anxiety increasing again

[caroline]

Hi

So here we are, flight is in 3 days.

I am feeling very annoyed with myself as the anxiety is pretty bad right now yet 2/3 weeks ago i was feeling really positive and almost looking forward to it.

I am having a hard time telling myself how safe flying is. I think this is due to the fact that we can't listen to ipods or play on DS/psp's etc on take off and the fact that we have to have safety talks. It seems to me that there must be high chance of emergency on take off because if it was extremely unlikely then surely listening to an ipod would be ok. We don't have safety talks on trains/buses yet these modes of transport are meant to be riskier. I am listening to my ipod virgin fof app every night which does relax me so i am sleeping ok, its just during the day - i find myself getting annoyed if i can't concentrate on my fear and continue thinking about it, i'm always trying to imagine myself at airport, picturing the take off, imagining things going wrong. the plane crash today hasn't really helped.

[chere0]

I think the bad news about the crash in Libya has upset you ? I always seem to hear news like that just before I fly too ! Try not to get too upset. I think they do the safety talk just before takeoff because it is the most convenient time for it,...then they have to get down to the business of serving drinks ! haha. I am starting my therapy on Tuesday ( to cure phobias ) and I am hoping for good results. If that fails I am going to try hypnotism.

I hope you can start to feel better and relax a bit. I wonder why they don't put relaxation/ hypnotherapy tapes on the music channels on the plane I would defintely tune in !

[caroline]

Thanks Chere0

The anxiety had already increased before todays plane crash, that just hasn't helped!

We are flying Virgin and apparently there is a relaxation channel on the inflight entertainment!

Caroline

[Barb-SAN]

i'm always trying to imagine myself at airport, picturing the take off, imagining things going wrong. the plane crash today hasn't really helped.
Em, have you tried imaging a smooth take-off, yourself enjoying looking out the window at the scenery below, everything about the flight proceeding correctly, routinely, yourself calmly waiting for the "ding" so you can start listening to your Ipod again? Make that active imagination your friend, not your torturer! :D

Perhaps you will find this article an antidote to the Libya crash coverage. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-sherwood/sole-survivor-how-often-d_b_573538.html (see link for complete article, excerpts below)

2. Do Most Passengers Perish Plane Crashes?
No. I call this the Myth of Hopelessness. Many people believe that everyone always dies in plane crashes. And there's good reason: the greatest tragedies are ingrained in our memories. It's terrible and true: Everyone died in the most infamous crashes. Valujet 592 in the Florida Everglades. TWA 800 in the Atlantic. Swissair 111 in Nova Scotia. EgyptAir 990 over the Atlantic. Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie.
Despite these disasters, the truth about most airplane accidents is that people do survive. In fact, according to the US government, 95.7 percent of the passengers involved in aviation accidents make it out alive. That's right. When the National Transportation Safety Board studied accidents between 1983 and 2000 involving 53,487 passengers, they found that 51,207 survived. That's 95.7 percent. When you exclude crashes in which no one had a chance of surviving - like Pan Am 103 - the NTSB says the survival rate in the most serious crashes is 76.6 percent. In other words, if your plane crashes, you aren't necessarily doomed, just like the passengers on US Air 1549 in the Hudson....

...
Finally, what else can you do to increase your chances in the unlikely event of a crash?

After going through the FAA's plane crash survival school in Oklahoma City and interviewing many experts and survivors of plane crashes, here are four key tips:
> Pay attention to the safety briefing and develop your Plan A and Plan B in the event of an emergency. Count the number of rows to your nearest exit and your backup.
> Focus on your action plan during the first three minutes of flight and the last eight minutes. That's when around 80 percent of accidents happen. In other words, before takeoff and landing, don't take off your shoes; don't put on a face mask to sleep; and don't wear earphones.
> Leave Your Roll-On Behind and Don't Forget Your Family. That's right. Investigators say that evacuees frequently try to bring their carry-on luggage. That's a big mistake because that can slow you down when every second counts. Experts say that passengers also have been known to flee, leaving behind husbands, wives and even children. So safety experts actually suggest rehearsing what you would do in a crash and how you want to behave.
> Finally, relax! And enjoy your flight. Experts say that stress and anxiety related to fear of flying are more injurious to your health than the air travel itself.

[Captain Hutch]

Good luck, Caroline! I'm sure you'll do fine! :)

[Aurora]

It seems to me that there must be high chance of emergency on take off because if it was extremely unlikely then surely listening to an ipod would be ok. We don't have safety talks on trains/buses yet these modes of transport are meant to be riskier.

You're using words that I feel are tricking yourself. Think about it like this; during takeoff and landing the plane is closer to the ground - in other words the time before an emergency situation could appear in which you need to evacuate the plane is SHORT. It doesn't have to be a crash, it doesn't have to be anything serious - but in comparison with a plane 40,000 feet in the air versus 5000 feet - the time before landing and potentially evacuating is short.

So, therefore you need to "be available". A bird strike could for example go completely unnoticed by people in the cabin (a true story from a pilot friend of mine, they turned off the engine but noone noticed according to him) - but it could also be enough reason to land and evacuate the plane immideately (for example if the engine catches fire).

So, it's not a HIGH CHANCE per say - (even though it's true that many accidents happen during those periods) - it's just the whole package of being close and potentials.

On trains they have safety talks and walk throughs in my country, not exactly like on a plane, but it's still a walk through. I think listening to an iPod or similar is more a "risk you take for yourself", also on buses. On buses you don't even have a seat belt, even though they often drive in tunnels with speed limits of 70-80 km/h. It's just impossible to force people to do such things on buses, and to compare it's still way safer to fly. They really do think about everything in aviation. It's just a matter of really believing it....

Meet the pilots, try to think happy thoughts and think about the fantastic view you'll get.... GOOD LUCK! :sunshine:

[TXflyer]

hey caroline,

i know it's hard when you first start out on this, but do your best to use whatever techniques help calm you. you will be fine on your flight. i think there are a lot of reasons that the safety demonstrations are required, and i think you could choose one logical reason and repeat that to yourself. for instance, even though it is extremely, extremely unlikely that you'll need any of that info, flying is a less common experience for most and some of the safety measures the airlines have initiated are more complex, so you are required to listen not because of increased danger but because of increased technicality. i wouldn't know how to use one of those life vests without watching the flight attendants. or that in case there is a problem with depressurization to fully pull my oxygen mask down so that the line is extended, insuring the flow of oxygen, and that the bag would not necessarily inflate. that sort of incident is extremely rare, but it's also one where everyone will be just fine if they have listened to the safety demonstration.

do whatever calms you right now. i really think you'll get on that flight and it will be better than you thought... and each subsequent flight will get better and better. it's tough work but you can do it!

[caroline]

Thank you all for the replies.

Some very interesting points for me to think about regarding safety and take off. I have today and tomorrow to try and turn around my way of thinking, i'm sure it can be done as like i said before, a couple of weeks ago i was feeling ok and wondering why exactly i was so scared!

I am going to start a thread on the tracking board just in case anyone would like to track me.

Caroline.

[Barb-SAN]

I have today and tomorrow to try and turn around my way of thinking, i'm sure it can be done as like i said before, a couple of weeks ago i was feeling ok and wondering why exactly i was so scared!


Um, maybe because "theoretical" (thinking about a flight that's weeks away) is about to become "reality"...It's "showtime".

Actually, for all my words, I really like Capt. Hutch's post...simple and reassuring. :)
Good luck, Caroline! I'm sure you'll do fine! :)
And that reminds me of why I like to meet the pilots before the flight. Sometimes the most simple of reassurances at the right moment makes all the difference. :cool: Caroline, remember that you've got the cabin crew looking out for you thanks to that email you sent the airlines, and you will be pre-boarding. Do you have plans to ask to meet the pilots then? Did you print out the letter for "back-up". You could bring a couple extra copies, in case you want to give the pilots or FA's a copy. They might like to drop by TF and say "Hi" , and might have friends with FF who might like to join us here.

[caroline]

I do think meeting pilot will help me so yes i will print out the letter, one of my jobs to do tomorrow, and yes good idea to maybe hand one to fa or pilot.

[Kimmar]

I so remember being where you are right now! What I noticed over the course of time was that the fear ebbed and waned, kind of like a tide. Some days, or time of days was worse than others. Some days I was full of confidence, and then an hour later I`d be terrified again...(I discovered that caffeine was a trigger during this time too.)

What I decided during this was that when I was confident and not afraid I believed all the facts that I had been presented with and that flying was a safe act.

When I started to get fearful again *nothing* but *my emotions* had changed. All the facts remained the same, and yet I suddenly decided that flying was a death trap...

So, I decided to go with the facts and fly *in spite* of my own feelings, whatever they may be at the time of the flight. There was a fifty fifty chance I`d be terrified, *or* I could be feeling great! I just wouldn`t know that until the actual time of the flight...LOL

I made that commitment and it helped get me through some of the rougher times, along with all the other techniques I learned, facts I knew, things I did to make it a good experience (no caffeine, get lots of rest, eat a good meal before the flight, etc.) and I somehow made it!

You can too. Just remember that nothing has changed but your own emotions and they are really not a good way to judge the safety of flying, or anything else really. If any of us, who thought we could foretell disaster better than alllllll those other people getting on the plane, could actually do what we thought (foretell the future) we`d be very rich, cause we`d use that power to play the lottery and win!:D I`ll venture a guess and say there`s no PowerBall lottery winners on this site...

Looking forward to your flight report!:thumbsup: