Thanks for sharing your story and your advice. I like the idea of writing the story out and sort of becoming desensitized to it. I will get back on an airplane, it would just be too much for me right now. Like you, I would like to conquer my other exposures first and work up to flying.
Good for you for having a couple of trips planned! Mexico sounds awesome. You will be able to celebrate your success by relaxing on the beach. Feel free to post again anytime. I would especially love to hear about how your trips go and any other tips you come up with for coping with being on the plane.
I purposely logged in looking for an anxiety with airplane flight. My whole life I had always gotten nervous for vacation time. I usually work myself up a few days before the trip and make myself sick the day of the trip. However after the first day I am always fine. This June I had an extreme panic attack and have been getting treating for anxiety, unrelated to travel. I have done all my exposures successfully. The next thing on my list is travel. I am flying to New York in 3 days just for the day for business. Today I started to get quite worked up and anxious about it. I am trying to relax myself and know that this is the next step. I have some natural panic remedies as well as prescription medication and graval just in case. However at the end of November my boyfriend and I have booked a trip to Mexico for one week. I am quite nervous about this trip. And though I am almost confident I will panic the days before or the day of the trip I feel like it is a good fear that I will need to accomplish in order to move forward. I know that I will be proud of myself once I complete it. Part of me is excited to sit on a beach, the other part of me wants it to just be over. I wanted to tell you that something that helped me was my therapist telling me to write a story of what I fear will happen. I read the story every day. This way I become kind of numb to the story. It is like watching a scary movie over and over again, eventually it isnt so scary. Maybe that will help you. I hope so!
This is the first post I have ever written here. I was hoping for some words of encouragement :)
Maybe there is a reason for this. The train sounds lovely. You know you don't ever have to fly if there is an alternate way. It is not a failure. What a relief hey.
I thought I would post an update for everyone regarding the airplane flight. I talked to my boyfriend and my parents and they helped me come up with an alternative plan for this trip around the holidays. I was getting so worked up just looking at airline tickets online that I just feel like it is too big of a step for me right now. I think I could probably do it, but at this point it is not worth the amount of worrying that would happen between now and then. So, instead, we are going to take the train. I will still be going on the trip, which will be a challenge too but one I feel like I can face right now, and I will leave getting on an airplane for some other time down the road.
Davit: phooey - I just relocated 4 bushes, they were between the roses but were getting too big. I think two died as I was too sick to water them enough during the heat spell we had. I'll see this spring if they survive. Two will be okay though. Glad you like the idea.
Thank you. I will try to find some lavender because I believe to that the mind is a powerful tool. Three years in a row I have tried to grow lavender only to kill it. This year I was successful and My hired man over watered it and killed it.
