Michelle

I'm leaving in two weeks for a five-week trip to Greece and Italy. I've essentially been planning this trip for over a year, as I was supposed to leave last year on Sept. 12, but then didn't go. I should be very excited about finally going, and I am, but I'm also becoming extremely nervous about flying overseas. I've flown before and always been nervous about it, but this time I'm really dwelling on the possibility of a crash. Does anyone have any tips on combating a fear of flying?

Scigirl

Michelle - A good book is 'The Fearful Flyer's Handbook.' I found it very helpful. If you do a search on this forum you'll also find several past threads on this topic.

mpprh

Hi<BR><BR>I think everyone is nervous of flying.<BR><BR>Take-off and landing are not natural experiences.<BR><BR>It's the same as going to the dentist ............ once you are in the seat you just have to trust them !<BR><BR>Bon chance<BR><BR>Peter

Capo

Hi Michelle. I'm a bit of a fearful flyer myself, and I got a bit worse after the Swissair crash of a few years ago because I personally knew a woman on that flight. <BR><BR>However, I also realize that, statistically, flying is an incredibly safe form of transportation, far safer than driving anywhere in your car (something we do every day without thinking of the risk.) In fact, every time I'm at a large airport, like Amsterdam's Schiphol, I look around at all the planes from all the different airlines, and remind myself how many flight leave from just this one airport in just one day...without crashing. And this happens day after day after day. Thousands upon thousands of flights. <BR><BR>Yes, occasionally a plane is going to crash. And some poor souls will be on that plane. But, overall, the odds are WAY on your side. This is a case where -- difficult as it may be -- try to let statistics keep emotion at bay. Good luck!

Rx

See you doctor, explain the situation, and request a small prescription for an anti-anxiety drug like Valium or Xanax. They are not so strong as to knock you out, but will take the edge off.

Mike

My fiancee is scared of taking off, I'm scared of landing (always think they're going to overshoot the runway). So I guess we're lucky that we can comfort each other, ha ha. Anyway, she occasionally uses Xanax, which does help calm her. You might look into it if you're not averse to psychosomatic meds.

Uncle Sam

This approach works for Uncle Sam.<BR><BR>Get on the plane, get into your seat, say a prayer and forget about it. IMHO, if you are a religious person, the same God that watches out for you in a car, which is a whole lot more dangerous than flying, will watch out for you in the air...if not the retirement benefits are great and you cannot do anything about it anyway!<BR><BR>US

Alice the Magyar

I am going through the same thing! I went to my Doctor and she gave me something to take an hour before i get on the plane and an hour later to relax me. It's called Lorazepam it's only 1 mg. I don't know what it does!Or if it will even help me relax. I just Pray it helps me relax enough to maybe sleep a little. I took the same thing for my first trip to Hungary a few years ago, only it was half a mg. It didn't help me at all. Alice