I'm so, so scared. I suffer with GAD, depression, and panic disorder. I am absolutely terrified of planes. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow and hopefully will get some medication to help me sleep on the 10-hour flight. In the case that I can't sleep (a likely scenario), what are your tips for distraction? I've made a huge checklist of things to bring, and have already started packing, which has helped tons to calm my nerves. For my carry-on list, so far I have: medication, 3DS, PSVita, sketchbook, pens/pencils, neck pillow, small blanket, small plush, chargers for game systems and phone, and I've loaded my phone with familiar music. I've been looking around for calming music, preferably vocal electronic stuff. How do you guys deal with anxiety? How do you deal with long flights? I want to be as prepared as possible, any advice is very appreciated ;v;

I am not afraid of flying, nor getting any anxiety. However, I usually bring in my carry-on some tylenol, 2 books, my iPod, some pens and a sketch book. I do tend to be restless though, staying still for 1 hour is really hard if I don't get occupied. Are you flying alone? Having a flight buddy is nice :) If you feel insecure, you can ask a crew personnel if you can check your security device under your seat and over it.

We recently made that trip ourselves. Best thing I can say is...get some sleep! It really passes the time, and that way, you can jump into the excitement of being abroad well-rested! Are you flying British Airways? I well recommend waking up for the food in that case, as well as the complimentary wine. If you don't think you'll get sleep, pull an all-nighter beforehand (although, with anxiety, that may not be difficult) and get a sleeping pill in you right before.

Enjoy!

are you going by yourself? I'm a nervous flyer but last time i flew, my best friends distracted me loads during lift off and landing particularly by talking to my nonstop so I couldn't focus on what was going on.

Otherwise, perhaps try your best to sleep through it. Don't look out a window if possible so you can pretend it's a bus or something. Lots of music and perhaps a really good book that you can get engrossed in?

I hope you have an amazing time over here in England.

I actually trained to work on commercial aircraft and I'm in the UK ;P I have depression myself, and a level of anxiety that seems to stem from it, I might be able to put your mind to rest about some things? What is it about flying that bothers you? Who are you flying with? Where are you landing?

For my anxiety I have to take a firm hand with myself, or I'll just hide away and avoid everything, I guess I approach things like ripping off a plaster, do it fast enough with no time to dwell on it and it doesn't hurt as much, but you can't really hurry up a long flight. Knowing yourself and what you respond to is important, do you react more strongly with negative or positive reinforcement? Are you more capable of handling a situation with more or less information etc... And try to use that, for me I need to prod my ego or my pride, I'll do a lot not to look like a TOTAL idiot XD so berating myself or egging myself on can help, where as for others a more gentle approach is needed.

I also know that the more time I have inside my own head, the worse my anxiety is going to get, I will find a way to tell myself how badly I'm going to fail, even if it's rubbish, so finding a way to drown out the voices or just not let them get a word in edge ways is important for me, I find reading helps more than music, but people watching or talking to someone helps too, whether it's texting a friend or talking to the person next to me in line for check-in.

Sleep is my go-to, when I was in hospital earlier this year I purposefully didn't sleep the night before, I wasn't worried about the operation but being in hospital scared me, PARTICULARLY being asleep in a place where I wasn't alone or behind a locked door, but I was so exhausted by the time I could sleep, I just passed out and didn't have to worry about it, so if you can sleep on the flight you'll probably be doing yourself a favour, not least because it's long and dull.

Checklists are good, gives you something to do too, make sure you have everything you need and you're ready for the next part of the trip (the pilots have these too, so you're not alone there w ). If you can close the blind on the window, or sit in the aisle, the aisle is a good option if the view worries you because then you can people watch.

Thinking about other times you've overcome your anxiety can be a confidence booster.

I'll add those to my carry-on list! I'm going to be flying with my Mom, sister, and Grandma, so thankfully I won't be alone :) I'm definitely going to try and pull an all-nighter beforehand, or close to one. Our flight leaves at 4PM our time, and arrives at 1AM.. which would be 8AM over there! My Mom says we'll have a whole day of activity, so I'm definitely gonna need the sleep, ahha. We're flying with Air Transat, hopefully they have a tasty dinner for us! I'll be in the center seats with my family, so thankfully, no windows to look out of! I've already loaded my phone with lots of familiar music, so hopefully that will help! Oh, wow! I have a really intense fear of heights, and confined spaces, and strangers.. so really, pretty much everything about flying bothers me! I'll be with family, thankfully. We're flying into Gatwick! I feel that I can handle my anxiety better with AS MUCH information as possible. If people sugarcoat things for me, I can tell, and I will panic more. I've been reading a lot of statistics about airline crashes and stuff, and they're honestly so.. safe, really. Statistically, my chances of being in a plane wreck are EXTREMELY low. I'm the same way with reading - it requires more concentration than music. I find music helps when I'm too anxious to concentrate and comprehend what I'm reading. Surgery is definitely scary! I would have done the same thing in your situation, haha. I just visited the doctor today and got some 1mg tablets of Ativan, which have helped me in the past when my panic was overwhelming (thinking I was dying, hyperventilating, etc etc), so I'm a little more confident now that I have a trusted medication with me. I know that they work, and if I start overreacting, I can calm myself down. And AW YEAH, I'm ALL ABOUT checklists! I live by checklisting everything, it's the only way I keep organized!

Thank you so much for the replies - the day is drawing nearer, and I'm feeling a bit more confident! ;v;

Dang, that's a lot to over come. I really feel you on the strangers thing, luckily on aircraft most people are too busy trying not to be bothered by other people, so if you have your family with you you're not likely to have to worry about annoying chatty neighbors =P Ah Gatwick ;w; I thought you might say that, Gatwick is really busy, so the aircraft are really stacked up, it's totally safe and SOP, but the chances that you won't feel turbulence on landing are really slim, because you'll be landing while the air is still disturbed from the aircraft that just took off before you came in. I've landed there a few times myself a long time ago, but it's been a while. It's pretty infamous for bumpy landings these days, but I assure you, it's totally normal and well timed ^w^ (but I wouldn't blame you for wanting a cup of tea afterwards, I think most people do).

God yes, they're so safe, it's really on the ground crew if something goes wrong that's their fault, and everything is signed off in triplicate and you DON'T sign any work off you haven't checked yourself, so everyone is really careful and thorough and will highlight anything someone else has missed so the chances of anything going wrong is tiny, AND they're built to work even if something does go wrong. I'd take an aircraft problem over a car problem any day x_X Do you know what you'll be flying in? A320?

I don't think I could fly without a checklist, I'm so bad at double guessing myself and needing to check I have everything done and with me 500 times x_X

Dear lord, the crashing phobia. It was my first time flying and I was alone to fly in another country. I just told myself to yolo'd and chill a little. I was not scared so it helped me. However, there was a lady losing her mind and trembling besides me. I helped her with the stats about how everyday there is a car accident. She calmed down after some chit-chat and we took off.

Then I was tired, restless and getting really fidgety. In the middle of the flight, I just stood up and started stretching and doing exercice ??? So a crew member asked me if I was alright. I just said "Man, I'm so so fucking bored". They ended up giving me a bunches of crosswords and I was like "fuck yeah friend, thank you".

Tbh, I love when plane enter a puff of air (I have no idea what is the tech term, sue me) and you go down a little and go back up, it's funny .__.

Anyway, I hope you have an amazing time and that everything will go smoothly!

I can (kind of) relate to this. I flew to Switzerland about a year or so ago for the first time ever and honestly, I was absolutely terrified. I traveled on my own which is what I really did not want to do. I have this paranoia of the movies Taken coming into play so I avoid watching them like the plague. (but I still heart Liam Neesam). Depending on the flight attendant they can be super helpful and comforting. The few I had were great. They came and checked on me every now and then and asked how I was doing, if I needed water or anything. I took my portable consoles with me and some sketching devices as well. The flights were so. so. so. so. long back and forth. The worst part for me, was returning home and having to check out re-check in because of some mixup between my dad and work. . . I hated Atlantas (GA) airport, its fucking huge. |: The other downside was getting put on a plane with a bunch of high schoolers (no offense to anyone that age lol) but they were loud. I was also stuck next to a large Italian who snored T-T and then used my shoulder as a pillow (so awkward)

I would say, sleep as much as possible to try to help - airplane food is gross - once you land it'll be like entering a whole new world and it is awesome c:

well i have to travel by plane somehow frequently and i freak out a little

i usually get anxious and can't get much sleep before a flight, so it makes me sleep during the travel. sleeping is a nice way of wasting some time

listening to peaceful music helps me A LOT. it makes me feel like i am not really at the plane, can't really explain it. but ignoring whatever is going on around (like babies crying, for example...) makes me feel really better. and watch a movie/tv series?

hope it helps a little

I hope your flight went well (I'm assuming it has happened by now since it is over a month since you posted) and that you enjoyed your time here in the UK. I also hope the weather was nice for you.

I understand what it's like to have depression, I've suffered for over 10 years now on and off (although I did feel something wasn't quite right as a child) and bad weather really affects my moods which is why I hope the weather was nice for you.

If you ever need to talk about anything, I'm happy to listen. I find talking to someone who understands is helpful.

I had a bad panic attack during takeoff, but once we were in the air and the ativan had kicked in.. I completely forgot I was on a plane. It was mostly boring, haha. The flight back was a breeze! England was beautiful! I couldn't believe how cramped everything was, compared to Canada - the streets are SO NARROW! Walking through London was like going back in time. So many incredible, gorgeous old buildings. We don't have anything that old in Canada. My Mom and I went to the British Museum, probably my favorite part of the trip! The weather was absolutely gorgeous the entire 2 weeks, even though I packed an umbrella, haha. And thank you! Sometimes it's nice to have an unbiased party you can relate to :)

I am so pleased you enjoyed yourself! It has been such a long time since I went to the British Museum I can't remember what's there but I want to go back. London is one of the most cramp cities because of it being so old. York is another city in the North which is very cramped and old but so beautiful. It's one of my favourite cities!