Scared of flying-help please

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Ok here goes first post I have every started excited*. I am due to go away at the beginning of August. I am terrified of flying and wondering if anyone has any good tips for helping me. Last year I tried beta blockers from the doc but they didn't work and I got myself in such a state the plane missed their slot. I have tried getting drunk but worried as they may not let me on the plane. I have goose bumps thinking about it now. I just seem to loose every shread of normality and turn into a raving idiot shouting and crying and rocking back and forth (thats before the drink!!) I have got some diazipam from the docs but have never tried them and not sure if they will space me out. I just want to feel calm as I ruin it for my daughters by acting like a complete idiot. My family love going abroad and I don't want to end up sitting in a field in england in a tent in the rain because i won't go on a plane. I had a 4 hour flight last year but have booked a 2 hour one this year. My dream is to take the kids to disneyland but that is such a long long long flight!!Thanks in advance

Maybe a hypnotherapist or psychiatrist can help you work out the fears. I really don't think there is a "quick fix" for this fear. You seem to have pretty bad anxiety from what you've said.

There are programs that use desensitization techniques to address phobias. For example, if you had a fear of heights, you would be take near a bridge, for example, then they'd take you a bit closer, and so on, until you were able to stand on the bridge. Then they'd take you to a high floor in a building, etc.They can do the same sort of thing for people who fear flying.By the way, do you want to go to Dineyland in California or (near) Paris, or to Disneyworld in Orlandlo, Florida? If you want hot weather, come to Disneyworld in the summer.

I've tried the hypnotherapist but didn't work. I never used to be scared of flying until I had kids. I think its maybe because in a plane I am not in control and I can't protect the kids if something happens. Very strange!!I am normally such a level headed person (to a point and when sober)but put me near a plane and woooooff I am a nutter!

When I fly I take Dramamine. It keeps me relaxed and I end up sleeping the entire flight.

I've flown alot but I took my wife on her first flight last year. She suffers from a panic disorder so she was, needless to say, apprehensive.She made it though. Basically, fling is so boring that you will soon relax. Have a couple of drinks if you like, they won't turn you away.

Pretty hard to relax when you turn into a raving idiot shouting and crying and rocking back and forth

yeah but the anticipation is always worse than the actual event.

There are people who've freaked out so badly that they had to bring a taxiing plane back to the gate to unload the problematic panicking passenger (PPP).

Will look into that thanks hun. I think I just need something to calm me down a bit.

Yes thinking about it all the bit where you are waiting to board is the hardest bit and walking down the tunnel to get on the plane. It is the not knowing what is going to happen. I tend to calm down slighty once we have taken off and the rocking and shouting stops ha ha I just sit there and don't move.

Thats me I am afraid SteveA! I had to be offloaded one year and i felt so awful for everyone else on board. People say I should just not fly but I am determined to beat this and ensure my family can enjoy their holiday. As soon as I land I am already thinking about the flight home. Have made an appointment at manchester airport for a days course on how to not be scared of flying!! Fingers crossed.

My parents live in France so I could do the tunnel and then drive to Paris but everyone says that Florida is the best one to go to so that is where I am aiming for. I have booked into a days course at manchester airport for a phobia of flying so hopefully that will help me - if not anyone want a ticket to Ibiza??!!

A nurse I work with is also very afraid to fly. She says she always has a couple of drinks before she gets on the plane. Not enough to get drunk, but just enough to relax. :smile:

I would be sooo pissed if you were on the plane with me and it had to taxi back to get you off. It's bad enough having to sit on planes waiting but to have to go back and potentially miss connecting flights is bad. You really need to do something to get this phobia under control before you consider any extended flights.

I would never ever consider doing a flight that I needed to change a couple of times until I have it under control so everyone is safe!!

Yeah but other people may need to change over flights. Just because youre not doenst mean they arent either. Youre more likely to get killed in a car crash than a plane crash. The media puts almost everyplane crash on the news because it makes a good story. Millions of planes fly everyday and the only ones that crash are the ones you hear of. Youre more likly to get cancer than die on a plane. More people die on the toilet each year than on a plane. Being scared of flying is just silly its hollywood and the media that shits everyone up so much about flying. Its the safest way to get around, even safer than walking!!! If you take the tunnel to france youre more likly to die doing that than taking the plane. Just tell yourself youre being silly about it, so enjoy being on the plane because youre even less likly to die than usial.

A lot of people have irrational fears that they know are irrational. But they can't "just stop" being scared. It usually takes some effort.

Yeah, the human mind is an odd thing. I dont know how people become so scared of flying. What triggers the fear of it? Usialy its linked to bad experiances as a child or other family members havning bad experiances. Just like alot of people are scared of spiders and snakes where as the majority of snakes and spiders are harmless. Bees are harmless but they shit me up because i got stung right by my eyeball as a child (about 5) and my eye swelled up and i remember it being very painful. Also I have nightmares about them sometimes crawling into my ears, mouth, nose and eye sockets and nesting in my skull while I am still alive and cant move because I am passed out or whatever and stuff like that. Even though its a completely stupid fear they shit me up sometimes and I have to remind myself that I am being silly.

Ok I've told my self I am being silly but nope that didn't work!I don't think that I'm being silly to be honest that's just an immature insight. It's a phobia which millions of people have and it doesn't just include flying. Did you tell yourself when you were depressed that you were just "being silly" and hey presto you were cured?? I don't think so.As for the "I'm more likely to get cancer than die on a plane" - I've had cancer twice so that part is true but certainly doesn't make me feel better about flying.