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View Full Version : Flying for the 1st time.. Terrified... Help :(



Skye Winter
19-03-14, 16:03
Hey all!
A bit of background info- I'm 20 years old and have been emetophobic since I was very young. I'm terrified of both myself vomiting or someone around me vomiting, and someone being sick around me can ruin my entire day... :shrug:

I'm going on holiday in a few months and I've never been on a plane before.
I'd love love love love to go on holiday but I'm just SO scared of the flight there, and not because of normal flight worries.. just in case someone is sick in-flight.

Usually if someone is sick or looks like they might be sick, I escape as quick as I can to avoid a panic attack... but on a plane... there's not many places you can escape to unless you fancy going sky diving :roflmao:

I just don't know what to do argh! I've got a few months until I go and my anxiety/phobia is already messing with my head!

Any help is appreciated! Do you think there is something my doctor can give me to calm me down for the flight? I'm not that big a fan of drugs like that but I really think if someone was to vom near me I couldn't hold it together!! :doh:

Any advice?

Thanks everybody! :wacko:

- Skye xx

nomorepanic
19-03-14, 16:35
I have never been on a plane when someone is sick. It is highly unlikely to happen and even more unlikely they would be sat near you.

Are you getting treatment for the phobia though?

Skye Winter
20-03-14, 09:23
Hi, thanks for your reply.

I've never been on a plane before and I've heard stories of people getting airsick and I guess it just set me off on the road to panic :unsure:

I know it's unlikely but I'm scared that I won't be able to hold it together if it did happen and I'd end up embarrassing myself and having a panic attack mid-flight.

I'm not currently undergoing any treatment to specifically target my phobia but I am on Zoloft and I'm getting CBT for my manic depression.

I feel like I'm going insane. Why can't I just be normal like most people? :weep:

semper solus
20-03-14, 12:23
Hi

I have been going on holidays for the past 20 years. Most of the time 3 holidays a year. I can honestly say in all that time I have never seen anybody sick on the plain. What you would normally find is people who suffer with travel sickness take travel sickness aids to help them. Sit back enjoy your flight and have a lovely holiday :)

Tessar
01-04-14, 21:39
Skye, I have just come across your thread. Well, you describe exactly how I felt over a decade ago. Alot has happened since then and...... I have flown many, many times and i still fly quite often.
I suffer with emetophobia too but I will not let it dictate to me what I do and don't do in life.
Absolutely no way and it sounds to me like you don't want it to either so that's really good. I congratulate you on arranging to go on holiday, especially one which involves flying.
So.... Let me wind the clock back over a decade. I'd been seeing a really good therapist bit it took me a year before I could mention my emetophobia because I didn't want to "contaminate" my sessions. So you can see, I didn't take this problem lightly.
In the end, I was in such a quandary, I had no option bit to say something. Like you I was booked to go abroad. I was scared of flying but primarily it was the vomiting thing (takes alot for me to type that word but I know if I do, it will not tempt fate. It's just a word, a word in fact which my therapist helped me face saying).
My therapist helped me look at statistics. How many millions of flights happen all the time. What the likelihood is of someone being sick. Most flights have a little turbulence, it's only natural that a plane might move a little bit in general, long-haul flights especially are pretty smooth all things considered. Also she helped me see that my fear was definitely out of proportion. At the time I remember thinking how none if this was changing my mind, none of it was comforting me. Bt the point is.... I did board that plane. I have boarded many since and flown to several different countries.
If i were to sum up my overall experience i'd say the flights have been good. i have endured some very long flights (12 hours) and shorter ones. Ok, so moving on the the "thing" both you and I fear.... This horrible thing. Well.... I have been on flights where someone has vomited. Not that near me but I Was aware shall we say. I survived. I was fine. Ok so it gave me a huge rush of anxiety at the time bit like I say I survived and it has never stopped me flying again because it didnt directly affect me.
I know what it's like not to want to be shut in with people because if the fear but you can cope with it. Mt first flight was my most nerve-wracking ad no-one was ill. In fact I was more scared of being up in a plane than anything when it came to it. I do remember people looking out of the window and getting excited so I got really brave and got up to look out. I was scared just to get up bit the view was truly incredible, like a winter wonderland as we were over a snowy area. At that pint it dawned in me what I had (&was ) achieving.
The rewards are worth it, they really are.
So my friend, this "terrible nightmare" e share...... Dont let it stop you flying or going on exciting holidays.
i was in a very rough but short flight in the gales we had recently. You've guessed it, someone was sick. Not because they had germs but simply because the flight was rough. But guess what? I felt fine. Yes it was unnerving but actually after that flight (which of course I survived) I now realise that "my worst nightmare" isn't that situation at all.
I felt very proud after the flight that I got through it. But you see, once you commit yourself, you find that you are able to survive things that make you anxious, also the more often you do them, the calmer you become. You can survive this situation I am sure if that.
In fact since most flights are good and go well, you won't as such have anything you need to endure or survive because you may just find it's an exciting experience too.
I do flights for work pretty much every week now. And I do this on my own. Well, not alone because I don't fly the plane (haa haa) and of course there are other people around me! I of you'd said to me 10 years go I'd hve done all these flights and be flying alone too well I'd have just laughed. But I have!!
So..... You go for it. And don't forget there's all manner of things you can do on the flight to distract yourself. I take a notebook and am often writing stiff down. I find the time on the plane is my own. I can do what ever I want. Shut my eyes, listen to music..... All sorts. On longer flights you can watch a film.
Anyway, here's hoping my ramblings are helpful to you..... If there's anything else I can help u with... You let me know because I enjoy thing these days even tho I still get a little nervous bit it can be exciting too. Xxx

Nervy_of_catford
08-04-14, 12:33
Just a quick point - *if* anyone gets airsick, it is entirely down to their inner ear / brain not being up to speed with flying, and is entirely *not* catching.

So if it's any consolation, it will have no risk to you, other than anxiety-based.

In addition, the few times I have flown, I've been unaware of anyone around me getting airsick. It seems a fairly uncommon occurrence.

Best wishes

ItShouldGetBetter
27-05-14, 01:27
Hi Skye,

I am 18 years old and have been flying all my life, until 2009.
I have never encountered anyone being sick on a flight, and although it is not unheard of if it were to happen on your flight you can easily stop yourself from seeing anyone else on the plane if necessary.
It should be absolutely fine, see if perhaps you can get your hands on Bach remedy or Kalms. I've never personally encountered anyone being ill though, the reason I don't fly is for fear of myself getting ill. Also never happened, but It's much easier to rationalise to someone else than it is with yourself ;)

Hope everything goes well for you!

Joe

Sunflower2
27-05-14, 23:01
I also have a major fear of being sick or someone else being sick and I can tell you that in the past 20 years not once have I seen someone be sick on a plane. I've taken planes by myself too sitting next to strangers and they were also fine. If you were really worried you could maybe request an aisle seat so you don't feel trapped in case you get really nervous? Or a window seat so you can just distract yourself! And how about think of it this way, are you going to let someone else who might not cope with a flight so well that you've never met before and never will again probably, stop you from travelling and seeing the world and having a good time?

Tessar
28-05-14, 21:03
Well, it's interesting because I will quite probably always have emetophobia to some degree so flying will of course be somewhat triggering. but I won't let it stop me from flying. No way.

I have completed 20 round trips for work this year ... Each involving 2 short plane flights. Not to mention a number of other flights last year too. I was so scared at the outset. it was such a biiiiig deal and yet these days I sit there on the plane more relaxed than you could ever imagine.

Occasionally something makes me prick my ears up.... But isn't that just it? As soon as there is a perceived threat.... Instead of just going about my own business..... I start to "listen" to whatever has caught my attention. Then my mind wants to blow it out of all proportion.
but the point is .... 99.999999999999 times out of 100 ...... It is nothing to concern myself with. This means all my effort and energy has been wasted on things I need not concern myself with.

So I do try whenever I can simply to exist in my own little world. not to get too involved in what is gong on around me. instead i focus on music i might be playing or i take notepad and write letters to friends. great distraction.
Anything to prevent me from indulging my fear.
I have to say the more I focus away from my fear, the less powerful it becomes.

And most importantly...... Before I fly instead of worrying about what might happen, I just go and do it. So much better than getting excessively worried about things that most likely will never happen.

Believe me.... Everyone can face their fears. It might not be easy bit the more frequently you do.... The more you realise the fear was just that. A fear. Not a reality at all.

I totally agree with Kimberly ...go for it!!