Fear of flying

[jlatina32]

My family and I have a trip for the end of September which is coming pretty quick. My sister and her DS7 will be joining us on their first trip ever. This will be our second. Anyway, my sister has this big fear of flying. It has been over 19 years since the last time she has traveled by plane. She has expressed how nervous she is and she'll possibly start crying once we are seated in the aircraft. She is a worry wart and I think thats putting it lightly.

I reassured that there is nothing to be scared about. We are flying JetBlue and they have DirectTV in their aircrafts so I told she can just watch T.V., bring a CD player, bring a crossword puzzle book, magazines.......anything to keep her mind off the fact that we are 33, 000 ft. up. I have even offered to hold her hand and say a prayer of wellness and thanks before take off. I get nervous flying too but I don't pay much mind to the fact that we are because if I do, I will drive myself nuts. Last October 2005, was my first family trip to WDW and my first time flying in over 20 years and believe me when I say I was freaking out BUT never showed it. My sister on the other hand won't be able to contain herself.

Does anyone else have additional suggestions to relieve my sister of her nerves? I would appreciate anything.

 

[momrek06]

Here are a few sites to research....

www.fearofflyinghelp.com

www.takingflight.us/forums

These are message boards like the DIS Boards. I have a ton of fear of flying BUT the bottomline is if this is the fastest way of getting there I AM FLYING.

I take a bonine to relax me. I wear the sea bands for motion sickness and I also wear ear planes to help with take offs and landings.

My son is in Greece all summer and then going to the University of Glasgow for overseas studies. He will be gone almost 7 months. He is begging me to come over to the UK and I am GOING despite my HUGE enormous fear of flying. Just talking to those people on the message boards has been awesome.
GOOD LUCK!!

 

[Rustyflwr3]

Oh those websites are awesome! Thanks for providing them! I too am deathly afraid of flying. Really any flight over two hours is almost too much for me! Thankfully, Orlando is just an hour and a half away! I just tell myself that it is much safer then driving, so I am saving myself a lot of stress and anxiety! Good Luck, but those websites provided above should be a lot of help!

 

[cleo]

I used to have a massive fear of flying. I'd be sick for a week in advance. Now I fly every other week (literally), sometimes twice in one week. For me, it was getting used to the sounds, the dips and bumps and the various feelings when the plane turns. In the past each movement and sound meant 'trouble' to me. Now I don't even notice. It can be very reassuring to have someone next to you say, "That's normal. It's the landing gear going up" or "That's normal. When you fly through the clouds you'll feel some bumps. They're just like a stone skipping across water, and we're perfectly safe." A big one for me was knowing when to anticipate that portion of the flight where the 'autopilot' kicks in (at least, I think that's what's happening) and you seem to slow down as you go into cruise mode, and when to anticipate the drops as you begin to descend.

My DS was afraid to fly for a while, and having me tell him step by step what was happening (remembering to tell him about the bumps going through clouds BEFORE we got to them) was a great comfort to him. Having someone take your fear seriously, remind you it is truly JUST fear, and reassure you as you feel and hear the different experiences as you're flying can be a huge help.

I'm so glad you're going in spite of your fear, momrek. And I think you'll find the International flight is actually quite easy.

 

[oobidoo]

It's not the flying I'm scared of, it's the crashing! I dont think anyones plane is going to go down....except the one I'm on. I have been struggling with this for years. We are 9 hours from Disney, so we always drive. BUT, we have a trip planned going out West next summer, and I am already wringing my hands. I will probably be sick the whole 2 weeks knowing that I will have to get back on the plane to come back home. I know its silly, its just something you feel and it is very difficult to get over it.

 

[newfie]

I am petrified of flying but I refuse to let it control me. Every time we get on a plane I tell my husband I made a big mistake. I also get very sick a few days prior to the flight. When I booked our airline tickets this time for Disney I was up all night thinking about it. I too worry about the crashing, I am one of these silly people who feel under their seat for the lifejacket and read the safety manual cover to cover
I do take a gravol to settle my stomach but this time we are travelling with 2 children so I will not be able to sit next to my husband and SQUEEZE his hand as we depart and land that makes me extremely nervous because I dont want my children to have the same fears I do.

 

[jlatina32]

Thank you so much for everyone's input. I appreciate it. It makes me feel better to know that I am definitely not the only one that has a fear of flying. I know I will be fine and I can redirect my anxiety when I need too. With everyone's help, hopefully I can ease my sister's anxiety and nervousness. Thanks again.

 

[Mickeyroks247]

My mom was afraid of flying too.She hadn't been on a plane in 20 years when we went to Disney in Feb.We flew Jetblue and she said the t.v.'s made it better cause it took her mind off of it for a little while .

 

[Mousema]

I was behind a couple on a plane one time that she was afraid of flying. The husband leaned over into my row before they were seated and said, don't mind my wife, she's afraid of take-off's and landings, but she's fine in the air. When we took off, she buried her head in his shoulder and screamed at the top of her lungs. She was fine for the whole flight and then she did the same thing when we landed. I asked how often they flew and he said about once a month!

 

[FlyingBelle]

My MIL is the opposite of most folks - she's fine with the take-offs and landings, but the in-between is where she gets scared.

What I do... keep an eye on the flight attendants. If they're not nervous - there's no reason for you to be either. They fly all the time and know what bumps and noises are worth worring over.

Also, on United flights the pilots often turn on Channel 9 (headphones). I enjoy listening to them talk to the various towers throughout the trip. They talk about making a right turn up ahead, or if the planes ahead of them ran into a little bumpiness. If you know why you are making a sudden bank to the left or why the aircraft seems to be slowing down or speeding up, it just is a little more comforting... like sitting in the front seat of a car!

 

[daisy duck]

My family and I have a trip for the end of September which is coming pretty quick. My sister and her DS7 will be joining us on their first trip ever. This will be our second. Anyway, my sister has this big fear of flying. It has been over 19 years since the last time she has traveled by plane. She has expressed how nervous she is and she'll possibly start crying once we are seated in the aircraft. She is a worry wart and I think thats putting it lightly.

I reassured that there is nothing to be scared about. We are flying JetBlue and they have DirectTV in their aircrafts so I told she can just watch T.V., bring a CD player, bring a crossword puzzle book, magazines.......anything to keep her mind off the fact that we are 33, 000 ft. up. I have even offered to hold her hand and say a prayer of wellness and thanks before take off. I get nervous flying too but I don't pay much mind to the fact that we are because if I do, I will drive myself nuts. Last October 2005, was my first family trip to WDW and my first time flying in over 20 years and believe me when I say I was freaking out BUT never showed it. My sister on the other hand won't be able to contain herself.

Does anyone else have additional suggestions to relieve my sister of her nerves? I would appreciate anything.

I'm scared of flying too here is what people told me and it helped me alot.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1142916

 

[natenapril]

Buy her a few stiff drinks!!! J/K
I hate flying too. My DH is in the Air Force though and we were stationed in Japan so I had no choice. I was scared to death on the flight over. I must have made quite the commotion because the guy behind us offered to buy my DH a drink!

 

[pickles]

I was ok with flying until 9/11 especially poor flight 93 They KNEW what was happening. There may be more car crashes, but how many people who do fall out of the sky are alive to talk about it later? Plane goes down that is it your dead, and the fear on the way down, just does me in.
We will be doing 1-2 trips a year now to Disney, so i guess I will ened to get over it, but i admit I have panic feelings especially during take offs and landings to a degree
That one link someone posted to the other disboard chat on this subject mentioned the meds..maybe I will consider that in the future

The odd thing is my husband(when we got married) informed me he would never fly anywhere ..ever. He was afraid to fly. Then, we took a trip to Russia and now he says he would never drive long distances when flying is an option..saves time

talk about role reversal

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I am very anxious about flying as well. My saving grace is that my DH worked with military aircraft for a very long time and is really in tune as to what different noises are. The only time I'm going to get in a panic is when he does! Also, regarding OP's sister...I am not one to encourage alcohol for medicinal purposes, but I find that I suffer the effects of flying the most during the first night of our arrival...I don't know if it's the fact that we usually have to get up in the wee hours of the morning, or that we have to fly all day (coming from WA) but I tend to have a small "anxiety attack" in which my heart races so bad I can't fall asleep. To remedy this, I'm going to see what happens if I have a glass or two of wine a few minutes before going to bed. Hopefully it will help the situation so I don't feel like crud our first day in the parks.

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

I've worked with people on this with a method called EFT (Emotional Freedom Therapy) It's a merdian based modality - much like acupuncture only no needles! The fingertips are used to tap on certain points. It's been useful for many. (please note NO modality is a cure-all for everyone). If she's interested - PM me and I'd be willing to do a session gratis. (sorry folks only the OP sister please!) It's something that can't harm anything. If it doesn't work - no harm. If it does - she's happily flying to her trip.

(I'm just editing this to add that it can be done over the telephone as that might not have been clear...)

Smiles,

Holly