To ask, if you overcame a fear of flying, how did you do it?

[Monr0e]

We go on holiday on Saturday, it's a 3 hour flight and I am dreading it. I have always had a fear but this year it has really ramped up. I feel permanently sick with nerves. Can't look forward to the holiday because I can't seem to think past the flight.

Has anyone managed to overcome a fear of flying? What helped? Can anyone recommend any podcasts or videos to watch?

I'm worried I will get there and then spend the whole week dreading the flight back 😞

Any tips from pilots, flight attendants, frequent fliers very gratefully received.

I watched the videos by Christopher Paul Jones on YouTube. They’re free and were a real game changer for me. I used to avoid flying, and would be hugely anxious and nervous. Now I don’t worry at all.

I did a course (just after Covid so was online but not pre recorded) worked really well and worth the money I still feel a bit nervous on taken off but am about a million times better than I was

I'm a bit of a plane spotter op and went through a phase of watching Big Jet TV on YouTube. Not kidding but it didn't half help with my fear of flying. Gerry is really entertaining so passionate in a funny way about aeroplanes. He comes alive watching them coming in to land during bad weather especially named storms such as Eunice I seem to remember. I've flown a few times since watching his online shows and it's really helped!

Diazepam

Tried everything, nothing worked … now it’s 2 large drinks, and medication

Hi! I'm not a flight attendant but I was scared of flying for most of my life. Over the last 6-7 years I've had to fly for work and I also now have to go on regular long haul flights to see my partner's family. Everyone's different but what really helped me was role playing / pretending not to be scared. I imagine that I'm a businesswoman who flies everyday and I'm going to a meeting 😂 as soon as a negative thought enters my head, I just think "nope, that's not going to happen. I'm going to have a great flight ready for my board meeting" or something like that. Obviously don't have to do the role playing but I think really challenging yourself to think positively about the experience and actively turn away from distressing thoughts really does work.
Just remember that some people really like flying!! Try to embody that mindset if you can - "whee we're going up!" I remember a friend who used to work as a flight attendant saying that they all used to love turbulence as it "was fun and exciting" which helped me view it in a different way. Also playing music and having some kind of fiddly snack to focus on when taking off 😂 hope this helps!!

@AncientMoo Do they actually work ? I thought you had to take them for a week or two for them to work . What about beta blockers? Do they work ? I love flying, it's getting from home to airport that gives me acute anxiety. Horrible feeling this way.

Hypnotherapy, booked last minute, just two x 1 hour sessions.

Absolutely amazing!

I have the recordings which I now use before each flight.

I made contact via this directory

https://www.hypnotherapy-directory.org.uk/?gadsource=1&gadcampaignid=12251561985&gbraid=0AAAAAD0Ajd-MXdn2avui8ntafUNGKPXJ9&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIOyIy5LRjgMVgotQBh0P5gNYEAAYBCAAEgJ0KvDBwE

Immersion therapy. On my honeymoon we had 14 takeoffs/landings in a period of 4 weeks. I reached the stage of being bored of flying and I’ve never looked back, though I do pray frantically still!

I done my first flight to Florida. Mother in law lived there at the time.
I suffer from anxiety and I’m quite claustrophobic.
I didn’t want to have a panic attack in mid air. I went to my GP and was given Diazepam. I took one before take off and it lasted the whole flight. I was extremely calm, not drowsy or drunk feeling. Just very calm.
i took another one for the flight back. Good luck op i definitely know where you are coming from. Self help books are good as well. I do believe it is the safest way to travel. Just think how many planes are up there each day.
hope this helps xx

@SettleDownATouch I've thought of this !

But I love the flying it's just I think I might get an upset stomach and disgrace myself......

This is going to sound weird, but I watched a lot of Air Crash Investigation. I think it was because they explained how a plane works, the physics behind it, and why crashes happened, and what they have done to make it safer. I'm sure there are far more less scary ways of going about this, but basically I found it reassuring having some knowledge.

These are all great, thank you so much.

Watching the videos is definitely helping and I've been listening to pilots explaining all the noises and what is happening at that time.

My biggest anxiety is during take off, once we're up I'm much better, so I'm even watching videos from the cockpit with pilots.

Thanks for this thread @Monr0e because I’m terrified of flying and haven’t been abroad for over 20 years because of it. I’m watching with interest and I hope you have a lovely holiday!

Yes! This helped me enormously.
Also watching flight radar at any one time and just seeing how many thousands of planes are flying about all the time without incident.