Help with fear of flying!

[joyfulheart]

I am afraid to fly in an airplane, even though I flew for 40 hours last year.  My fear doesn't stop me.  However, I am a wreck in the air.  I can't even read or knit, I am so preoccupied that something will go wrong.

Does anyone have any advice for lessening my fear of flying?  I have a 5 hour flight coming up next month, and would like to have a better experience than I normally do.

TIA and peace

[cocoanib]

I don't have any real advice for you, but wanted to say I know how you feel.

The strange thing is this did'nt start for me until the past few years.

I've flown small planes(studying to get pilots license) and have flown all over the world, but about 4 years ago started to be fearful.

The only thing that helps me is to drink myself into relaxation. Then I can sleep for most of the flight. I'm not advocating that though.

[joyfulheart]

Originally Posted by cocoanib 

I don't have any real advice for you, but wanted to say I know how you feel.

The strange thing is this did'nt start for me until the past few years.

I've flown small planes(studying to get pilots license) and have flown all over the world, but about 4 years ago started to be fearful.

The only thing that helps me is to drink myself into relaxation. Then I can sleep for most of the flight. I'm not advocating that though.

Same with me.  This is a relatively new fear.  I've flown forever, and don't know why I'm scared now...sigh...
 

[Caneel]

Originally Posted by cocoanib 

I don't have any real advice for you, but wanted to say I know how you feel.

The strange thing is this did'nt start for me until the past few years.

I've flown small planes(studying to get pilots license) and have flown all over the world, but about 4 years ago started to be fearful.

The only thing that helps me is to drink myself into relaxation. Then I can sleep for most of the flight. I'm not advocating that though.

Same with me. I used to love the excitement of travel/flying/airports.  I had no fear at all, spent a lot of time in very small planes as well as 12 pass. computer twin engines,etc.

Then seemingly out of nowhere, the fear hit.  I am attributing it to the birth of our son. 

My doctor said it is very normal and he sees a lot of patients with the same fear.  He prescribed a mild anti-anxiety drug that works wonders for me.  I think it is ativan?  I might not have it spelled correctly.  The cost is very reasonable, like $2.50 for 30 pills. 

I also remember reading that as we age, our ear tubes change, making us much more sensitive to movement and that contributes to a general feeling of uncomfortableness on planes and other moving objects.

[cocoanib]

Originally Posted by joyfulheart 

Same with me.  This is a relatively new fear.  I've flown forever, and don't know why I'm scared now...sigh...
 

I've never known anyone else that this suddenly happened to. It would be interesting and helpful for us if we could figure out why. 

Originally Posted by Caneel 

Same with me. I used to love the excitement of travel/flying/airports.  I had no fear at all, spent a lot of time in very small planes as well as 12 pass. computer twin engines,etc.

Then seemingly out of nowhere, the fear hit.  I am attributing it to the birth of our son. 

My doctor said it is very normal and he sees a lot of patients with the same fear.  He prescribed a mild anti-anxiety drug that works wonders for me.  I think it is ativan?  I might not have it spelled correctly.  The cost is very reasonable, like $2.50 for 30 pills. 

I also remember reading that as we age, our ear tubes change, making us much more sensitive to movement and that contributes to a general feeling of uncomfortableness on planes and other moving objects.

This sounds like it could be contributing to my fear. I almost passed out once on a plane a couple years ago. I thought it was all of my anxiety, but maybe it's physical as well.

I used to not pay much attention to turbulence on large planes and actually thought it was fun on smaller planes. Now, with every little bump, I'm hanging on for dear life.
 

[peainthepod]

I thought I was the only one who suddenly developed this fear! I used to fly with no problem, even looking forward to it sometimes, and now I'm a complete wreck for days before I fly and for every second until I'm literally walking out of the airport doors. The fear started years before I had kids, so I can't attribute it to that.

The only thing that helps me is prayer, headphones with lots of music of varying styles, distracting myself with a book or movie, and/or using some kind of chemical aid.

We actively avoid flying because of the new TSA regulations (I won't let my children go through the X-ray scanners or be molested, and since it's now one or the other in a lot of airports, there's always a chance we won't even make it through security) so it's kind of a non-issue now, thankfully.

I love to travel but I hate to fly! So sorry you share the same fear. 

[Gucci&Granola]

I suffer from the same affliction.  Flew frequently as a child with no problems and then it became unbearable.  I have tried various drugs in past (xanax, ambien etc...) with little to show for results.  Now that I have a baby and will be nursing her on flights for the foreseeable future, drugs are out of the question.  I hear that some people have had good results with EMDR and forms of hypnosis.  Good luck to everyone and I will update if I find an effective treatment.

[ElsieLC]

Homeopathy fixed my debilitating fear of flying (that apparently came from nowhere--DH is a small plane pilot, BTW). I was paging through a home-remedy book in a health foods store and came across a description that exactly matched how I felt on my previous flight. I bought the remedy and took it shortly before another flight...it worked so well I enjoyed myself on the flight and was so relaxed I enjoyed myself! The remedies are inexpensive (about $8 a bottle).

Since 9/11 I can't say I enjoy flying, but it seems like a rational dislike of invasive procedures and no personal space.

[joyfulheart]

Originally Posted by ElsieLC 

Homeopathy fixed my debilitating fear of flying (that apparently came from nowhere--DH is a small plane pilot, BTW). I was paging through a home-remedy book in a health foods store and came across a description that exactly matched how I felt on my previous flight. I bought the remedy and took it shortly before another flight...it worked so well I enjoyed myself on the flight and was so relaxed I enjoyed myself! The remedies are inexpensive (about $8 a bottle).

Since 9/11 I can't say I enjoy flying, but it seems like a rational dislike of invasive procedures and no personal space.

Well, that is hopeful for the rest of us that a homeopathic worked so well.  I would be beyond joy to be relaxed!!  Do you mind if I ask what remedy you used??
 

[joyfulheart]

Originally Posted by cocoanib 

I used to not pay much attention to turbulence on large planes and actually thought it was fun on smaller planes. Now, with every little bump, I'm hanging on for dear life.
 

  Yes!  That is me, too!

[cocoanib]

Originally Posted by ElsieLC 

Homeopathy fixed my debilitating fear of flying (that apparently came from nowhere--DH is a small plane pilot, BTW). I was paging through a home-remedy book in a health foods store and came across a description that exactly matched how I felt on my previous flight. I bought the remedy and took it shortly before another flight...it worked so well I enjoyed myself on the flight and was so relaxed I enjoyed myself! The remedies are inexpensive (about $8 a bottle).

Since 9/11 I can't say I enjoy flying, but it seems like a rational dislike of invasive procedures and no personal space.

Please share what homeopathic it was.
 

Originally Posted by joyfulheart 

  Yes!  That is me, too!

Maybe that homeopathic will be abole to help us!
 

[ElsieLC]

Well, the whole point of homeopathy is to find the remedy whose symptoms best match *you*...the book I mentioned lists 4 remedies for Fear of Flying and I'm sure there are many others that would work. I'm sure if we each found our perfect remedy they would all be different from one another.

That said, what I took was Argentum Nitricum. It best matched my symptoms of worries about arriving places on time and fear of heights.

[ZoshaMosha]

I have an intense fear of flying.  I used to take Xanax before a flight, but I could never get the timing right.  The drug would kick in heavily after I got OFF the plane and I'd be a drugged out wreck for the rest of the day.  But I discovered recently that plain old whiskey works even better.  I don't usually drink hard liquor and sometimes I feel a little alcoholic when I order a Jack and Coke at the airport bar at 8 am before a flight, but I don't care... it works for me.

I also try to use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.  One mental tactic:  I make mental lists of all the flights that have taken off from my airport just today and think of all the flights that have landed.  I think about all the flights that have taken off and landed at JFK airport, London, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, Miami, Bogota, Johannesburg, Stockholm, etc... I think about how many safe flights are going on RIGHT NOW.  It helps me put everything in perspective.

I am afraid of an airplane disaster.  There are other awful disasters and situations I am NOT afraid of and I contemplate these things.  The chances of getting into a major airline wreck are very, very low.  But there is a chance.  Similarly, there is a chance I could get kidnapped while waiting for a taxi at the airport and sold into sex slavery... albeit a VERY small chance.  I don't fear this situation so why do I fear the very small chance of getting into an airplane wreck?  Reminding myself of the irrationality of my phobia helps me out a lot.

And audio books help too.  I can't concentrate of doing anything in planes too, so having an audio book for the flight helps keep my mind occupied.