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lurkette · 01-12-2010, 04:39 PM

Hi all! Good to be back!

I was terrified of flying - every little noise or bump made me shake. I would agonize over whether to mention funny smells that might could possibly maybe be electrical fires. I would track the flight attendants - I figured if they weren't nervous, the plane was probably okay, but I was still on the verge of tears during turbulence, and I would literally count after takeoff for 120 seconds because I read somewhere that most accidents happen within the first 2 minutes of a flight.

Anyhoo.

Three things helped:

1. As Ratbastid mentions, I took a flying lesson. I learned what all those noises were. The thump after you've taken off? That's the landing gear retracting. The whining when you're descending? The ailerons. It helped me to learn what was normal, what to expect, all that. For a control freak, knowing what's going on is the next best thing to actually being at the controls.

The second thing was talking to a friend of the family who is a pilot. He told me how much tolerance a plane has for turbulence, how flying through storms was no big deal, all the redundancies that are in place. I told him all the stuff that made my heart pound, he told me what it was so I could stop imagining worst-case scenarios.

Lastly, I learned some progressive relaxation techniques. Mostly breathing and muscle control. For many people who have anxiety, your body creates a feedback loop. The more anxious you are, the more your brain freaks out and the more it triggers the anxiety response. Your brain sees your body being anxious and continues to freak out looking for the threat, and away we go. Stopping the physiological response short-circuits that feedback loop and lets you bring a bit more reasoned response to bear on the situation.

So that's it! It wasn't instantaneous, but I'm now a seasoned flyer who sleeps through turbulence. I actually enjoy it now. I never took another flying lesson, but I never really felt the need.

01-12-2010, 04:39 PM	#8 (permalink)
lurkette My future is coming on Moderator Emeritus Location: east of the sun and west of the moon	Hi all! Good to be back! I was terrified of flying - every little noise or bump made me shake. I would agonize over whether to mention funny smells that might could possibly maybe be electrical fires. I would track the flight attendants - I figured if they weren't nervous, the plane was probably okay, but I was still on the verge of tears during turbulence, and I would literally count after takeoff for 120 seconds because I read somewhere that most accidents happen within the first 2 minutes of a flight. Anyhoo. Three things helped: 1. As Ratbastid mentions, I took a flying lesson. I learned what all those noises were. The thump after you've taken off? That's the landing gear retracting. The whining when you're descending? The ailerons. It helped me to learn what was normal, what to expect, all that. For a control freak, knowing what's going on is the next best thing to actually being at the controls. The second thing was talking to a friend of the family who is a pilot. He told me how much tolerance a plane has for turbulence, how flying through storms was no big deal, all the redundancies that are in place. I told him all the stuff that made my heart pound, he told me what it was so I could stop imagining worst-case scenarios. Lastly, I learned some progressive relaxation techniques. Mostly breathing and muscle control. For many people who have anxiety, your body creates a feedback loop. The more anxious you are, the more your brain freaks out and the more it triggers the anxiety response. Your brain sees your body being anxious and continues to freak out looking for the threat, and away we go. Stopping the physiological response short-circuits that feedback loop and lets you bring a bit more reasoned response to bear on the situation. So that's it! It wasn't instantaneous, but I'm now a seasoned flyer who sleeps through turbulence. I actually enjoy it now. I never took another flying lesson, but I never really felt the need. __________________ "If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." - Anatole France