Craziest Person You Will Ever Meet

[judd]

Hello all,

I just signed up for these boards and I have an embarassing tale to tell. When I was a little kid, I used to travel with my family all over the world, and I mean that literally-

We were jetsetters- We went to Europe, Asia, the Carribean, and all over the U.S. all by air- and when I was younger, I had faith in the "adults" and "experts" that ran the aviation industry- I figured these genius engineers know exactly what they are doing and nothing could go wrong and the pilots were masters of their craft-

Then I got a bit older and I don't know what happened but I started getting gripped by panic every time I stepped onto a plane-- I used to hyperventilate, pray to G-D, try and drown out the noises of the flaps, gear, etc... but I was terrified the whole flight that something would go wrong-- I don't know why exactly, but this has been going on for a few years- It has left me crippled and I have gotten a prescription for Lorezapm .5 Mg to take before I fly--


Heres the kicker-- I am a licensed pilot- who is about to complete his instrument rating and when I fly I am in total command and I feel fine, but when I lack control I go berzerk- Of course the airline ATP rated pilots know a helluva lot more than I do, but I am ashamed that after learning to fly myself, I still harbor these irrational fears and its either very comical to some people or very peculiar-- how in the hell is a pilot afraid to fly?!?!

Anyways, my problem is that the Lorazepam doesnt really seem to work-- should i just down 3 pills = 1.5 Mg or try something else


And thanks for letting me introduce myself!:tiphat:

[MathFox]

:welcome: you control freak :)

Handing over control is one of the most common Fear Of Flying issues and you'll meet a lot of people here that have or overcame the same problem that you have.

Remember, the pilots have wife and family too; they'll do everything to land safely.

[aerobat]

Hi, Judd,

If you read through the archives, you'll also find that you are not the only pilot among us who has/has had a fear of flying.

Let's see...there is the site owner Passenger Mark, for one. You might go back and read his posts from a couple or more years ago through present time. Another person whose situation resonates with your own is MarcoAviator. He hasn't posted here in a few months, but has many posts archived. In your quest for common ground, I would actually start there.

And, there's me. :) I had a terrible fear of flying for the better part of 30 years, and during much of that time, I was grounded. You'll find my story in the moderator introductions. I have had a pilot's license for almost 15 years now; learning to fly came about right after my major breakthrough in beating my fear. I took a lifelong tumble for aviation. I got my Private in 1994, Commercial in 1996, CFI in 1998 and have been an active instructor since then. I also took up aerobatics pretty early on and have been teaching that all along.

But all of this is, I know, a bit beside the point. You are fine when you are in control, but when you are not, even though you understand far better than most passengers what sort of hoops the ATPs have to jump through to be sitting in that front office, and how bright, reliable, committed, skillful and current they have to be...


...when you have to surrender control to them, a switch gets thrown in your brain and the adrenaline starts pumping, and you cannot reason with it or otherwise kick butt on it and so you're feeling like it's insurmountable.

And on top of this, you have a huge backlog of happy international air travel from when you were younger, and all those hundreds of thousands of miles aren't helping you at all right now, and that probably makes you feel even more like some inexorable demon has taken possession of you.

Am I close? Know any good exorcists?? :lol:

Actually, I know a couple. They are hard-core nuts-and-bolts anxiety shrinks. And there are more of them out there. My intuition is that you'd slice right through this fear if you'd just go sign on with one of these experts (more guidance on request) and let them get your clammy hands on the adrenaline spigot. Without tranquilizers. With pure and simple trickery and a good anxiety education.

I'm guessing that something in your life happened to pull the rug out from under you vis-a-vis trusting grownups and supposed authorities, and it may well (probably didn't) not have had anything to do with flying at all, but that distrust has lodged itself in your flying paradigm and there it sits, mocking you.

The solutions really have little to do with reasoning. No, it does not "make sense" that a person as well-traveled as you are, who is a comfortable GA pilot has a fear of flying (but actually, to me it makes perfect sense because these things have nothing to do with each other). The best solution is to see the fear as a neurochemical lie and go beard it in its den.

If you find that what I've said helps you see and feel more clearly about this, then please, ask questions (and read the archives!). I honestly think that a well-aimed dose of professional help will likely fix it for you in short order.

But meanwhile, please check out http://www.anxieties.com. One of those exorcists I mentioned ;) owns the site, and there's a cornucopia of wisdom there, all gratis.

aerobat

[Ipsec]

Judd (http://www.takingflight.us/forums/member.php?u=2043),

I just want to say that I understand completely on how you feel I my self have not flown over seas but when I was younger I flew all the time with my parents I am 25 and I am so afraid of flying its not even funny I’m trying to resolve why I can not fly I have lost 3 jobs in the past 2 years because I can not fly I am a Sr Network Security Engineering Consultant!!! so I travel all the time for work and not being able to fly is starting to hinder my career I live in Houston Texas and most of my clients are either in the Midwest or the east coast and I travel every other week and I have been having to drive all weekend to get to my jobs because I can not fly this weekend I need to fly to Seattle WA I’m scared out of my mind if I don’t get on this flight ill loose se yet another job and for my age and for what I do I make great money and not being able to fly is ruining my life!!! So again I understand! oh and by the way I also see a pilot and she fly’s RJ145's and I’m still scared out of my wits and 3 of my friends are pilots!!!


Ipsec



Also if anyone knows how i can beat my fear of flying by this weekend please do let me know asap!!! i am willing to do just about anything to get over this fear!

[MathFox]

Also if anyone knows how i can beat my fear of flying by this weekend please do let me know asap!!! i am willing to do just about anything to get over this fear!
It might be tough to arrange an appointment with a therapist on such short notice, but I would certainly recommend that you seek a professional therapist to overcome your FOF. See it as an investment in yourself, allowing you to become good in the job you like. An effective therapy does not have to take long: Dutch "Stichting VALK (http://www.valk.org/)" claims 98% success rate with its program (with only one or two days of therapy sessions).

If your goal is just to "take that flight", there are some tricks:
First: learn to relax; there are exercises that will help you to relax. Learn a handful that work for you and use them whenever start to tense.
Secondly: make sure that you have enough distraction during the flight. Take a book or magazine or pen-and-paper puzzle for the time in the flight that electronic entertainment is not allowed. Some people made photos of shot video as distraction. BTW, the sights out of a plane window can be amazing.
Thirdly: you could ask your GP to prescribe an anti-anxiety drug, to help to take the edge off. Be careful with alcohol.
Lastly: consider asking someone, who knows of your FOF to accompany you during the flight.

edit: I didn't know of aerobat's offer to fly with you when I wrote this reply.

[judd]

thanks so much guys for all your advice-- the problem is one of logic versus emotion as with most phobias and I and all other pilots are the paramount example of that

we KNOW the aerodynamics, the inherent safety and how an aircraft will not stall and drop out of the sky however its the emotional demons that take over and hold our logic hostage

you start thinking "there are so many billions of parts that make this airplane fly how can it be that none of them fail"? and you start doubting everything you know to be true

its definitely related to stressors in everyday life which exacerbates the FOF, however no matter what I seem to do, I am gripped by panic every time I fly commercially-- im quite ashamed but I had to fly to London last month and on both ways I took like 4 Ativans and was basically knocked unconscious and when I got to London I felt stoned and it even took me like 3 days to DETOX so to speak--

i mean think about it-- alot of people are afraid of heights and roller coasters and even elevators so how is traveling in the stratosphere any more relaxing? people say "oh because youre inside a plane so u dont really notice anything" but I think you tend to notice alot


oh and to be honest its not just airplanes I was recently riding the AirTrain at JFK airport for the first time, and I didnt see any conductor-- its all computerized-- when i heard that i got off at the next stop because i was afraid that the train would derail--- im so normal huh?

[MathFox]

judd, you already see that your path out of the fear is getting your irrational thoughts under control. Your rational mind knows that flying is safe, but your irrational mind throws up all kinds of objections.

Go to anxieties.com; read and do the exercises: learn to breath properly, learn to relax, learn to control your thoughts. Try it out in your daily life; you mentioned the stress you feel there. I guess you should see improvements within weeks if you work on it for thirty minutes every day.
If that's to slow in your opinion, a few sessions with a professional therapist will make the difference.

im quite ashamed but I had to fly to London last month and on both ways I took like 4 Ativans and was basically knocked unconscious and when I got to London I felt stoned and it even took me like 3 days to DETOX so to speak
Could it have been jetlag that you felt? I know the feeling of disorientation of going six timezones west on a redeye from experience.