Fear of Flying course

[Saltysweetspicy]

Has anyone done this, and if so would you recommend or no? I really want to do one! But it's quite pricey

TIA!

I think you may have boarded the wrong flight. You've landed in AIBU, where people will tell you whether you're being unreasonable, rather than Chat, where you might find people who've actually done the course.

I'd suggest a transfer to Chat. No extra baggage charge, and hopefully less turbulence

@cakeorwine thanks 😂 have requested it to be moved

Yes. I did one a few years ago with Virgin. I didn't think it would work and, I was adamant I wouldnt get on the plane at the end of the day. But it completely cured me of my fear.

It was a full day course with technical information from a pilot and crew who were there all day along with phycologists working with us using different techniques to cope with and, overcome our fears. Then we all went for a flight with the pilot who was with us through the day, talking through every step of the flight preparations and the flight itself. It was very expensive but worth every penny! Have spent a fortune on holidays since, though!

I haven’t done it myself, but I’ve been told it draws heavily on hypnotherapy techniques, and I would really recommend hypnotherapy for fear of flying.

I used hypnotherapy myself to help with my fear of flying and it does work. I used to need several drinks AND some diazepam to get on a plane (yes, I know you shouldn’t mix them!). Now I have no problem flying and I don’t drink anymore so I do it all the time without even a drink first other than a tea.

I think the course is helpful because it’s specific to the aircraft and helping you understand what’s going on, but you might consider standalone hypnotherapy sessions as well, if more affordable. I don’t know what the course costs.

Wow two really positive stories, thank you.

@AbigailisPartiedOut that's the one I am eyeing up!

@mindutopia i'm definitely open to hypno as I used it years before for something else, it's just finding a good one

Lol, I used to do the diazapam and gin before getting on a plane. I had to fly by myself more than once like that and wonder how I made it through the airport and made my destination 🤣🤣

I did the BA one at Heathrow a few years back. The first half was about how planes work; Bernoulli’s effect etc which I already knew about from Physics O level and all the built in resilience. I still couldn't get on the plane in the afternoon.

I've just accepted it, I can get to Ireland on a ferry, or Europe by train/car.

Yes I did the Virgin one a few years ago. It really helped with a lot of my fear. I’m still scared of turbulence, which I’m working on. But I’m much much better at flying now.

@Ifailed i'm sorry that happened :(

Tuesday just gone i had a panic attack in the departure lounge and then again at the gate. Needless to say I didn't board (first time ever I couldn't) and now my DH and DC are in Spain and I am at home alone for a week. Just bad all round! We usually drive/ferry/train to holidays but I don't want this to mean I never fly again. I just want to try the course I think, even if, like you, I can't do it and then I's just have to accept it.

Ahem. 🤓

@Eyesopenwideawake What does that mean?!

I did the Virgin one twice. I managed to do the flight at the end of the second one after bottling it first time round. I thought I was cured so booked a short European flight a couple of weeks later, got on the plane and had a massive panic attack and had to get off. That was 16 years ago. I’ve never attempted it since.

Though I know there’s a really high success rate for normal people. I guess most people on the courses are the ‘hate flying and need a drink or a couple of Valium’ type fearful flyers, as opposed to the ‘hide under the bed with my hands over my ears if I even hear a plane in the sky’ type hardcore cranks like me. Good luck!

@MrsPapillon Well done for persevering even though it didn't work out. Do you think you ever would attempt it again?

I definitely want to throw what i can at it before giving up, but it's not easy as it's something I really don't want to do... if that makes sense 😂

It means I'm quite a good one, and have worked with Howard Cooper who used to run Virgins FoF Course (I wasn't working on that, we've done other stuff together. But any competent hypnotherapist should be able to deal with a FoF.

I did the BA one a few years ago, I was sceptical but it did really help, I’m not cured but I can now fly and cope with it

Where are you based (roughly) @Eyesopenwideawake ?

@Saltysweetspicy The middle of nowhere, central Portugal! Quite close to Tomar, which is beautiful.

98% of my work is done online and is just as effective as in person; there's no trance so you are aware of what's going on throughout.

Highly recommend the BA course. Both people I know who did it were cured. Go in with an open mind.

@Eyesopenwideawake ok if I PM you?

No problem.

I did a fear of flying course from Manchester airport after a few years of being unable to visit family abroad. It really helped and I am now able to fly.

I did the BA course in Manchester a few years ago. It helped but didn’t cure me. I managed to grit my teeth, take propranolol, drink some wine and just about get through flights

What did cure me was doing a virtual reality flight phobia thing on my phone with a VR headset. Such a stupid feeling thing to do, but it worked.

I’ve given up. I’ve had hypnotherapy, trauma therapy, NLP, the works. It’s not actually flying I’m scared of per se, it’s planes. My plane phobia has been so bad in the past that i couldn’t even look at one in the sky without having a panic attack. I’m much better now but I think flying is a step too far. And to be honest, I quite enjoy train travel (which is a good job!).

@MrsPapillon Any idea where the fear of planes came from? Like trains, they are just metal tubes designed to move people from one place to another so it's interesting that you can be in something that's very plane sized but doesn't scare you.

I did a 'beat your fears ' private aircraft trip once and the pilot had a fit and lost control of his hands. I had to take over whilst he told me what to do and when I hit the runway a wheel came off and I fainted