overcome my fear of flying

I hate being a fearful flier, but I have been one since 2002, roughly.

Initially, I loved flying – in fact, my first trip involved a long string of flights with Lloyd Aereo Boliviano to Montevideo, Uruguay, and I didn’t register the slightest anxiety at the botched runway approach at Santa Cruz, or the lightning flashes and turbulence from Amazonian thunderstorms.

Since then, I have developed a strong fear of flying, despite having flown a LOT. I have never gone so far as to cancel a trip due to fear, but I came awfully close once, when traveling to NYC. Ironically, it was on THAT trip that my plane was diverted to Indianapolis, due to storms at LaGuardia.

I have read a lot about the aerodynamics of flight, and understand that, just as a car gets blown around on a windy day at 70 mph, a plane gets blown around in all three dimensions while flying at 450+ mph. But all that knowledge didn’t stop me, during a flight to Argentina, from having a panic attack, and repeatedly calling on the flight attendant for reassurance that we weren’t all going to die from the plane cracking in half.

I will be working on this goal in earnest.

I don’t want to fly anywhere but eventually in my life i will have to.I don’t like the feeling of not being in control of where i’m going or not being able to see.I’m terrified that the plane will just crash so many Boeing 747s have crashed and i just cant get myself to even think about getting on a plane. i’m so scared, but hopefully i will be able to get over my fear when i go to japan. :]

I have to take a flight that has three stops which means three take offs. The worst part of the flight for me. I went searching online and found this cool FREE course that takes you through everything to do with a fear of flying.

http://www.fearofflyinghelp.com/

It has videos and sheets you can print off and take with you. I am not totally over my fear and I will probably still have to medicate a little but I feel better about flying.

I fly a hec of alot nowadays, and I’m talking on an average of about 14/15 flight hours a year now, this is the order in which I am most scared.
1) Take-off (Clenching on to someone, closing my eyes, and sometimes whispering to myself that “I’m gonna survive this!” repeativly)
2) Landing (Usually the same as take-off, except not as much clenching, but I seem to hyperventilate quite a bit, and say to myself “Almost there now, not long”
3) Climb (This is when I start to think, “Thank god take-offs over, I just want to get this over and done with as soon as possible! And I start getting images in my mind of everyone screaming, alot of turbulence, and a nose diving plane (with my airlines logo on), then I picture what it would look like on the news etc)
4) Descent (It is here where I start trying to take my mind of things, but if I hear a noise i’m not familiar with, I go “WHAT WAS THAT”, but still look out of the window at the landscape below…)
5) Cruise (To take my mnd of things I EAT and play them crappy little travel games… or cards…)
6) Taxi (If we’ve landed I think “Thank god, we’ve made it!”, but if we’re taxiing to take off, I look at the other planes etc, and think “not quite in the air yet, so I’m good :D”

I never sit next to a window, the last time I did, I threw up (Take off Lanzerote), because there was alot of turbulence, and I was nervous, so…

I haven’t really overcome this goal so much as… now I know how to medicate myself so I don’t freak out, haha. I’ve pretty much accepted that I’ll NEVER be able to fly comfortable without Ativan, but at least now I CAN fly. Soooo, mission accomplished.

It’s really not the flying that scares me, it’s the crashing part that I can’t get past.

I suppose it’s important if I ever actually have to fly. We’ve discussed moving across the country, and I might have to fly for that—but driving’s possible. However, I’d also like to travel to other countries, and flyings much easier than a sea voyage, so…I guess it’s important for that. Plus, if I’m ever a famous writer, or if for some reason I pursue a PhD, and I have to go to conferences or on book tours or whatever, then I’ll probably have to get on a damned plane.

You know, it’s not flying that frightens me…it’s crashing. Car wrecks are pretty much instant. With a plane, it takes a while. As it plummets from the sky, you have time to realize you’re going to die.

I am terrified of flying (it’s not a fear for me, but an actual phobia). I was getting good for a while (about 5 years ago). I am prescribed a strong sedative to fly. But the phobia has returned since I’ve gone so long without getting on a plane. I keep promising myself to book a short 30-45 min flight, just to take the first step….but I am so scared that since my anxiety has become worse in the past few years I will flip out on the plane. I haven’t flown since before 9-11 so I imagine it will be even worse now….just thinking about this goal gives me a little panic feeling inside.

I want to see Jonne Aaron and Negative so will have to go to Germany to do so, I fly out on Thursday.

i really don’t look at flying with the dread that i once did. since the accident, i’ve flown about 6 more times, without medication or extreme anxiety, and i actually dream about traveling again soon. so, i think, mission accomplished. :)