Fear of flying

[WellErrr]

This weekend I am taking my children on an hour long flight to Dublin to visit friends.
I haven’t been on a plane for nearly 20 years and the children have never been on a plane ever.

I am absolutely terrified in case something awful happens. I do suffer from what I call ‘functioning anxiety’ as in day to day I am fine, but I do have a tendency to overthink things.

Does anyone else feel like this? If anyone can help me feel better about this I would be so grateful! Thank you.

Without a doubt look up Lovefly on Facebook.Its a huge group of people who reassure each other but critically there are podcasts which cover all sorts of information with many real life stories of success from people. Its life changing I promise-website too in case you don’t use Facebook

Hey, yes my flying anxiety got so bad last year I vomited twice before we left the house for the airport! Since then I’ve managed to get it under control, however I’ll never enjoy it.

I don’t have kids so these might not be helpful if you have little ones in tow, but

Earphones are your friend. The less you can hear, the better, in my experience. Have a podcast playing from the moment you get on the plane.

Take a book you are really into. Again, if you have small children, this might not be possible.

An eye mask. Ignorance is bliss is the theme here :)

Tell the cabin crew that you are nervous, they are brilliant.

Remind yourself that you’re safer up there, where everyone’s been through security and the plane has been checked over and over again, than you are down here.

Take snacks and get a cuppa when they offer, this takes up time and distracts you.

If you can afford it, buy extra leg room. Get an aisle seat if you are claustrophobic.

Thanks for the kind replies, some really helpful points! 🙂

Yes - I have had many years of flying anxiety but I decided to do something about it and it definitely transformed my experience - plus reduced my general anxiety.

i identified 2 zen like songs on Spotify that I really liked. For about 2 weeks i also chose them as they were good songs to repeatedly and slowly count down from 5. This is so I focus on short moments on the flight where turbulence is more likely like take off and landing. I then did several sessions at home lying on my bed, listening to the songs doing deep bread counting back from 5. I also used lavender. These really relaxing sessions at home were surprisingly easy to replicate when flying and now my experience of flying is so different. I hate turbulence but I close my eyes, listen to the music and pretend I’m on a bus on a very bumpy road - that helps. Try and address your baseline day to day anxiety as part of this - even 5 minutes a day doing breath work makes a difference. Happy travels xx