I'm in a growth spurt at the moment and although I used to fly with ease as recently as last September...I now am having difficulty flying again for work. I was supposed to fly cross country in Jan. and didn't board the plane once I got in the airport shuttle. Ugh. I've been beating myself up ever since and feel like the whole thing is back full force once again. I have a great job which I don't want to jeopardize if I don't fly. I have a flight that I want to go on at the end of March for work - cross country again and as such my anticipatory worry is in full force. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can keep myself calm and able to get on this plane? I'm not scared so much about the flight, but more about being away from home "my safe place" for four days. Plus I'll have several business meetings to conduct in the Big Apple once I get there which used to be a piece of cake. I got tweaked again because my sister got very sick...and now we are discovering she has this disorder, but isn't accepting help. P.S. I'm not a junior member as listed..don't know how to change that.

Blessings and thanks for listening and caring.

One of the first lessons that I remember is "you are you're safe place". You are the only person that can make yourself feel better. A friend of mine dealt with anxiety and flying by repeating a mantra "in with the butterflies and out with the bees". It helps and can make you laugh at the same time.

Another thing I might suggest is maybe bringing something small from your home with you. Something you can carry in you're pocket and touch whenever feel anxious you can touch it. Anything to get away form the scary thoughts is helpful. My favorite is the rubber band. I put it around my wrist during meetings to soothe myself. What happens is when I feel the anxiety moving in, I snap the rubber band around my wrist. Usually the aniety hits so hard that I wind up snapping it too hard and then my thoughts go from anxiety about being in the room to "ouch my wrist hurts"

Thank you. I'll give it a whirl.