Fear of Flying Remedies

[Linababe 0]

I also have a fear of flying - well heights specially - and well i finally persuaded myself to fly after I got divorced many years ago - the thought of tavelling and meeting new ppl was my goal and well with the internet I met so many lovely people after my divorce that I just had to meet them - so basically I focused on the end result - lucky for me I had a good friend who would drive me to the airport and wait with me till it was time for me to board and I would make my way to the gate - and board as i got on the plane I would tell the hostesses I was very very nervous and scared - and asked them to keep an eye on me. Which they did ever so often!! as to my fear of heights i insisted on a seat near the window - sounds silly but I had just finished reading a book called "feel the fear and do it anyway" so basically I faced my own fear!! I even managed to get the courage to ask to go into the cockpit which I did and wow it is amazing!!! Basically take deep breaths - I personally find that whenever I am nervous I tend to talk alot - I basically feel sorry for the person sitting next to me on the plane but I always introduce myself as well it is a long flight to the states and to be sitting to a stranger that long is no fun lol. All of the times I have flown to the states the person next to me has allways been sympathetic and understood that I was scared of flying and talked to me about anything to help distract me and calm me down. And when you are once up in the sky - its not that bad actually.

As to drinking before you get on the flight well i would recommend dont overdo that - otherwise they wont let you fly if very intoxicated!.

I use Lorazapam too for anxiety mainly when i go to dentists and hospitals etc and I will be taking it when i go for my medical and interview - and yes it does make one drowsy - ive been taking it a few times now and it stillmakes me drowsy - but hey atleast you will manage to sleep on the plane - opps sorry your friend I mean lol

Lina (UKC)

[homesick_american 1]

Drinking is pretty much the worst thing you can do if you have a fear of flying.

Tranquilizers are only a crutch.

The number one causes of aerophobia are claustrophobia/related anxieties and plain, pure ignorance about how airplanes work and how they fly.

My aerophobia is so bad that at this point I refuse to fly, but I come from a family of pilots and have personally flown an airplane before. My fear of flying emerged when I was recovering from a nervous breakdown in 1996 and basically impossible to treat. Nothing has worked. However, I can answer questions about the industry and the physics of flight if anyone has any. I'm actually good at soothing other fearful fliers; it just doesn't work on me.

[Mags 112]

Well my Mum was terrified of flying, she'd dig her nails into your arm and draw blood. She'd have a stiff G&T before take off and shut her eyes. It kind of worked, except for whoever was sitting next to her.

Me? I adore flying, absolutely love it. But I adore aeroplanes full stop so anything to do with them I embrace 100%. Take off and landing are the best bits, all that power as you shoot up into the air. W00t!

Edit: this probably isn't helping anyone is it? Sorry!

Edited May 31, 2007 by mags

[Jamie76 0]

Certain anti-anxiety meds are used for fear of flying cases...Xanax for one. When you are on one of the big planes, it's not so bad. You barely feel anything.

I had a bad experience recently. Flew from Chicago to Springfield Ill on a little prop plane. There were 3 of us on the flight not including the pilots. These planes have no cockpit door so you can see and hear everything. Anyway...bad storms were forming to the east of us on take off. As we were climbing, we hit very bad turbulence and started dropping fast. The warning alarms were going off because of the rapid drop. I was literally hugging the seat in front of me to hold on. Luckily no one was sitting there...I don't think I would have cared at that point though.

[homesick_american 1]

Well my Mum was terrified of flying, she'd dig her nails into your arm and draw blood. She'd have a stiff G&T before take off and shut her eyes. It kind of worked, except for whoever was sitting next to her.

Me? I adore flying, absolutely love it. But I adore aeroplanes full stop so anything to do with them I embrace 100%. Take off and landing are the best bits, all that power as you shoot up into the air. W00t!

Edit: this probably isn't helping anyone is it? Sorry!

You're not shooting into the air. It's not thrust alone that makes an airplane fly.

When a plane is on its takeoff roll, the angle of attack of the wing creates a pressure differential above and below the wing, simultaneously pushing it from below and sucking it from above. Check out still photographs of large aircraft, particularly 747s and Airbus 340s, taking off. You'll see some flexion in the wings. That's the suckage.

[homesick_american 1]

Certain anti-anxiety meds are used for fear of flying cases...Xanax for one. When you are on one of the big planes, it's not so bad. You barely feel anything.

I had a bad experience recently. Flew from Chicago to Springfield Ill on a little prop plane. There were 3 of us on the flight not including the pilots. These planes have no cockpit door so you can see and hear everything. Anyway...bad storms were forming to the east of us on take off. As we were climbing, we hit very bad turbulence and started dropping fast. The warning alarms were going off because of the rapid drop. I was literally hugging the seat in front of me to hold on. Luckily no one was sitting there...I don't think I would have cared at that point though.

The alarm could have been a wind shear alarm or a ground proximity alarm.

In strong turbulence it feels like you're falling a lot...some people say it's hundreds of feet...but in actuality it's usually no more than 10-12 feet, though if an aircraft is being constantly buffeted it can lose a thousand feet in altitude by the time it has flown through it. It won't lose it all at once though.

[Dan&Tiffany 0]

Well my Mum was terrified of flying, she'd dig her nails into your arm and draw blood. She'd have a stiff G&T before take off and shut her eyes. It kind of worked, except for whoever was sitting next to her.

Me? I adore flying, absolutely love it. But I adore aeroplanes full stop so anything to do with them I embrace 100%. Take off and landing are the best bits, all that power as you shoot up into the air. W00t!

Edit: this probably isn't helping anyone is it? Sorry!

You're not shooting into the air. It's not thrust alone that makes an airplane fly.

When a plane is on its takeoff roll, the angle of attack of the wing creates a pressure differential above and below the wing, simultaneously pushing it from below and sucking it from above. Check out still photographs of large aircraft, particularly 747s and Airbus 340s, taking off. You'll see some flexion in the wings. That's the suckage.

Bernouli effect. Fun stuff. Learned WAY more about that than I ever cared to in grad school; then had to help pilot buddy of mine study for an exam on the same topic. Wee!

And on the small plane experience. I hear ya on that one. Used to fly out of good ole Waco Regional Airport (yeah, it's one of those that you walk onto the tarmac to get on the planes.) All of those planes were "puddle jumpers" just connecting to get on a bigger plane. Turbulence is brutal in them. Hit my head on the wall (is it called a wall in a plane?) once because of stormy weather. Still that wasn't as bad as what you described, but I can imagine!

EDIT: Geez, aren't I a ray of sunshine. Large planes are fine, no worries at all. Usually quite smooth. Even the small ones aren't generally all that bad - as long as it isn't bad weather.

Edited May 31, 2007 by Dan&Tiffany

[homesick_american 1]

Bernouli effect. Fun stuff. Learned WAY more about that than I ever cared to in grad school; then had to help pilot buddy of mine study for an exam on the same topic. Wee!

And on the small plane experience. I hear ya on that one. Used to fly out of good ole Waco Regional Airport (yeah, it's one of those that you walk onto the tarmac to get on the planes.) All of those planes were "puddle jumpers" just connecting to get on a bigger plane. Turbulence is brutal in them. Hit my head on the wall (is it called a wall in a plane?) once because of stormy weather. Still that wasn't as bad as what you described, but I can imagine!

EDIT: Geez, aren't I a ray of sunshine. Large planes are fine, no worries at all. Usually quite smooth. Even the small ones aren't generally all that bad - as long as it isn't bad weather.

The turbulence is worse in a single-engine Piper that only seats four people. Turbulence doesn't bother me; it's the crashing and the dying that bother me.