Fear Of Flying

pm.

hi, anyone know if aer lingus still run that course to help with fear of flying anyone here have the same fear i do and if so will you still fly? my fear is getting worse as i get older and now that i have a 9mth old son i dont think i can even get on a plane now, the taught of flying is enough to scare the s##t out of me

BuffyBot

I don't believe Aer Lingus run those courses any more. There are ones in the UK, but alas you'll probably have to fly to get there.

http://www.flyingwithoutfear.info/ is the Virgin Atlantic one

RyanfromNJ

get your doctor to write you a prescription for ativan... and maybe some ambien... then have a drink or 2 before you get on the plane and you'll be fine... I used to be the same way, fear of flying and all... and I should in all honesty, still feel that way after I was up at the WTC on 9/11 working as a paramedic... but now, I'm a flight paramedic on a helicopter... so it's all in your mind.... remember that you have a better chance of: getting hit by lightening, winning the lottery, or dying in a car crash, than you do of getting in a plane crash...

chillywilly

yep i also have a fear of flying...the things that run through my head scare the **** out of me, im sure you are in the same position. I want to go to san diego this summer but a 6/7 hour flight to new york then another flight from new yorto san diego...i dont know if i can hack it. But i am going to get some sort of drugs like valium to help me relax...

i feel for you man, i know its a nitemare

pm.

i never had a fear until 3 years ago when we flew back from cyprus with helious:eek: as we approached dublin airport the pilot anounced that there was a problem with the landing gear, we where about 300 ft from the ground when the engines went to full power and up we went, we circled for about half an hour before we landed, that was the scariest moment of my life, i would love to get back on a plane for my families sake, this year we are going to france on the boat, maybe some day i'll pluck up the courage to get back up there.

jonny68

Feel sorry for you guys,i actually like flying although depending on what airline im flying with of course.

Owen

Go for a flying lesson. It cured me, and I'm a pilot now

Seriously though, getting to see all the thorough checks that are done, and understanding the principles of flight, and the emergency procedures, it's wonderful peace of mind.

Ruu_Old

Theres plenty for you to do on planes to keep your mind off things, let the airline know you dont particularly like planes and so on. Im sure they can help you out someway. Best of luck

peeps78

im scared sh*tless of flying myself, so u can imagine how much i enjoyed the travel part of the round the world trip i just finished.
what i find helps me is knowing a bit about how the plane works, so i know that that whirrr and clunk is just the wheels going down etc.
i never drink especially on long haul flights as it dehydrates you and your dehydrated enough when you fly. it just makes you feel crappier.
it also makes a huge difference what airline you go with. do not fly ryanair if u are afraid of flying. out of all my flights over the past year and a half that very last one from london to dublin was the scariest. if your going long haul try and get an airline where each seat has its own tv. u can just plug in you earphones, watch whatever u want and just tune out everything else thats going on around u. my favourites are singapore airlines and virgin atlantic.
do not watch fearless, Lost, alive, final destination etc any time before your due to fly.u can imagine how freaked out i was when i sat in my seat before take off and the tray table fell down in front of me.;)
unfortunatly flying is the neccesary evil of a desire to travel.

pm.

hi i know i posted this a while back, but did any of ye ever do a fear of flying course and if so how did you get on? its almost time to book the holiday now and even thinking about the flight is scaring the s**t out of me. we got a really great deal on a villa in spain from a friend of a friend, and if i dont get my head arount the flying part we will spend 14 hours on a boat to france.

YeAh!

Of course your going to be scared. You are sitting in this huge object that you have no control over, crammed in the middle of 100 other people and travelling at hundreds of km/hour way up in the sky. Its clearly very natural to be scared.

What you have to concentrate on is how often do you ever hear of planes crashing? Pilots spend their entire lives transporting people across the globe. They know what they're doing. In the unlikely event that something does go wrong, they will know what to do. Also keep in mind that travelling in a plane is much much safer than travelling by car!

In the plane concentrate on whats ahead, the great time you will have on this holiday, listen to music, watch TV. It will be fine!! Theres a site here http://www.fearofflyinghelp.com/ that I found. I think they do some course on fear of flying, but at the end of the day, the only way to face this fear is to target it head on and just get on the plane!!

empirix

bring an mp3 player with you and turn it up really loud with a favourite band, i personally listen to very old Metallica albums from the 80's, only place i listen to them, totally takes my mind of it for some mysterious reason, thanks to the swedish dude flying over asia for this tip

Tom Dunne

Here's another slant on it for you - do you want your 9 month old to grow up scared of flying? I would think not.

My sister, who is now 18, turns into a basket case on an airplane. The reason for that is because both my parents turn into basket cases on the rare occasion they are forced into a plane.

My father is getting better - a combination of going away in groups, drugs and drink. It's as simple as that. If you can go with a large group of friends/family, they will hopefully put your mind at ease somewhat. Also, he is a firm believer in vallium. He takes one before he leaves for the airport, so he is relaxed getting there. Then the odd drink or two (no more!) and he is sorted.

He still says it scares the livin' bejasus out of him, but hey, whatever works.

pm.

just a quick note to say thanks to you all for the advice, i got back today from my hols to Brussels, we flew with aer lingus, the flight could not have gone better, i popped a few Valium but hey i did it, once again thank you

Wishbone Ash

pm. wrote:

just a quick note to say thanks to you all for the advice, i got back today from my hols to Brussels, we flew with aer lingus, the flight could not have gone better, i popped a few Valium but hey i did it, once again thank you

Congratulations pm. Well done.

PS When people say that they have a 'fear of flying' do they really mean that they have a 'fear of not flying'. After all, when you are flying everything is going to plan as it should.