Fercu withdraws over fear of flying

[Leonormous Boozer]

Gingergenius, have you ever had a serious phobia?

 

[TRF_Cymro]

GG = Hardestman on the forum ... Fact.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Big big difference between a fear and a phobia

 

[JW.]

Such a shame for the guy. They should knock him out for half of the way (otherwise its dangerous) then have pitstop and let him recover for a couple of days then do the same thing and he's in NewZeeland?

 

[gingergenius]

it's a psychological block.

Fercu is a functioning human, capable of walking on and off an aircraft, just like the rest of us. He is capable of withstanding the pressures of a flight, just like the rest of us.

So it is not a question of whether he can or can't fly. It's a question of whether he will or won't.

In this case, he won't.

If someone wants to explain some complex science telling me that a phobia is some deep-rooted genetic characteristic, rather than a learned or acquired condition, then I'm all ears. Because learned or acquired conditions can be treated.

But in the meantime, I'll feel sorry for the guy in as far as I'm sure his conscious mind didn't decide to be aeroplanophobic (or whatever), and it's his own choice what he does with his life (and I'm sure he wouldn't give two shits what I think anyway).

But it is irrational. And since the player's missing out on something like a World Cup for something irrational, I think he's a fool.

Just like Euan Murray's a fool for not playing on Sundays, even if it's his own decision.

disclaimer: me calling people fools is purely my opinion, disagree if you like

 

[Seaton]

However some phobias may not be entirely treatable, mainly ones induced by trauma.

I mind a former pilot with over 20 years experience, who loved flying, but then lost a close relative in the 9/11 attacks, after which he garnered a fear of flight.

Last time I checked in 2008, he was still attempting treatment, but had not progressed at all. It all depends on the severity ( and I'm not saying that this Fercu's thing isn't treatable, just saying that not all phobias can be treated)

 

[nickdnz]

However some phobias may not be entirely treatable, mainly ones induced by trauma.

I mind a former pilot with over 20 years experience, who loved flying, but then lost a close relative in the 9/11 attacks, after which he garnered a fear of flight.

Last time I checked in 2008, he was still attempting treatment, but had not progressed at all. It all depends on the severity ( and I'm not saying that this Fercu's thing isn't treatable, just saying that not all phobias can be treated)

Actually, all phobias are very treatable, including Acrophobia. It requres gradual exposure and relaxation training over a prolonged period of time, but it is very treatable. In fact there is such a thing called flooding, which is extremely effective at curing phobias, in which you force a person to face their phobias for a long period of time (eg if they are scared of spiders, poor a hundred on their head and tell them they can scream and cry, but not leave the chair), in which the human body can only experience extreme terror and panic attacks for a couple of hours. By the end of the flight, he may not like flying, but he would have likely been cured of the phobia.

What your friend may have is PTSD, which is much harder to treat.

I tend to agree with GG. If he knew he had a real problem, he should have either undergone treatement a month or so out of the RWC, or declined at the beginning.

 

[lucky number 7]

Reminiscent of Denis Bergkamp.

The greatest man to walk the earth.

 

[Seaton]

Actually, all phobias are very treatable, including Acrophobia. It requres gradual exposure and relaxation training over a prolonged period of time, but it is very treatable. In fact there is such a thing called flooding, which is extremely effective at curing phobias, in which you force a person to face their phobias for a long period of time (eg if they are scared of spiders, poor a hundred on their head and tell them they can scream and cry, but not leave the chair), in which the human body can only experience extreme terror and panic attacks for a couple of hours. By the end of the flight, he may not like flying, but he would have likely been cured of the phobia.

What your friend may have is PTSD, which is much harder to treat.

I tend to agree with GG. If he knew he had a real problem, he should have either undergone treatement a month or so out of the RWC, or declined at the beginning.

I must contest the claim that every person with a phobia can be cured.

I have read a handful of articles about people have died from panic/ heart attacks during treatment for phobias. Although this of course does not mean that every treatment method would not work, but you understand the... difficulties in trying alternative methods once a patient is dead. In my eyes, death of a patient during treatment qualifies as a failure of treatment.
And then there are incidents where 'treatment' of soldiers who suffered in wars from PSTD induced phobias (taking orders, epidermic needles, 'booms', etc...) sometimes only ended up exacerbating the problem. Some people just have stronger wills than others, whether this is from the environment they grew up/ lived in, I don't know, but I imagine it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible to effectively treat 'the weak minded/ willed'.

I don't personally know the pilot, but yes his was a case of post traumatic stress disorder that induced a phobia of flying, hence why I brought it up

 

[nickdnz]

I must contest the claim that every person with a phobia can be cured.

I have read a handful of articles about people have died from panic/ heart attacks during treatment for phobias. Although this of course does not mean that every treatment method would not work, but you understand the... difficulties in trying alternative methods once a patient is dead. In my eyes, death of a patient during treatment qualifies as a failure of treatment.
And then there are incidents where 'treatment' of soldiers who suffered in wars from PSTD induced phobias (taking orders, epidermic needles, 'booms', etc...) sometimes only ended up exacerbating the problem. Some people just have stronger wills than others, whether this is from the environment they grew up/ lived in, I don't know, but I imagine it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible to effectively treat 'the weak minded/ willed'.

I don't personally know the pilot, but yes his was a case of post traumatic stress disorder that induced a phobia of flying, hence why I brought it up

While that is possible (although very unusual in most cases) that's part of the reason flooding is no longer ethical treatment and is no longer used (despite being generally very effective). Modern treatment is different. Take the fear of flying like in this case, the first thing that you would do is show them something with a low anxiety stimuli such as a picture of an aeroplane. Over a series of session you will gradually increase the stimuli, so that eventually they can board a plane and fly. This may take a couple of weeks or at the most a few months, but it should always work.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is something different entirely, however that is usually treatable. Much like phobias, it takes repeated exposure to the event.

As you pointed out, if someone does not participate in treatment, then it is very hard to help them. But usually people who suffer something like PTSD and Phobias and look for counseling, they can be treated. It's when patients have a cocktale of disorders that it seems harder to treat (from what I've been told), as people who don't want treatment often have things like depression or coupled with other anxiety disorders which you need to treat.

It should be pointed out I'm hardly an expert. I'm just doing abnormal psychology at University, but from what information I've been told, phobias seem very treatable with modern techniques.

 

[Seaton]

Hehe, I don't think I'm getting my point across properly, one last time

I agree with everything you say, except that some people ( a fraction of a percentage at most), for a single or multitude of reasons, are beyond help as their phobias are so deeply rooted, that the emotional (and physical= heart attacks) strain placed on these people by treatment can do more harm than good. Progressive treatment just sometimes doesn't cut it (keep in mind, I am speaking about rare incidents), a good example is vertigo, going 1 floor up a day on a tall building will put most people at ease, but there is a threshold for some people, they just won't go any higher, and further encouragements, no matter how comforting/ tailored, may end up making the patient say "No way, no more", then they go down and you need to start from the ground floor.

Agh, still don't happy with my wording, time for bed.

 

[DallyM]

disappointing for him but it's his call.

 

[psychic duck]

Fercu decision splits squad

Catalin Fercu's team-mates have criticised his decision to withdraw from the Romanian World Cup squad.
The winger opted to sit out the World Cup due to a fear of flying - a decision which has riled the other 29 member of the squad. And Romanian vice-captain Cristian Petre has spoken on behalf of his team-mates saying: "I would say more than half the team are angry at him, not just disappointed with him. We feel like he just gave up. Some of the team feel like he just abandoned us when we needed him most."
Fercu - who has 22 tries in 52 Test appearances - spoke of his decision at the time and admitted his regret at the withdrawal. "It is an old problem and I cannot get over it," he said. "After the last flight I made, I swore I would never get on a plane again.
"I said this earlier, at the start of training, telling the federation leaders and the coach Romeo Gontineac, but perhaps I was not taken seriously. I will consider playing for the national team again, but only if I can travel by road. The games in Europe I do not think would be such a problem because the distances are not so great."
But while Petre accepted the reasoning behind Fercu's withdrawl, he concedes that other members in the side are not so sympathetic. "If you make someone fly against their will, they could have a panic attack and that would be worse," Petre added. "A lot of the team don't understand his decision and that's why many are angry at him. They feel like he could have made an effort to try and be with us."

from Scrum.com

 

[calculon]

disappointing for him but it's his call.

Someone else gets a ticket to New Zealand.

 

[icsulescool]

What happened to the samoan winger that made the romanian squad Jeff makapelu. Hes better than anything that romania have has he gone back to new zealand, or did he not want to be in the squad.

He is back in Romanian Superleague at Timisoara.
But he isn't in a good form now.

Someone else gets a ticket to New Zealand.

I understand Fercu's decision. 40 hours in a plane for a person who is scared of flying can be a nightmare.
Adrian Apostol replaced him. The 21 years wing plays for Farul Constanta in Romanian Superleague. He has only 1 cap at the National Team.