petrified of what can happen whilst flying help!

[atmywitsend]

right here goes..... i have been suffering panic and anxiety attacks for the past 5 years now and have completely put off flying.
my husband came home from work one day in january and suprised myself and our children with the confirmation of the holiday he had booked us that day to.... majorca!
the holiday is a weeks saturday (2nd oct)
petrified is not the work! i am so scared that i am now losing sleep over it!
My biggest fear is that i will have a heart attack onboard and that no1 will be able to help me!!!
this may sound silly to alot of ppl but to me this is so real!
what happens if i have a medical emergency and there is no doctor on board etc to help???
please please, any help will be greatly appreciated as i cant breath just writing this post :cry:
thanks in advance.xxx

[MathFox]

Hello, :welcome2:

First thing, you've got almost two weeks to prepare for the flight; while that is short, I recommend you to go to http://www.anxieties.com/ and do the "fear of flying" track. Practice the exercises so that you get some control over your fear (and just as important the anticipatory anxiety.) Two weeks is unlikely to be enough for a complete cure, but you can take most of the edge off with dilligent work.

About first aid in a plane: it is surprising how often doctors and nurses travel... but even so, all flight attendants have to do first aid courses. Airlines have contracts with doctors on the ground and the captain can call for medical advice when needed. Also, all planes have a first aid kit with all drugs a doctor may want to use in case of an emergency. So you're better off on board of an airline than in your own car.
And if really needed, a plane can divert to a nearby airport and have an ambulance waiting for you. For an "overland" flight it will take a 10-15 minutes to get the plane down and the patient transferred to the ambulance.

BTW, if you also have non-flying related panic attacks; I recommend that you seek (medical) treatment for those... You'll feel much better when they are soved. :-)

[atmywitsend]

Hi and thanks for the rapid response... i can control the panic attacks on a daily basis, its just the comfort that i live close the the hospital and help is easilly on hand etc, it is just the "what if something happens while i am flying" that i cannot handle, i have flown loads of times before but started having panic attacks whilst i was pregnant with my 5 year old and havent flown for the past 6 yrs so i have no experience of ever flying when panic attacks are present.x