Woman who avoided flying for 17 years says BTS playlist helped her overcome fear of air travel
Debbie Adamson has returned to flying after avoiding air travel for 17 years, saying a combination of learning more about planes and listening to BTS helped her manage her fear.
The 67-year-old from Southampton, Hampshire, developed a fear of flying after what she described as a frightening first flight from Budapest while she was a student. She said the experience left her believing future flights could end in a crash.
Her fear continued for years. In 2006, Adamson tried to avoid a family trip to Orlando, Florida, by hiding her passport inside a magazine at the airport. However, staff arranged a replacement ticket, leaving her with no choice but to board the plane. She recalled spending the three-hour flight crying.
By 2008, Adamson decided she could no longer handle flying and stopped traveling by air completely.
The change came last year when she began learning more about aviation from a friend who works as a pilot. After joining a Facebook support group for people with similar fears, she decided to work on overcoming her phobia and planned a trip to Santorini, Greece, with her husband to mark their 40th wedding anniversary.
Before that trip, Adamson used a family holiday to Orlando as a test flight. She said the experience went better than expected, including during periods of turbulence, after creating a playlist featuring songs from her favourite group, BTS.
"I made a bulletproof playlist, every single track I love, so that I knew I'd keep listening," she said.
Adamson explained that focusing on the music helped her stay calm during take-off and manage her thoughts during the flight.
"I shut my eyes during take-off, and I also held on very tightly too. Once I did that, I began to rationalize it," she said. "It just proved to myself that I gave myself permission not to be frightened anymore, so I wasn't."
Before overcoming her fear, Adamson said flying had been difficult for both her and her family. She would often tell flight attendants about her anxiety before boarding and said her husband would hold her hand tightly throughout flights.
"When I had to fly during this terrified period, I would tell the flight attendant about my phobia when I went through the door," she recalled. "My husband used to come off every flight with permanent arthritis in his hands where I'd be holding onto him so tightly."
Adamson said turbulence was often enough to bring back her fear and that she struggled to eat or drink during flights because of the anxiety.
She has since been able to fly again and is preparing for future trips after spending years avoiding air travel.
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