Travel Anxiety

[gabbetha]

Hello all -
I was hoping I might be able to get some advice on my current situation, if any of you have been there before! I am graduating university in April, and I have been given the opportunity to go abroad (to Europe from America!) before I begin being a real adult in the working world. Haha.
I have always wanted to travel and see the world, and I still do. However, around a year ago I suffered through my first and only panic attack. I realize that really isn't all that serious compared to others, but for me, one was absolutely enough. I was diagnosed with general anxiety and borderline depression by my PCP, and was given meds to combat both. All that being said, my anxiety has been MUCH more controlled in the year that I've been dealing with it, and I'm very grateful. I do still have moments of panic, and sometimes I deal with some of the symptoms I did when I had my attack, but for the most part, I'm okay now.
Here's my issue.
I have never been outside of the US (excluding Canada!), I have never taken a trip of such magnitude, and I have never traveled so extensively all by myself, which is what this trip would be. I am completely torn by my absolute desire to go, and absolute terror. I know that my anxiety has been under control for a while now, but there are a couple of things that I just can't seem to shake. One, the flight over. Around 7 hours. I wouldn't say that I hate flying, but one of my anxiety triggers is literally anything that has to do with my breathing. Something about being in an enclosed space breathing all these different peoples' air gets me feelin some sort of way. Haha. But I can handle that. The bigger thing is, two, my fear of having another attack in a foreign country with my normal support group an ocean away, and not knowing how to handle myself. I am legit anxious about my own anxiety. It's so silly. Haha.
So yeah. I was wondering if any of you out there had dealt with this before, or if you have any tips for traveling with anxiety - I realize that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I want to take so badly...but I'm just so scared to do it. Haha. Thanks!!

[LMET]

Hiya, don't let anxiety rule your life. This will be a great thing to do and you will regret it if you didn't go. I've had travel anxiety many times but it always is okay in the end. Try to think of the positives of why you are going and what you will gain instead of what you are scared of. Try and relax and make sure you have a plan so you know what your doing, only positives can come from you going. Try not to let the anxiety beat you.

Have a lovely time and enjoy yourself!!

[TuesdayBlue]

Gabbetta, I'm sorry that you're at such a cross roads but I know many have been in your place. I know that travel anxiety is shared by many others too. If you want to read about one women's personal success story of overcoming her panic attacks through travel, you can look here:https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/how-to-overcome-anxiety/
This site has some tips too for managing anxiety and travel:http://www.wheresmydopamine.com/travel-fear-unknown-insights-brain/

--BEST of LUCK--

[poppadr3w]

Hey there,

I've been in a somewhat similar situation, although not nearly as extensive (or as awesome sounding).

A couple of years ago my anxiety was quite high. I was experimenting with a new hormone therapy to deal with overall health issues, anxiety included. My family had just come into a decent sum of money due to an inheritance from my grandmother passing away (she was over 90, so she had a nice, long life), so my mother decided to spend some money on the family (her, my dad, my sister, my sister's boyfriend, my daughter, my wife, and myself) to go to Disney World.

Well, who wouldn't be excited for Disney World? As a man in his mid-twenties, I was ecstatic for this trip. Fully paid for, we were staying in a nice suite, and, well, DISNEY! Plus my daughter would get to see the magic of Disney, something I doubt I'd be able to afford myself because life is expensive. Anyone in their right state of mind would be pumped.

My issue? Anxiety. It was running rampant in my life. The idea of getting on a plane (which I have been on before) and being so far away from home scared the crap out of me. It was not too long prior that I was too nervous to go to the diner because my anxiety made me feel so physically ill. And now I was going to a totally different state (we are from NY) to go to a huge amusement park filled with thousands upon thousands of people. That's a bit more than a diner lol.

With all of my anxiety in mind, with dealing with this new therapy, and all of my stress under my belt, I buckled down and forced myself to go. I knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I was not going to let anxiety totally ruin what would be one of the most memorable experiences of my entire life. I got on that plane and went to Disney, and I would have gone even if anxiety gripped me so hard that my chest hurt or I could barely breathe.

In retrospect, it was one of the best experiences of my lifetime. Not only did I get these memories and have fun with my family, but I proved to myself that I can do anything that I put my mind to. I may be incredibly uncomfortable, and that without a doubt sucks, but it'd suck even more to miss out on these times.

I feel like my past experience and your upcoming one is quite similar. You need to realize that anxiety or not, this is a great potential experience that you may never be able to engage in again. And guess what? Honestly, the anticipation was one of the worst elements of the anxiety. The mental build up of just thinking "What if?" for many scenarios and thinking I'd feel so uncomfortable. That's the anxiety talking, and you're better and stronger than that. Once you get to on the plane you'll most likely feel a wave of relief as I did. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

[braindead]

tell your doc what you want to do he may give you a few benzos to take every time you fly to take the edge off only if it gets to much. And all those benzo freaks dont go ape there a life line in a crisis.:whistles:

[barley03]

Hi,
I'm new on this site and I have extreme anxiety about going to Europe next week. I'm wondering how your trip went (and hopefully you did go!)