dog’s normal routine as much as you can, particularly if there are children in the house.

‘Ensure that anxious dogs still have some “downtime” each day,’ she says, ‘so they don’t become over-tired. If they are used to a morning walk, a lunchtime walk or toilet break and then some fun and games in the evening, try to keep to that routine.’

Birch says you can set dogs up for success by giving them a space that is theirs, such as a puppy pen, covered crate, or a room away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.

‘Teach them that this is a place to relax and switch off. Begin by ensuring their physical exercise needs have been met and that they’re ready to sleep. Then give them a stuffed food toy such as a Kong. Licking and chewing is calming behaviour for dogs and will help them to relax and switch off.’

Change in routine is going to confuse them

While most pets will typically be used to having their owners at home more in the evenings and at weekends, change in routines affect pets. And if you’re working at home, this can be an issue.

‘Some dogs will be used to their owners’ undivided attention when they are home in the evenings and at weekends,’ says pet behaviour consultant Rosie Bescoby from pet-sense.co.uk. ‘So [during lockdown] they could be frustrated that their owners’ attention isn’t available to them when they want or expect it. This can lead to undesirable behaviours in their attempts to gain their owners’ attention.’

She explains how a change in routine can be unsettling for both cats and dogs. ‘Cats in particular are very sensitive to change. They like to feel in control of their environment so change in routine can induce stress. Dogs (and cats) need a huge amount of sleep in the day and, like us, they are less able to cope if they are sleep-deprived.’

She recognises that having children at home all day won’t necessarily help when it comes to keeping pets in their regular routine. ‘Kids can be noisy and erratic in their movements, being grabby towards animals and disturbing them when they sleep,’ she warns.

How to reduce unwanted behaviour

‘Dogs are social species and as a result, they generally enjoy company. As a behaviourist I often see issues when dogs are left for long periods of time and when their biological and social needs are not fully met,’ says Birch.

‘Some dogs “cope” with this ok and you won’t see any outward signs. But others will demonstrate this more clearly by destroying the house, being hyperactive when owners are home, and vocalising.

‘That said, one risk factor that hasn’t been massively explored is that of bite risks to children. We know from the evidence that biting incidents increase during the school holidays, due to dogs’ increased exposure to children.’

So it’s important that you teach children about pets, their boundaries, and how to respect them. This will avoid upsetting the pet, and save on dog bites.

Don’t be cross with them

Frustrating as any unwanted behaviour will be, one thing owners shouldn’t do is tell their pets off, says Bescoby. It’s all about carrot, not stick.

‘Getting annoyed or frustrated with them will just increase stress, as you’re not providing them with any information about what you DO want them to do.’

The other thing that is fundamental to looking after pets is understanding subtle signs that say your dog isn’t ok. ‘Look for things such as turning away, licking their lips, yawning, shaking as if they’re wet, and lifting a paw,’ says Birch. ‘These are all signs that say they’re not very comfortable right now and need some space. If you listen to these subtle signs (the whispers) they don’t need to shout (growl or snap).’

How to help them be home alone

If you’re working, your pets may find they’re being left alone in the house for long periods of time. This is less than ideal, and should be avoided. It can potentially lead to confusion and stress. But if they do have to be left, how can we make that easier on them?

‘Set them up to succeed by easing them into it,’ says Birch. ‘Leave them with a frozen Kong – you can freeze their normal meal into it (if you feed dry kibble just soak it first) so you don’t have to worry about weight gain.

‘Initially leave them for five minutes and then increase this time up until they’re happy with you leaving. If you still have problems it is worth contacting a qualified behaviourist to help you take smaller steps.’

Concentrate on the positives

Birch reiterates the idea of focusing on what you DO want to happen rather than what you DON’T want. ‘For example, “I don’t want my dog to get distressed when I leave” is hard to train. Whereas “I want my dog to be relaxed and sleep while I am out” is something you can teach them to do. This empowers you to change your dog’s behaviour.’

Bescoby agrees. ‘Many dogs may struggle with owners leaving the house without them and may show signs of vocalising, destruction, or other symptoms of distress when left alone.

‘This behaviour is unlikely to self-resolve. In this case I would recommend seeking advice from a member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors.’

Find Emily Birch at Canine Consultancy
And Rosie Bescoby at pet-sense.co.uk
Find a good pet counsellor at the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors

Katie Wyartt

The post How to support your anxious pets appeared first on Silver Magazine.