Flying makes me VERY nervous. What can I do to get past it?

Question

I know that I will never be completely comfortable with flying. I do it a lot and it scares me just as much one time as the next. I don't have the option of not flying. Any words of wisdom? I have tried knocking myself out with Benadryl, keeping myself busy, sleeping (I can never fall asleep), and other things that aren't coming to mind at the moment.

Answer 1

I am made very nervous by flying as well. I understand Bernoulli's principle and all, however, there is something primally and viscerally wrong with not having ground (or the floor of a boat, which will eventually lead to ground at the bottom of the ocean) beneath your feet.

Also, I tend to be the kind of person that likes to be in control of what is going on around me (not in a bad or mean way or anything), and when you are in a plane, you must surrender that control to pilots and people that you have never met before.

My strategies involve crocheting, because the repetitive motion is very soothing, and the stitch counting helps give your mind something to focus on besides what that shake, shiver, bump, really loud strange noise, etc.. must mean.

I also try to imagine air curents as being similar to ocean currents, namely that just like when you are on a boat, the ocean may cause your boat to jump up a little here, sink down a little there, shake a little here, you are still held in place by the water. The air currents (along with the engine...Bernoulli's principle and all) keep us in the air as well, they might bounce us around a litlte, but that doesn't mean that we are in direct peril when we fly. Also, another thing you can do is watch the stewardesses and the business travellers who tend to fly alot who know when things are wrong and when they aren't. If they start to look green and scared (like on a flight I was on that ended up smack, dab, in the middle of a supercell storm, and our plane was being tossed around like a child's rubber ball in the sky) than you know you have something to worry about.

Otherwise, you know that you are just fine.

Another thing you can do is give yourself positive triggers. An author of a book I read (whose name and title i can't remember) discusses how he overcame his fear of flying after a very near miss by taking a good book with him and ordering a glass of wine and settling back and enjoying the book and wine (something that he was busy enough that he rarely got time for).

Answer 2

Think of this: at any given time on any given day, there are THOUSAND of planes in the air. I am a horrible flier and thinking of this makes me a little more comfortable. No matter how many times they say it is safer than driving, the whole falling-out-of-the-sky thing still gets to me. I will tell you, Valium is a nervous flier's best friend. That, and about fifteen minutes of chain smoking before I enter the terminal!! Reading does help take your mind off of it, as well as flying with a travel companion. I use my IPod with some nice relaxation music (not able to use on take off or landing - be sure to follow all flight regulations!!) Best of luck to you!!

Answer 3

There has basically been one airport that makes me hectic and it incredibly is the Reno airport. reckoning on the time of day, the wind from the Sierra Nevada Mountains could make for an exceedingly bumpy touchdown. Very gruesome. To get around this, I fly out early a.m. or fly in early a.m. The San Diego airport is basically approximately like commencing off from a deliver! Now, it fairly is a exciting airport to land and take off from. Flying would not make me hectic. It basically relies upon on the place we are touchdown! lol

Answer 4

Take a boat. HHAHA!! Jk.
No rally, I ahd the same problem. I jsut held the hand of the person next to me. It's oaky, just think happy thoughts. Close your eyes. It's a damn shame the flight atttendants wont let you keep your music on while the plane takes off. I don't know why though>

Answer 5

If you truly have excessive anxiety, a physician can prescribe an anti anxiety medication for you. They work incredibly well and are safe to use for moments like this.
Good luck! :)

Answer 6

Try reading that you're more likely to die walking across the street than in an airplane accident? Death by old age hurts more, and takes longer, than crashing into the ground? And my personal favourite, "Sh** happens".

Answer 7

just don't think of it. It's the safest transportaion you know. Just sit back and relax and sit next to someone you're comftorble with.Just relax.