You're on a flight cruising steadily and enjoying a nice drink and reading your favourite magazine then suddenly the seat belt light comes on. What are the first thoughts that go through your mind at this time?

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!!! then id look up at the sign and see which one was lit up. if it was the seatbelt sign id then pull mine tighter (i always have mine on) then id wonder why they had been put on and wait anxiously for something to happen. if nothing happened id then thing is it a fault?? then id be panicking there was a problem with the electronics

Oh god! I'm the the number one aviophobic in this world i guess( Ok no need to exaggerate) ONE of the number one aviophobics...i start getting sick like a week ahead of my travel...I become nauseous..Weepy...i lose interest in any activity..And i start packing a month ahead so that I don't have to do it the last minute coz i know i wouldn't have the bit of energy to do it! Seriously this is the case....Oh and about the seat belt sign! Huh!!!!! this is the (It's over) feeling that suddenly strikes i start reading prayers and all just to get my self over it! then suddenly i start to cry! I can't eat nothing in the plane except drink water just to keep me from getting dehydrated! And then ofcourse comes the urge to go to the toilet and that's the worst one! I feel like I'm trapped in a tomato paste can! YUCK :O It doesn't just end there...i get panic attacks after arriving which last two weeks or so! that feeling of the plane just doesn't go away... scry

I'm sorry to hear how you feel about flying February. Can I ask are you ok with the landing and take-off or is it the whole experience? I have some friends at work and one doesn't mind landing and taking off but hates the part inbetween but the other is the other way around. I'm just intrigued to know how you feel.

It's the whole experience Johnny! The whole flying experience from take off to landing! The only time when I feel relief is went it actually lands...but then as I said I get panic attacks for about a week after landing as a side effect scry

im the same as you. i panick weeks in advance about the flight and normally go to bed in tears. then im crying before i get on the plane and usually sick too. then i never want to get on the thing so wait till the end and have to be forced on. ( i have a ritual too. i have to lok at the door seal before i go through too just to make sure its ok)

take off and landings never used to bother me when i was younger and it was only the air sickness that was the problem, but now im absolutely petified and in tears. like you i cant get up to go to the toilet, icant eat, i cant drink, even though i always ask for a cup of tea and just watch it go cold.

landings are horrible especially when they put the reverse thrust on im constantly thinking omg its going to explode. its only when the plan has taxied to its stand and the seatbelt sign goes off that i get a feeling of releif. i also have a ritual of looking at the plane when i get off it, then i just think omg this thing was in the air just now!

then no sooner am i out of the terminal do i start panicking about the fligh home.

I can't beleive there's someone actually out there that is exactly like me! I really hope we can overcome this...I don't travel much except in summer...and I just don't like to think of it! We usually plan our trip like three months ahead of time but then when the time comes all the drama starts! It's horrible...i feel so silly sometimes when I look around when flying I mean, and see everyone enjoying their time laughing and smiling... It does help a bit but it sure doesn't take away the fear.... sconfused

i know how you feel. im convinced that im never to go on a plane again then someone books it and i have no choice.

dont want to go on one ever again!! i sit there trying to read but end up reading the same line over and over again. i always think the worse.

get the book flying with out fear. it has helped me a lot with a few things. look it up online

Sure! Thanx happy7 happy7

First, you need to know that turbulence is not a physical threat. If you wear your seat belt, there is no risk to you due to turbulence. Frankly, in the front of the plane, I have never in thirty-one years of flying for the airlines been in turbulence that I could not walk around in. But the rear of the plane moves around a lot more. And that leads to one of the main reasons for turning the seat belt sign on: to protect the flight attendants who - if turbulence begins - need to get their drink carts back to the rear of the plane and slide them into their stowage slots. This gets tricky because of the movement of the plane at the rear. So we try to turn on the seat belt sign early so they have time to do this without rick of spraining an ankle or getting a finger or a hand jammed between the cart and the stowage slot.

Second, when flying cargo, there are no passengers; we don't even bother to ask air traffic control for a smoother altitude. Why? Because turbulence does not matter to the plane and it does not matter to the pilots.

Still, though there is no physical risk, there is emotional risk. The main strategy many people use for anxiety is to try to block it out. Thus, a typical anxious flier gets on the plane hoping to be able to block awareness of the flight out of the mind. But there are two times during the flight when blocking is hard to do because the movement of the plane intrudes too much: takeoff and turbulence. Though landing, too, intrudes, landing is not much of a problem because of the anticipation of relief through being back on the ground.