Fear of Flying

[Independent voter]

Therapeutic screaming. I do it all the time when I drive on the freeways in Los Angeles. I'm sure I would get used to the freeways in LA after a time, but they are overwhelming for a newb.

[Deleted]

just get some sleeping tablets

[Zorial]

I also have a fear of flights, also cars (got hit twice in a week, nothing dangerous but damn was it scary). And i learned to simply release the tension, just admit the fact that IF something were to go wrong you have no way to stop it, and thus there is no reason to fret.

Of course, i am aware that this is simply my personal way to deal with it and it won't necessarily help everyone, but it is the only advice i can give.

[Marrilaife]

Never quite understood why fear of flying is so common, must have something to do with the media portrayal of it. All deadly crashes make big news stories and lots of movies involve planes crashing or losing control..

I'm wondering the same, most people don't have a phobia against cars even though statistically more people die in car accidents than in plane ones.

I've never had intercontinental flight, only shorter one, but I must say while I get terribly nauseous ("sea sickness") in a car or bus I didn't in a plane, mostly had uneasy feelings during lift off but it was overall way more pleasant than ground travel on mountain roads. So yeah, before long travel with a car or bus I need to take pills against the "sea sickness". Maybe it's the same against nervousness, just sedate yourself (but with medical prescription not random means).

[Nurvus]

On the bright side, I've had multiple dreams where I can fly, and I could even control the dream.
How awesome is that?

[Deleted]

Best advice really is to get a prescription of anti-anxiety meds from the doctor.

It works in two ways; Firstly you can take the recommended dosage and you wont panic so much while being exposed to your irrational fear. After time the fear should go away. Secondly, you can lie and say you need to take more trips than you actually do, get a longer prescription, double dunt the pills and literally sleep the entire flight.

[lordsphinx]

You did read through what you just linked, right?



So as far as I can see, the plane that you're using as an example managed to restart all four engines, after which only one of the four was shut down, so it landed using three engines. It didn't "glide down" with dead engines.

Yes, it did restart all 4 engines, after gliding from 13:43 - 13:56 (or 13 minutes), and descending from 37,000 feet to 13,500. This is hardly "falling like a rock". Yes, even 747's can glide for a period of time as long as they are generating lift from forward momentum. They all generate lift, though they will only generate enough lift to maintain level flight if the engines are running. If the plane lost lift for a non-engine problem (flaps, pitch, microburst, etc etc), then it would indeed fall like a rock. Since this plane was in level flight when it lost thrust, it was able to maintain enough lift to glide. This is not uncommon at all, in fact.

[Reeve]

So I'm going to Japan in two months for a few weeks and I should be excited but the only thing I can focus on is the two flights I have to take to get there, one of which is 12+ hours, and the fact that I'll have to do the same thing on the way back. I've been on a plane before, but it was only 3-hour flights and I didn't like it at all as I'm slightly claustrophobic and have the worst fear of heights. Also, what am I supposed to do on a plane for more than half a day?

Anyone else terrified of flying? Any advice/stories to share?

Sleep, watch movies. Take a sleep aid if you're worried. I've been on a million flights that long or longer (OK, maybe not a million, but a lot), and they're actually very comfortable compared to the domestic 3 hour trips. The airplanes involved are generally larger with better amenities and bigger seats and leg room.

Oh, and drink lots of alcohol. That can help too.

[ThunderTaco]

I recently came back from Mexico and the flight was 10 hours long, I saw 3 movies and I didn't even used my 3DS because we had already landed. There are also TV series, ask if your company provides similar entertainment.

[Deleted]

So I'm going to Japan in two months for a few weeks and I should be excited but the only thing I can focus on is the two flights I have to take to get there, one of which is 12+ hours, and the fact that I'll have to do the same thing on the way back. I've been on a plane before, but it was only 3-hour flights and I didn't like it at all as I'm slightly claustrophobic and have the worst fear of heights. Also, what am I supposed to do on a plane for more than half a day?

Anyone else terrified of flying? Any advice/stories to share?

do what I did and get so drunk on the plane that they stop serving you - then swap seats with your friend to try to confuse the air hostesses. that was Gatwick - jap and jap - Sidney something like 20 hours flying

[Ayla]

I have a horrible fear of heights, but for some reason I have no real issue when i'm in a plane. I'm guessing it's because it's an enclosed space so that somehow makes it better for me but if I were to look over a balcony a couple stories high fear would kick in.

Even when I flew the first time ever as a child I took the window seat because my curiosity overpowered my actual fears. The only times I may issues on planes is taking off (because of the g-forces from the plane climbing and turning) and turbulence (because of the sudden jerking and altitude change). Very rarely does the approach / landing bother me.

Once the plane is leveled off it just turns into another boring ride, I just keep myself occupied and either play games on my phone and/or hopefully watch something good on TV. Unfortunately I was only ever able to sleep on the plane once but that's mostly just me having issues sleeping in general.

I am only afraid of taxiing, landings and takeoffs. (Once I was in the bathroom when turblance hit unexpectedly. I dont like airplane bathrroms now). Mostly because I'm afraid of human error/dyslexia or a whole concorde scenario.

I can't sleep on planes or in cars. I'm sure if I could lay down I'd be fine.

[Dundebuns]

I am a very anxious flyer also, but I quite enjoy the take offs, the landings not so much. I usually try and occupy myself with reading or watching a movie. I've only been able to sleep on a plan once, which was a flight from Hokkaido to Tokyo, and I was woken up halfway through the flight to some horrible turbulence :<

[Nami]

Wow, wasn't expecting so many responses overnight.

I deal with fear of flying by sweating, be in a constant "ready to die" state and worry about "wtf was that sound?!", I complete it by periodically screaming during landing.

I guess I'd stay awake for 24+ hours before the flight, and hope that the desire to sleep beats the fear of flying.

That actually sounds like me on the 3-hour flights I took, lol.

well, the first thing that came to my head after read this:

<video>

just relax xD

I love that movie XD

I deal with fear of flying by not flying. I hate traveling anyway.

That's usually my take on it, but I REALLY want to go to Japan ;_;

Flying is the safest form of travel and you're flying with a trusted company between two legit places during good weather. You have nothing to worry about.

I'm flying Air Canada and JAL and hopefully the snow will be gone at the end of March, so I suppose that's true.

I'm scared of flying. I've had many dreams of dying to a plane crash, and I'm almost certain it's how I'm going to go now. I fly if I have to, so the horrible dreams aren't completely stopping me from getting on a plane yet.

As others have mentioned, I'd talk to your Doctor. They can probably give you some temporary anxiety meds to calm you. I did this for a long flight (Belgium to Hawaii). They gave me Klonopin.

This sounds 100% like me. I'm worried my plane will crash and my cats will be orphans, lol. And I actually did get some Klonopin but I'm not sure how much it'll help. I don't wanna take it to the point of falling asleep, cause I feel like I want to be awake if something goes wrong. Like, what if there's an emergency landing and I need to get out quickly but can't because of the meds.

Just take a train.

If I could take a train from Canada to Japan, believe me, I would XD The closest thing I could do is take a train from Montreal to Vancouver, then take a ship to Japan, which would be really expensive and take about 2 weeks. Doesn't make much sense to have 4+ weeks of travel for 5 weeks of vacation though, does it? Yes, I'm so scared that I've actually researched that stuff, lol.

^
Listen to him, do not get drunk, tipsy/few beers is okay, but drunk? please don't
Unless you want to end up in the news

I don't drink, so no worries there.

It is also notable for long flights: The brain is not able to keep you in an anxiety state forever. At one point your fear will go down.

That's the method they use to heal arachnophobia: They simply place a huge spider on you, which will cause you to panic in the first place. Then, over time the brain cannot produce the necessary chemicals anymore and your fear will go down. The brain typically stores the last condition when you leave the situation and next time you will have less fear. On the other hand: If you leave a situation in your most fearful state, you will panic even faster next time.

This actually makes a lot of sense. I took two trips to Florida a few years ago. The first one was my first time flying and I remember thinking it wasn't that bad and I was mostly okay going into my second trip. However, the return flight on my second trip had horrible turbulence and I was freaking out the whole time. Maybe that's why I'm so terrified even though it's been almost three years?

Can you sleep through the whole ordeal?

Doubtful. I've always had trouble sleeping in general. I can't sleep if it's light out, I can't sleep if there's any kind of noise and I can't sleep sitting up. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've taken naps and it was only due to being completely exhausted because I switched my work schedule or because I didn't sleep for over 24 hours.

Never quite understood why fear of flying is so common, must have something to do with the media portrayal of it. All deadly crashes make big news stories and lots of movies involve planes crashing or losing control..

I'm wondering the same, most people don't have a phobia against cars even though statistically more people die in car accidents than in plane ones.

I think it's a control thing. I don't get in a car with someone who's a bad driver. I know you can't control the other cars around you, but I still feel like I have some control over the situation, as opposed to a flight where I can't see the pilot and don't even know who he is.

The only times I may issues on planes is taking off (because of the g-forces from the plane climbing and turning) and turbulence (because of the sudden jerking and altitude change). Very rarely does the approach / landing bother me.

Yeah, I HATE the takeoff, it feels like going on a roller coaster, which I hate. I remember liking the approach and landing though, because it meant we were almost on the ground. It's the only part of the flight where I could actually look outside and feel relaxed.

I recently came back from Mexico and the flight was 10 hours long, I saw 3 movies and I didn't even used my 3DS because we had already landed. There are also TV series, ask if your company provides similar entertainment.

Yeah, I'm going to bring my 3DS but I don't think there's any game I would want to play for 12 hours straight (though I haven't started Pokémon ORAS yet). I guess I could alternate between games and movies and try not to think about the flight. I'm not 100% sure what JAL has but I know there's at least movies.

[Adam Jensen]

Try to get a seat in the middle section (as it's a long flight I'm assuming you'll be in a wide body with a bank of seats in the center.) Bring a bunch of movies and a tablet, some extra batteries for the tablet, and try to lose yourself in the movies.

I've done nine-hour flights (Germany to the US) and the worst part was the soul-crushing boredom.

[Bapestar]

Yea I used to love flying, but now it just scares the hell out of me.

[Nanaboostme]

Sleep, watch movies, read a book, have a conversation with the person next to you, etc...

That's for someone without the phobia of flying/heights... It wouldn't be a problem or phobia if it was that easy to be distracted. Its like those who tell people with Clinical Depression to just get over it.

[Crispin]

Woah, you handle it like a real man.

Yeah :|, I drive when I go to rome, it's about 1900km, but atleast I'm in control and an accident wont take 2 minutes and be a guaranteed death :P

flying and heights is definately my kryptonite.

[Nami]

Try to get a seat in the middle section (as it's a long flight I'm assuming you'll be in a wide body with a bank of seats in the center.) Bring a bunch of movies and a tablet, some extra batteries for the tablet, and try to lose yourself in the movies.

I've done nine-hour flights (Germany to the US) and the worst part was the soul-crushing boredom.

Yeah, I'm hoping big planes are better for comfort/noise/turbulence. I've only flown Spirit and it's a low-cost carrier with nothing included. I spent my whole flights playing Pokémon to distract myself but was still terrified. I felt like an idiot during turbulence because there was a mother with three kids sitting next to me and the kids were playing and the mother was reassuring me instead, lol.

That's for someone without the phobia of flying/heights... It wouldn't be a problem or phobia if it was that easy to be distracted. Its like those who tell people with Clinical Depression to just get over it.

Exactly. It's hard to understand someone's fear when you don't have it yourself. For example, I don't understand how someone can be afraid of dogs, but it doesn't make their fear any less real.