Fear of Flying

[oot]

My husband and I plan on buying in TV a little later this year and staying for the winters (for now). He is retired but I am still working in Michigan and try to keep an eye on my 80+ year old mother. I will most likely need to travel back and forth every few weeks.

I have flown many times in my life. At the start it was OK - never really liked it but could handle it. Since that time I have been in a few storms and now there is fear. As I get older, the bigger my chicken wings. 9/11 has only made the fear stronger.

I love to drive and never did mind the drive to Florida and back - but in the real world I know it would be much quicker/safer/cheaper to fly. I have tried drugs (prescribed by my doctor) but my anxiety kicks in and it is as though I never took a pill at all.

Has anyone else who hates to fly ever gotten over it and if so, how did you do it?

[mak44070]

Ask for better drugs!
I have to take Zanax in order to fly - and I usually fall asleep. And, on occasion, I've had to take 2 Zanax in order to stay calm.

[oot]

Kind of funny - did that on my honeymoon with my 1st husband. I took 3 of em.

Don't remember the flight, or that entire day or night. We never knew how "out of it" I was until he asked me for the paperwork I signed when we got to Aruba.

I told him I never signed any paperwork.......that goodness I put it in a logical place and we found it - or I might still be in Aruba today.....

[Freeda]

I flew without any fear at all until in my late 20s I had a very scary flight where our plane couldn't land because of near tornado conditions on the ground, and we circled for hours in turbulence, eventually also running into a fuel shortage. Yikes!!

It took me a few years to stop fearing flying (I still flew, I just flew with fear), but I read some books - one is called White Knuckles (I think) and one is called Fear of Flying. There are probably newer ones. They helped me because they provided logical knowledge about aeronautics (from a lay standpoint), statistics, etc.

What probably helped me more than anything else, though, was what my beloved Jewish then mother-in-law told me. She told me that when the plane was preparing to lift off, to just close my eyes and imagine G_d's hand lifting up the plane into the air; and later gently returning it to the ground, when landing. I know that this may seem a little corny to some, and it did to me, too, when she told me that. But I tried it anyway and its imagery provided me emotional comfort, which I needed in addition to the 'intellectual' knowledge I had gained from the books.

I now fly without any anxiety; even the bumps, I have just learned to think of as natural, same as bumps in the road when we are riding in a car. I know that there is risk, but there is risk in anything we do - even in staying home.

[oot]

Not corny at all - actually kind of a nice thought! Sounds like a smart lady.

I will have to try a couple of books. Hopefully it will help!

[Bosoxfan]

I just figure the pilot will do what it takes to not crash! He's the first one to hit the ground!!

[Daisy]

I also have a fear of flying. I refused to get on a plane for 25 years after a bad flight. However, now that we have a place in TV, it has really pushed me to fly again. My husband spends the winters in TV and I fly down for the school breaks (I am a teacher). I find it helpful to book direct flights on Air Canada or West Jet (I am from Toronto area) so I don't have to go through more than 1 take off and landing. And I now know that turbulance is to be expected if certain weather conditions exist. I bring my IPOD and turn the music up really loud when we are taking off and try to focus on reading a book. All of these distractions and some gravol have helped get me back on a plane after 25 years. Not being able to fly is very limiting.

[oot]

Sounds like you are in a similiar situation - the hubby south and you up north.

I only book non-stop flights. I don't mind the landings, but those takeoffs drive me crazy. If the flight is smooth - I can handle it (don't like it...but can handle it).

My problem is when the plane start to shake and bump I panic. I try to be logical - but it just won't work.

Just the thought drives me crazy.....:loco:

[swrinfla]

oot:

Take a look at these:

www.fearofflying.fearofflying.com

www.ctrn.com/Fear-of-Flying/

www.fearofflyinghelp.com/


A good many years ago, the travel agency where I worked had a client who was absolutely petrified of flying. He was always a challenge, because he wanted to cruise, but ocean-going cruises don't, as a rule, sail from St. Louis! We found him a local group of fellow "we are scared to fly" folks. Eventually, they worked out their fears and our client became an even better one!

I hope you can overcome your fears. It is a well-known fact that flying is many times safer than driving; perhaps that alone will help you!

Good Luck!

SWR
:beer3:

[oot]

I will check out the links.

At least I know that there is hope out there.....

[downeaster]

"Flying is hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror."

I believe the quote is credited to one of the older stand-up comedians.

[chachacha]

freeda, your jewish mother in law shared my secret...every time i fly, which is often, i always silently sing the hymn "And He will raise you up on eagles' wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you, hold you in the palm of His hand.".. that always calms me....

[hedoman]

Wife will NOT fly. Tried all the "happy pills" even to excess but still didn't work. Kinda like me and the dentist. We take the auto train from Washington to Sanford. Now with Al Quaida targeting trains.....oh well we should be down permanently by October and never have to take anything but a cruise after that.....

[Challenger]

"Flying is hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror."

I believe the quote is credited to one of the older stand-up comedians.

The saying was one of Pappy Boyington's the commander of the "Black Sheep"

"Flying is hours and hours of boredom, sprinkled with a few seconds of sheer terror":plane:

[downeaster]

The saying was one of Pappy Boyington's the commander of the "Black Sheep"

"Flying is hours and hours of boredom, sprinkled with a few seconds of sheer terror":plane:

I guess the comedian I heard quote this was quoting Pappy Boyington. I am wondering if Pappy was referring to his experience as a fighter pilot or as a passenger on a commercial flight. He was one helluva fighter pilot flying one helluva airplane leading one helluva squadron.

Sorry, got off thread but not many people remember Pappy Boyington. (The real thing, not the TV version). His bio on Wikipedia is worth a read.

[PennBF]

I have flown many many times, in fact at one time would fly to Europe a
couple of times a month on business. I have experienced a number of
problems including but not limited to being forced down at an air base
because of a terrorist on board, twice had flaps lock up and had to land
"hot", second or third flight out of Lisbon on a 747 that was new and did
not have boosters to get it up quick, flew at tree tops for quite a while,
once in Stugart BOA plane right engine would not start and the pilot worked
until he finally got it going and then we took off never knowing why it would
not start, landed in Iceland (on Icelandic airline on snow and ice) while
on way to Luxenbourg. The moral of this story is that a pilot, given 3 seconds
can get you out of any problems. You could put bulldozers on the end of
both wings and they would not break.
As a group of pilots once told me..If you want to worry then at least worry at the right times. If you have 100% of worry use 70% as you take off and get to 4000-5000 feet as any problems are probably mechanical and the
pilot is trying to hold it together. Once in the air go to sleep as it is very
very rare a plane falls out of the sky. When the pilot says to buckle up as
they are going to land that is the other 30% of worry as anything at this time is usually pilot error.
Finally, remember there are thousands of take offs and landing each day.Go
to Faa.gov and look at the statistics and the number of airline problems
for the last 10 days. That should make anyone feel a lot better as they
are few and far behind. Two planes wings hit each other a couple of days
ago and it is a major story while 1000's take off and land...:BigApplause:

[angiefox10]

We travel a lot and therefore fly a lot. I never minded the flying, but i am finding it more of a hassle every time. With the TSA, luggage issues, packing, airline prices going up, get there early, wait for luggage that often gets lost.....

Last month we decided to drive to TV... We had our own car, (didn't have to rent a vehicle) did a priceline on the hotel and got a 5 star for about $85, could have spent less had we known the area. It was a beautiful drive and we spent much less to do it! Oh.... and we are in Illinois. The only reason I would fly it in the future, is if time was an issue.

:thumbup: