fear of flying

I'm on a slow taper and should be complete by the end of November.  My job requires that I travel and my boss has been pretty cool up to now about letting me slide.  I've recently gotten pressure to start making plans to visit my territories and that would require flying.  I used to love to travel but the past couple of years I've been panicky and finally paralyzed with fear to get on a plane.  This (and other life events) lead to my initial panic attack and subsequent prescription and now taper.  Has anyone had success with getting back on the horse - so to speak - when it comes to feeling comfortable about traveling again?

 

Thanks for your input....Melissa

I'm on a slow taper and should be complete by the end of November.  My job requires that I travel and my boss has been pretty cool up to now about letting me slide.  I've recently gotten pressure to start making plans to visit my territories and that would require flying.  I used to love to travel but the past couple of years I've been panicky and finally paralyzed with fear to get on a plane.  This (and other life events) lead to my initial panic attack and subsequent prescription and now taper.  Has anyone had success with getting back on the horse - so to speak - when it comes to feeling comfortable about traveling again?

 

Thanks for your input....Melissa

 

Hi Melissa,

 

I know of several people that have started flying again, myself included, and the thought of it was much worse than actually doing it!    I found some relaxing techniques on the Internet about flying and listened to those a couple of weeks before I flew but I found once I was at the airport the fear went away and I felt like I used to.  I think now that if I was going to fly again, and still had the fear, I would visit the airport beforehand and see how it affected me instead of going over it in my head time and time again, putting myself through needless agony.

 

Good Luck....

I'm on a slow taper and should be complete by the end of November.  My job requires that I travel and my boss has been pretty cool up to now about letting me slide.  I've recently gotten pressure to start making plans to visit my territories and that would require flying.  I used to love to travel but the past couple of years I've been panicky and finally paralyzed with fear to get on a plane.  This (and other life events) lead to my initial panic attack and subsequent prescription and now taper.  Has anyone had success with getting back on the horse - so to speak - when it comes to feeling comfortable about traveling again?

 

Thanks for your input....Melissa

 

Hi Melissa,

 

I know of several people that have started flying again, myself included, and the thought of it was much worse than actually doing it!    I found some relaxing techniques on the Internet about flying and listened to those a couple of weeks before I flew but I found once I was at the airport the fear went away and I felt like I used to.  I think now that if I was going to fly again, and still had the fear, I would visit the airport beforehand and see how it affected me instead of going over it in my head time and time again, putting myself through needless agony.

 

Good Luck....

I was about to suggest that, tropical.    I haven't had to start flying again but that was never my "panic" zone anyway.  Mine started at the grocery store so that was my "airport".  Before I ever went back in the store, I sat in the parking lot and practiced my relaxation techniques and positive self-talk there until I felt okay to go inside.  It all went great and I haven't feared groceries since then. 

Hi!!

 

Well, I have to say I have never enjoyed flying...before benzos, during benzos or after benzos...LOL  But...I did have to fly for my job this year and I did it.  I went into a major case of denial that I was even on a plane...read a good book...and that seemed to work for me....LOL  The whole concept of flying scares the beewax out of me...but you can do it.  Deep breathing, distraction, and positive self talk goes a long way!

 

Love,

 

Jen

Wow!  Isn't it amazing/frustrating the things that set us off?  My Psych Dr said that after 911 I was probably subconsciously afraid to fly/ leave my family.  I'm not sure I buy into that completely.  I think it's more of a claustrophobia/control issue and I know the exact situation that started that feeling.  I was a kid at a slumber party and it was in the back yard in an RV.  I was sleeping in the top bunk above the driver's section and my friends folded it up and locked me in.  It was funny for like 3 seconds until I realized the sun was coming in the window and I was rolled up in a mattress and couldn't get out.  Heat and confinement.....AAHHHHH  I need to walk around and get a drink of water just thinking about it.