I have a very strong fear of flights. In 3 days, I am actually going on a 11 hour flight to Korea followed by a 1 hour flight to Japan.
I am so stressed out by the thought of being so many miles up in the air. I get this image of the airplane just randomly crashing down :'( I know that the chances of something going wrong are very small but still I just cant relax. It is sooo bad...
How can I cope with this? I am so freaked out, I barely managed to get any sleep.
Half of my friends are mechanical engineers working in aerospace, if anyone should be worried about flights - it should be them, they have all the knowledge, but they still get on flights.
It's a bad version of appeal to authority, but it works for me - if the people who design, test, and understand the specific mechanics of something still use it every day, when they have all the capcity to be sceptical and fearful of it, it's probably ok.
Have you flown before? I had the same fear of flights at first, but I have come to dread the airport processes far more then the fear of being airborne. I'm afraid I can't really offer you a way to overcome your fear, but my suggestion would be to not sit near a window. Once the plane has started and you are on your way you will relax and most likely forget you are flying. Take a book, or something to do on the plane to keep you distracted. Funny enough, my first flight, despite my fear, I insisted on sitting near a window and looking out of it helped me, because it all looked so surreal, cars AREN'T really that small! 'Haha looks just like a cartoon, tiny box cars, square buildings' etc.
Aren't there like drugs they give out to people with fear of flight? Anyway - just keep in mind it's for a fact about a million times more probably to die in a car accident on the way to the airport than due to a plane crash.
Hope you aren't afraid of driving or being driven around now too^^
If you cannot convince yourself that airplanes are safe and start to get more and more freaked out the next one or two days, you could just give up to solve this yourself and go to a doctor and get a prescription for some kind of anti-anxiety medication that makes you not give a fuck about anything for 12 hours.
On August 25 2011 20:59 FeiLing wrote: Aren't there like drugs they give out to people with fear of flight? Anyway - just keep in mind it's for a fact about a million times more probably to die in a car accident on the way to the airport than due to a plane crash.
Hope you aren't afraid of driving or being driven around now too^^
I have flown multiple times before and the funny thing is, I was always fine until I had a bad experience with turbulence about 7 years ago. I have been a nervous wreck on planes ever since.
The most effective way to deal with phobias seems to be behavioral therapy. Basically slowly increasing your exposure to the phobia until its well tolerated, then increasing this. Start by sitting in your chair pretending that you are on the plane. Visualize the whole flight from take-off to landing. Do this until it no longer scares you. Then do the same thing, but while looking out the window. After that find a high window and do the same thing until you can tolerate the fear. The day before try to go to the airport and pretend you are waiting to get on the plane. Again, visualize the whole process over and over until it no longer terrifies you. You will still be scared on the day of the flight, behavioral therapy normally takes way more than 3 days and is best with supervision, but hopefully it will help a little.
Personally, I simply try to think that I'm in a bus, like 2feets away from the ground.
If you don't look outside and think of something other than "OMFG I'm sooooo far from the ground, what if we crash?", you wont even notice that you're so high up in the sky ^^.
Anyway it worked for me the one time I flew... But again, I had vertigo(is that the right term? A fear of highs), not really a fear of flying...
On August 25 2011 21:03 Psychobabas wrote: Thanks for the replies guys.
I think it's a really bad phobia I have.
I have flown multiple times before and the funny thing is, I was always fine until I had a bad experience with turbulence about 7 years ago. I have been a nervous wreck on planes ever since.
So frustrating.
I don't usually say this but you might wanna try and revisit the situation in your mind, a la psychotherapy. Set up how you felt and how things were prior to any escalation. Then think about what triggered the nervousness. What kind of thoughts occurred to you while you were feeling nervous?
On August 25 2011 21:03 Psychobabas wrote: Thanks for the replies guys.
I think it's a really bad phobia I have.
I have flown multiple times before and the funny thing is, I was always fine until I had a bad experience with turbulence about 7 years ago. I have been a nervous wreck on planes ever since.
So frustrating.
I don't usually say this but you might wanna try and revisit the situation in your mind, a la psychotherapy. Set up how you felt and how things were prior to any escalation. Then think about what triggered the nervousness. What kind of thoughts occurred to you while you were feeling nervous?
Good point. Well before that turbulence incident I was very relaxed on flights. I was actually looking forward to flying so I could sleep! I dont know what the hell happened to me, I literally switched from one extreme to the other over a few minutes of turbulence.
Just phoned the doctor. I should get a call back soon for any medication I may take LOL
I remember getting on my first plane, I literally felt like puking while waiting alksjdfalksjfa;sdklf. Taking off is kind of trippy but the actual flight itself feels normal and I calmed down a lot. Turbulence... depends how much and how rough it gets you should be alright just don't sit next to a window... fuck that shit.
I don't know what else to say but just power your way through and man it up! Remember to take deep breathes, no seriously doing this slows your heart rate down and will calm you a tad. But really it's not bad at all, except.. you might get bored after a few hours which I'd be more worried about what to do for 11 hours than worry about anything else lol.
HANG IN THERE YO YOU'LL BE GREAT! ^___^
On August 25 2011 21:29 SafeAsCheese wrote: I don't understand how people can drive cars but be afraid of flying
Not only is the chance of car accidents hundreds of times higher, but it's also more gruesome.
If a plane goes down, it's basically instant death at least >_>
Oh yeah I have a slight phobia of driving... I don't have my license yet and when I drive my hands get sore from gripping the wheel so hard and I sweat lakes fuck driving ;_;
EPT
