Terrified to Fly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How old is your DD? Are you not afraid of scaring her by being scared yourself? That is what helped DH and ME get over our fears.

I will sometimes take meds, but then I worry about not having my wits about me should something happen.

DD is 4. I do a good job at not showing her that I'm afraid. But you're right, I look at her and think, if she's not scared, why the heck am I? I'm also afraid to take meds because then I will panic about not being in my right mind LOL.

When my DD was 4, she asked so many questions constantly there was no way I could focus on my fear!

But your DD isn't scared because she's 4, and a 4-year-old doesn't have enough knowledge to be afraid on a plane. You do. Try just throwing yourself 100% into entertaining and engaging with your DD. That should keep your mind off of your fear.

Also, I corrected my embarrassing grammar mistake above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to get a special pair of Big Girl Flying Panties and put them on. This is ridiculous.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's hard but remind yourself that it's safer to fly than to drive. The odds of anything happening to your plane are ridiculously low. And I always think that the safest time to fly is after something bad happens because police are on alert. Just in the time it took you to read this dozens of flights took off and landed safely. You'll be fine.

OP here. I try to remind myself that many more car crashes happen than plane crashes. I also try to remember that thousands of flights take off and land every single day, and I really have nothing to worry about. I feel like my fear is irrational - I'm scared a wing will fall off (they look pretty flimsy in flight lol) or the plane will just fall out the sky. Ahh, fear. I'll keep trying to remember these tips. Thanks.

This page explains it pretty well. And shows you just how flexible the wings are. The more flex in the wings = the smoother the ride. I did a tour of the BOEING factory in Washington and they showed us how they do the stress test on wings. They can flex a huuuuge amount before there are any problems, it's just by design.

http://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/838/what-are-the-effects-of-the-boeing-787s-very-flexible-wings

[Anonymous]

Idk why I put Boeing in all caps lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH, DD and I are flying cross country to CA this weekend to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my parents. I'm already extremely afraid and anxious about flying...but all these ISIS threats for the US aren't helping. I'm not so bad on 1-2 hour flights, but flying from DC to CA is scaring the crap out of me. I fly about once a year, if that. During a flight, I'm always looking around for suspicious people, grasping DH's arm or the armrest when the plane does that "drop" thing randomly, and freaking out at all shakes and bumps. Someone please give me some advice! It's almost to the point where I don't want to go visit my parents anymore because I'm so afraid to fly!

Please get this under control so you don't pass on this behavior to your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's hard but remind yourself that it's safer to fly than to drive. The odds of anything happening to your plane are ridiculously low. And I always think that the safest time to fly is after something bad happens because police are on alert. Just in the time it took you to read this dozens of flights took off and landed safely. You'll be fine.

OP here. I try to remind myself that many more car crashes happen than plane crashes. I also try to remember that thousands of flights take off and land every single day, and I really have nothing to worry about. I feel like my fear is irrational - I'm scared a wing will fall off (they look pretty flimsy in flight lol) or the plane will just fall out the sky. Ahh, fear. I'll keep trying to remember these tips. Thanks.

The antidotes to fear are knowledge and anti-anxiety meds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to get a special pair of Big Girl Flying Panties and put them on. This is ridiculous.

+1.

It's actually not ridiculous to be afraid of flying and that kind of crap only makes OP feel worse. OP, try this book: http://www.amazon.com/Soar-Breakthrough-Treatment-Fear-Flying/dp/0762788003/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1447857762&sr=8-2&keywords=fear+of+flying&pebp=1447857765898&perid=01FT4BT1D3SEY3FZQ57W

I am pretty scared to fly and it helped me. One of the early chapters expalins in great detail the psychologal reasons people are afraid to fly and why they make perfect sense (no control, small/contained area, etc.). I couldn't get through all the techniques in the end but the stuff that explains how the plane works and how much turbulence, etc., it can handle were very helpful for me. Apart from that, seriously try Xanax. I only take it when I fly and it's a HUGE help. A Xanax and a glass of wine and I'm almost normal on a plane.

[Anonymous]

Xanax is life-changing. Talk to your primary doctor; they get requests for anxiety meds for flying all the time. It's a very common fear.

It absolutely helps to know more about flying, too, but Xanax seriously improved my travel life significantly.

[Anonymous]

I agree - Xanax. It made flying bearable for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH, DD and I are flying cross country to CA this weekend to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my parents. I'm already extremely afraid and anxious about flying...but all these ISIS threats for the US aren't helping. I'm not so bad on 1-2 hour flights, but flying from DC to CA is scaring the crap out of me. I fly about once a year, if that. During a flight, I'm always looking around for suspicious people, grasping DH's arm or the armrest when the plane does that "drop" thing randomly, and freaking out at all shakes and bumps. Someone please give me some advice! It's almost to the point where I don't want to go visit my parents anymore because I'm so afraid to fly!

Please get this under control so you don't pass on this behavior to your child.

+1! Flying is fun! Right now, flights to/from DC are most likely the safest they've ever been because vigilance is up!

Be not afraid, as the Bible said. Bring a good book. Watch the movie. Emphasize the joy of the trip to your kid. Buy a souvenir at the airport for DD so that she knows that she's allowed to enjoy her trip to see Grandma and Grandpa. Cherish your family and let your angst go.

Alternative: could your internist and see if you can get a few tabs of Valium. Most of all, don't drive your DH crazy with all this or this may be his last Thanksgiving trip to see this ILs. I wouldn't do it, and I'm an extremely loyal DW, so this year Thank God for DH and his infinite patience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH, DD and I are flying cross country to CA this weekend to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my parents. I'm already extremely afraid and anxious about flying...but all these ISIS threats for the US aren't helping. I'm not so bad on 1-2 hour flights, but flying from DC to CA is scaring the crap out of me. I fly about once a year, if that. During a flight, I'm always looking around for suspicious people, grasping DH's arm or the armrest when the plane does that "drop" thing randomly, and freaking out at all shakes and bumps. Someone please give me some advice! It's almost to the point where I don't want to go visit my parents anymore because I'm so afraid to fly!

Please get this under control so you don't pass on this behavior to your child.

+1! Flying is fun! Right now, flights to/from DC are most likely the safest they've ever been because vigilance is up!

Be not afraid, as the Bible said. Bring a good book. Watch the movie. Emphasize the joy of the trip to your kid. Buy a souvenir at the airport for DD so that she knows that she's allowed to enjoy her trip to see Grandma and Grandpa. Cherish your family and let your angst go.

Alternative: could your internist and see if you can get a few tabs of Valium. Most of all, don't drive your DH crazy with all this or this may be his last Thanksgiving trip to see this ILs. I wouldn't do it, and I'm an extremely loyal DW, so this year Thank God for DH and his infinite patience.

OP here. Thanks for the biblical quote. I am a Christian and know that I should be trusting in the Lord and not worrying. It is hard. I just need to cherish this time with my family and stop worrying about the what-ifs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to get a special pair of Big Girl Flying Panties and put them on. This is ridiculous.

+1.

Not the OP but don't be assholes. Many people have a fear of flying and many people that didn't now do. It has nothing to do with whether there is a higher change of dying in a car. It has to do with not feeling in control, claustrophobia, knowing you are going to possibly die and have no control over the situation. The fear that if something happened, you would know. Car accidents happen in a split second. A plane going down there is that minute. That minute you know you are going to die. For people on 9/11, they knew they were going to die. It scares some people. It is nice to know it doesn't for you. Be grateful that it doesn't and be a little more kinder and patient to people that do feel that way. Retorting to mean posts does not help the OP. It just increases the anxiety. You know it and you willingly post anyway. Nice.

OP, go to our doctor and get some medication. Learn some breathing techniques. Get some good movies on a laptop that will keep you focused. Whatever you do, do not drink. Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Just have your family give you the BA Baracus treatment.

[Anonymous]

This may help...look at all the flights each day with no problems

On any given day, more than 87,000 flights are in the skies in the United States. Only one-third are commercial carriers, like American, United or Southwest. On an average day, air traffic controllers handle 28,537 commercial flights (major and regional airlines), 27,178 general aviation flights (private planes), 24,548 air taxi flights (planes for hire), 5,260 military flights and 2,148 air cargo flights (Federal Express, UPS, etc.). At any given moment, roughly 5,000 planes are in the skies above the United States. In one year, controllers handle an average of 64 million takeoffs and landings." - From the National Air Traffic Controllers Association webpage

http://sos.noaa.gov/Datasets/dataset.php?id=44
Chances are very good nothing with happen.

[Anonymous]

We're flying Saturday and I'm more concerned about going to the mall than the flight. Security is amped at the airport, odds are nothing will happen on a plane. More likely it'll be at a mall considering it's almost Black Friday.