Just remember, the airline industry has a perfect record. Every plane that goes up has come back down.
Aren’t you the guy who’s traveled all over the world? Man, that would suck to become afraid of flying. I love traveling and would be crushed if I became fearful of flying.
If you are just scared enough to be uncomfortable, it might be worth it to just take the plunge. But if you are scared enough to get physically ill, or to have a panic attack I would avoid it. The airlines are not as tolerable about people freaking out as they used to be…
Add me to that list, too. Running out of pages in my passport, Platinum Delta Skymiles member, absolutely hate to fly. Tomorrow, I’m scheduled to be in the air for over 20 hours. Yeah, I’m happy about that…NOT! If I could take a train from here to there, I’d be on it in a heartbeat. Here’s something that’s helped me: talk to someone during the flight. I usually fly alone, so while on the ground, I ask a neighbor if we could chat during the flight and explain why. That distraction helped me get through a number of flights. Your wife and daughter can probably help with this.
Recently, I’ve been flying on planes full of non-English speakers, so if the ride looks bumpy, I do the benadryl* thing to force a restful state. It doesn’t put me fully to sleep but in the grogginess I don’t care as much. Check with your doctor to see if that’s an option for you.
*Benadryl and Dramamine are cousins . I use it because it’s cheaper, but, thanks to this thread, I found out more reasons. Ignorance fought and subdued!
This is a completely useless argument against someone who is afraid of flying.
If you get into a car accident, your chances of surviving are 95% because of all the modern safety features that are packed into cars.
If your plane comes falling out of the sky, your chances of surviving are 0.0001%.
So yes, while statistically deaths from car accidents are greater than deaths from plane crashes, the survivability of a plane crash is relatively non-existent.
When you talked to a doctor about this, were they able to offer you some Valium or something to help with the anxiety?
haha… Are you trying to freak me out??
yes, I have xanax. But I have yet to put it to the test so to speak. I hear it works well, and I will have it with me.
A good friend of mine who has a severe fear of flying uses Xanax. It still doesn’t make flying pleasant, but it does get her through it. Just make sure you aren’t planning to drive once you land, no matter how well you’re feeling.
That is absolutely not true and a terrible piece of misinformation especially in this thread. Most plane crashes are survivable and most people who have been in a plane crash survive. We even have plane crash survivors on this board.
I ask this just out of curiousity. Is your statement true of commercial plane crashes, or just of plane crashes as a whole?
I agree with this.
“I don’t wanna! I’m scared.”
“Sweetie, you need to get your vaccination, I know you’re scared of needles but this is for the best. You have to do this.”
“Why do I havta? You’re scared of planes and nobody makes you get on one.”
Maybe not a perfect exapmle but something will occur and your child will burn you and make you feel like a wuss. Do you want to be a wuss in the eyes of your daughter? I’d guess not. So go man up Nancy.
(I say that with love and compassion, coming from a woman who is still paying for telling her children she’s scared of bugs. Try telling your kids that screaming bloody murder is an inappropriate response to a tiny spider when their retort is, “Well YOU’RE scared of bugs too!”)
I’m trying to make up my mind whether having to wrangle a two-year-old on this flight is a good thing or a bad thing for you. On the negative side, it’ll stress you out something fierce. On the plus side, it’ll be a hell of a distraction. But it would seem to contraindicate getting blotto, wouldn’t it?
Ok, define “plane crash” please. Do you mean plane crash as in, one of the wheels didn’t come down so the landing was a little rough? Or perhaps the cabin tilted while they were going down the runway to take off and the wing was damaged?
Because when I say plane crash, I (and I can assume that anyone else with a fear of flying) mean a plane falling out of the sky from 30000+ feet, or a midair collision. I wasn’t aware we had survivors of such incidents on these board.
If you define “plane crash” to mean a commercial airliner that breaks up at 30,000 feet and plunges into the North Atlantic 500 miles from land killing everyone aboard then yes, there will be few survivors. The reality is different from that. Most people survive plane crashes of all types, even the “real”, commercial ones.
"Over the past 22 years, the National Transportation Safety Board investigated 26 major commercial airline accidents involving nearly 28,00 people.
The study found that more than half the passengers survived.
NTSB investigators credit training exercises such as the one in Oklahoma City, with the relatively high rate of survival."
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/travelgetaways/4536344/detail.html
Okay, so I took several pieces of advice here, and I went on an Adventure Flight this past Saturday. Took a Cesna 172 up for an hour, was a bit freaked for some of it… But I did it! woot me!
On for my big finale I took a flight from Dulles to Ft. Lauderdale on Monday!! double woot me! It was probably one of the harder things I had to do in my life so far (and I did have a mini-meltdown), but I did it. after 10yrs I finally got on the damn plane.
'course, now I have to fly freakin back on Friday! But hey, I faced the fear and did it. Hopefully I can do it again, or else I will be train boy! Either way, thanks for the advice, encouragement, and “encouragement” from you all.
Congratulations! Exposure is a big part of overcoming these things for many people with phobias. Don’t let yourself go too long without flying again and you should be well on your way to beating it altogether.
Dude that’s so awesome! And you took care of it so quickly!!!
Go Dob!
You rock!!!
Dob, you fucking rule.
Yes I’ve been all over. The fear of flying sucks. But I gotta do it for the rewards, you know what I mean? Being foreign places is more important than temporary fear. Over the Himalayas on China Airlines in the worst turbulence ever? Check. That was what set it off. Terrifying, but damn, it was worth it to be in Tibet! I have gotten on maybe 40+ more flights since, too, and was shitting myself during each one. But it’s got to be done. 
May I reiterate, Dob, that you fucking rule!
Good for you! Just remember, keep an eye on the flight attendants. As long as they’re calm, you should be too.