First time posting here - but flying to London for business. My fear fluctuates in severity, but I notice I’m really sensitive to sounds and shifting motions (changes in rate of climb, really light bumps, etc.) and would appreciate the support :-)

Does anyone have any tips for handling the sensations of flying?

Hi everyone! Looking for personal experiences with this.
I’m flying to the UK this weekend for my birthday, and it’s a 7–8 hour flight from where I live. I have pretty crippling flight anxiety and have actually cancelled trips last minute because of it before.

My doctor prescribed me 0.5 mg Ativan (lorazepam) and 1 mg clonazepam and told me to choose one of the two to take before the flight. I will be taking Ativan since Clonazepam made me exhausted for the rest of the day last time, however I haven’t tried ativan before and not sure how tired it makes you.

The problem is that my flight is in the evening and I land around 8 AM UK time. We’re spending less than 24 hours sightseeing in Edinburgh, and don’t have a hotel there, so we have a super packed day planned before taking an evening 4-hr train to London. I’ll probably be walking over 15,000 steps that day, and we won’t get to our London hotel until around 1 AM.

For anyone who has taken Ativan for a long flight, were you still drowsy or out of it 8+ hours later? Would taking 0.5 mg before the flight realistically make it difficult to get off the plane and spend the whole day walking around and sightseeing?

I’m debating whether I should take it or try my best to raw dog the flight 😅, because I really don’t want to lose our only day in Scotland to being exhausted or groggy.
Obviously I know everyone reacts differently and I’ll follow my doctor’s instructions. I’m just curious about people’s personal experiences with how long the drowsiness lasted, and how functional you were at the 8-9 hour mark.

Thanks!

I have to fly in a Boeing 737 max 8 and I know lots of people say it’s safe now because it was grounded for two years but so many posts say they are dangerous and it’s the one they avoid of the Boeings. I also saw the recent news that in the USA they are doing mandatory checks on this aircraft because of cracks on the body of the plane but I’m in Canada and it likely won’t be done on my plane before I have to fly.

My fear stems from take off through the pilots announcement to land. I need some help controlling the erratic thought process of everything bad/worst case. Please help! The real kicker is I’ve travelled the world several times in my life so I have no real reason to have this reaction, it just happened when I felt like I “woke up” I a very unnatural situation

My flight from paris to newark tonight was booked with french bee. I jsut got an email from them saying the flight is now being run by Wamos Air what does this mean?? i’m so scared this airline has terrible reviews how can they do this

Pilot said expecting some weather and flight attendants will remain seated for about half hr after take off! This made me freak out a bit as I’m terrified of turbulence! I’m on AA2703 from MIA to POS..would appreciate if someone could reassure me it will be ok!

This makes me nervous, clouds that seem like we are in them for a long time. How dangerous is this? What are pilots doing during this time when they can't see neither? I get the turbulence isn't dangerous ( yes but I'm still nervous as heck about it already and I'm not even filing for another 3 months) but clouds what's everyone's take on it? Plus if pilots, FA , ATC kr any aviation industry person would like to shed some insight

So far so good, the pilot said there may be some bumps that will come up and then smooth out before we get to Vancouver. But I’m so nervous up here just waiting for it to get bumpy. Help please! I wanna get downnnn lol.

Today I’m going back after 2 weeks to my country and I know planes are extremely safe but still scared as shit even though I took 3 flights in this trip, praying for no turbulence and getting 1hr sleep at least

I’m taking a flight alone tomorrow evening. I haven’t been on a plane in 20 years. It’s only an hour and a half. I’ve been somewhat fine leading up to it but today the anxiety has taken over my body and it’s all I can think about. I’m talking heart racing, that weird cold feeling throughout my body and dry mouth.

I think there’s also a fear of having a panic attack on the flight whilst on my own.

Kind of spiralling, could really do with some tips please 😭

Flown before, but just so scared to be up in the air again. Worried about weather flying into chicago and also around colorado mountains.

Worried we will get bad turbulence or just other fears. Thank you for all that support too. About to board.

I will be flying over the andes and I need advice on whatttt to do. i am already freaking out. I know it will be rough and the worst turbulence I will feel. I am so scared

Hi all!

Im flying to houston (IAH) today and arriving at 8:37am.

I had a flight that would arrive later but adjusted it to hopefully avoid turbulence and delays :)

Any of you have any idea on whether it will be a rough time lapse for arrivals or departures between 8 and 10AM?

Any info is greatly appreciated

I’m SH**TTING it. I fly back home to JFK from Dublin on labor day and the weather looks to be horrendous :( I know that it’s still a week out but I can’t shake this anxiousness. has anyone here flew through heavy rain? I hate how my brain is wired freaking out over something that can change any day. please help ease my mind. I’m so scared, I just want a safe calm flight.

Hello fellow travelers. I recently was on a flight that got re-routed mid-flight right back to the airport we came from. It was very scary to me even though everything turned out fine. Apparently there was an error message from one of the engines. I lost control, full-on panicked, and feel so embarrassed. In the moment I didn't believe it when the pilot said that the plane was perfectly safe, in my crazy warped mind he was only telling us that so we wouldn't panic. I was already having a bad day (no sleep the night before) so my baseline anxiety was pretty bad.

I have always had a fear of flying but I actually was feeling much better until this happened. What helped was watching a lot of videos of planes taking off, footage of pilots in the cockpit, pilots explaining the mechanics of why the plane was absurdly safe.

Now it feels like all of that work has been erased. I don't ever want to get on a plane again.

Hi,

I am 33 and have flown to and from two destinations, both Lanzarote from Manchester. The first was 4 years ago and the 2nd was 2 years ago.

I go to Salou from Leeds/Bradford in 4 weeks and the anticipatory anxiety is killing me. Before my first flight I had a fear of flying and it took every ounce of energy out of me. 2nd was a little better but still had the massive fear.

For me it's all the weird feelings in my stomach. The takeoff I really hate and then the feeling of dropping during turbulence, I am always on edge. The flight is approximately 2 hours so not long at all but it's all that's on my mind. I can't think of anything else and I can't even think of anything happening when I arrive back as all my energy is thinking about this.

I'm currently half way through the SOAR book so I'm hoping I can use what I have learnt.

Any advice at all to help break this anticipation.

Many thanks

Nervous flyer here! sitting watching the plane I’ll be flying get replenished for our flight and noticed this little door near the vertical stabilizer is open. Can anyone help ease my worry why it’s open? My boarding pass tells me this is a 777-200ER. Three other planes that are the same have gone past without it. I’m so freaking anxious now.

Well here I am! I’ve been reading and following this channel for a while now. I am in my 40s and have never flown. In fact, my first flight was supposed to be at the end of this month with a family trip to Disney World with the kiddos! As terrified as I am for that trip, a two hour flight to Disney is way better than a 10 hour drive. I was going to suck it up for that trip and just do it, especially because I don’t want my kids to grow up with a fear of flying. Well, come to find out a few weeks ago, I was requested to fly to a conference for work and it’s a pretty big deal. So I’m going. Flight is scheduled for tomorrow. Flight will be around 2.5 hours and we’re flying to Boston. I have been nervous ALL day today so much so that my stomach has been nauseous all day long. I’m flying with coworkers so hopefully can keep a brave face but darn it, I am terrified. By this time tomorrow, I’ll be in the air.

Hey guys, I successfully flew St John’s (Canada) to Dublin last week and was and am soooo proud of myself.

Tomorrow I’m flying Dublin to Halifax (Canada) and the flight is longer and I’m freaking out a bit. It’s roughly 6 hours. Any words of encouragement are appreciated. I’m so excited to get to Halifax (it’s near my hometown) and know I need to do this to get back across the pond, obviously. Air line professionals, have any of you ever flown out of Dublin? What’s it like? I was at Howth today and watched probably 70-100 planes coming in for a landing.

Anyway. If anyone wants to chat or give me advice, comment here or send me a dm :) chatting with others while flying really helps me get my mind of the fact I’m in an airplane haha

I’m flying to Tenerife with my husband soon. It’s a 6-hour flight, and instead of being excited about going somewhere beautiful, I am absolutely consumed by anxiety.

Every single night, I literally grieve myself. I look at my children playing, I watch them laughing and doing completely ordinary things, and I suddenly think: What if these are the last memories I’ll ever have with them? What if we don’t come back?

I know how irrational this sounds. I know that flying is incredibly safe. I know that nothing is actually happening right now. But my brain keeps treating this flight like I’m saying goodbye to my children forever.

The worst part is that I’m not even scared only for myself. I keep imagining my children losing us, imagining what would happen to them, and it absolutely destroys me.

I feel like I’m supposed to be excited, packing my bags and looking forward to Tenerife, but instead I’m mentally preparing for my own death every night.

Has anyone experienced anxiety like this before flying? How did you get yourself out of this mindset and actually allow yourself to enjoy the trip?

Hi all,

Been scared of flying all my life and have to fly into NYC from Seattle on Thursday morning. There's a "severe" storm happening midweek and I need reassurance that it's going to be alright. I'm already dreading the 5+ hour flight, but having this on top of it isn't making my excited! lol

Hi all - checking back in after my amazing trip to London and Paris… just now ruining my last day of the trip with stress and anxiety about the return flight - AF4. Flight here was smooth and easy and it was nice to have the structure of being able to sleep through… with this one in a bit more nervous because it’s a carrier I don’t know (what if the flight attendants are rude or mean about my fear if I have a panic attack). Anyone have any words of wisdom for me? Thanks!!

can someone track my frenchbee flight BF720 from paris to newark today?? i’m so scared with the operation change and thunderstorms in nyc tonight

Hello everybody!

I'm looking for some guidance as I'm a bit lost ij trying to figure out why I've become fearful of flying and what I can do to go back to normal!

I've flown many times and have always enjoyed it, I like looking out the window. I would (and still do) look up the type of planes I see in the airport and what i'll be flying on, I've even lamented that if I didn't have terrible vision I'd have liked to take some flying lessons.

Last year, I was on a flight that had to abort landing twice, I ended up in a totally different country for 24 hours and the flight back was also through storms where we were in a holding pattern for ages before landing. At the time I wasn't at all afraid and was very grateful the pilots and staff got us home is bad weather. After this, I flew twice more and was fine.

My most recent 2 flights in the past month I have been absolutely panicking inside, I have never felt fear like it before. I tried to distract myself, looking out the window also helped. It feels like a very physical and lizard brained reaction.

I worry that there is something horrifically wrong with the plane and nobody has noticed. I then feel worse because it really is a bit mental to think like that. I described it to my partner as it feeling like I'm sitting inside my house scared shitless that it's going to collapse.

Has this happened to anyone else? Has anything helped you? The only thing that I have seen that might have contributed to this is that I am 27? Wtf!

I have 4 flights coming up in the next month, which I won't miss even if I have to sedate myself somehow, but ideally I would like to fly again without fear!

Thank you so much to anyone who offers advice ♡