Okay, as soon as I told Invert...

[cammie31]

that he'd be okay on his flight today, that it would be great and blah blah blah, I started panicking about my flight tonight.

AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

What's the matter with me? Why can't I beat this thing? I'm starting to feel like its become almost a habit for me to be terribly anxious before flight...like I need to break a habit more than I need to get over the anxiety. Does that make sense?

[Passenger Mark]

Cammie,

I know exactly what you are talking about.

It is more annoying than anything else. Really wears a person out!

You know "worry" never accomplished anything. It is hard to do, but why worry? I hear it all the time from people... I worry about my job, I worry about my children... I guess it is natural, and it is hard to NOT worry. But "worry" never produces anything.

So all you can do is your best. Whether that is with your job, children or even with flying. Make your mind up that you are going, there is no turning back, and focus on something beyond the flight. Just do your best, and let everything else just fall into place.

Mark

[xiknal]

Cammie, I don't know if it's helpful to try to discriminate between 'anxiety' and 'habit'. I may be off the mark here, but usually when I hear the word 'habit', it's associated with blame...I have a bad habit of staying up too late, she has a drug habit, my hubby habitually leaves dirty socks on the kitchen table, etc. :blech

The phobia is not our fault; it's an accident that has happened to us. Anxiety--in the 'anxiety disorder' sense--often appears to the sufferer as unnecessary, irrational, a why-can't-I-just-get-over-it-already thing. And anticipatory anxiety before a flight is so very common...and sometimes it's worse than what we feel on the plane.

There are excellent biological explanations for this; it is known territory. What we are feeling as we anticipate flying is literally the fear of fear itself; we are remembering the last time we flew, imagining the upcoming flight to be that bad or worse, and we are trying to protect ourselves from having to go through it again by scaring ourselves now :cower so that maybe we'll :chicken out and not go...ahhh, what a relief...:hail

And ironically, we can reassure and support others and not be able to do the same for ourselves.

If you haven't already done so, please check out our anxiety resources section, accessible from the Taking Flight home page. You may well find some helpful strategies there for dealing with feelings now and on the flight.

You WILL be fine, y'know...just a reminder! :) Give us a trip report!

Barb

[noflyingfan]

Dirty socks on the kitchen table? Now I don't feel so grossed out by the fact that my boyfriend squished a spider on ours this morning.

[cammie31]

Thanks, guys, hopefully this will be me in a few hours...:bigplane

and hopefully I won't :barf on the person flying with me...!

I'll tell you how it all goes!

[xiknal]

squished a spider on the table...eeewww :thud

to each her own gross-out...:p

[Passenger Mark]

Cammie,

It will be you! Smiles and all! :bigplane

[invert29]

Cammie, I will wave to you as we are passing on our Californian trips! Enjoy San Francisco (which, I believe, is the most beautiful city in the world...ok, maybe a little biased)

Good luck...I promise to do my best if you promise to do yours:)

-Chris