Sit down, write out your fear, and then write out your physical symptoms.

You may find a simple solution to help you manage the physical symptoms and that will help you settle your feelings.

Remember, "fight or flight" itself, is temporary physical symptoms.

Best wishes.

Hi, I'm a frequent flyer and I suffer from anxiety. Is this your first time flying? Personally I love flying and feel like it decreases my anxiety, but if it's causing anxiety for you then I can suggest some tips based on my flying experiences:

1. If you find that music helps you calm down, then I suggest bringing your iPod/Mp3 player with you on the plane. This way, the earbuds can also drown out the sound of the plane (it's just a constant hum with occasional noises because of the wheels and wings).

2. Try and sit near the middle of the plane because it's the least noisy.

3. I'm not sure if you've tried hypnotherapy, but I'm sure you can download hypnotherapy onto your iPod/Mp3 and you can listen to it on the plane. I find hynotherapy really helps to calm me down.

4. Most planes have some sort of entertainment system so you can easily distract yourself by watching t.v. or a movie.

5. You can bring a book or a magazine to distract yourself.

6. Some airlines allow you to have you laptop with you as long as you turn off Wifi access.

That's all I can think of for now.

Hope it helps! Best wishes

I also am flying somewhere (In November) for the first time in a few years and I am already getting some anxiety about it. I never had a problem with flying before but now I can't even think about it, it stresses me out so much. It's not crashing or anything, I think it is more a clausterphobia thing which I have been getting a lot lately. I haven't quite figured out how I am going to handle it yet, so please let me know how your flight goes!

Try relaxation exercises. There's plenty you can find online before you leave. They seem to help me. Also, if you have anxiety medication, take that before your flight leaves. My anxiety medicine makes me exhausted and before I know it, I'm landing and waking up.

If you don't have any medication, try taking dramamine, its an over the counter medication for motion sickness, but it makes you drowsy.

Hope you can calm down and enjoy wherever you are going!

I like Strugglex's suggestions. I hadn't flown in about 20 years and when I walked onto the plane I started having a panic attack because it felt so crowded and hardly anyone had boarded yet. I didn't have an Ipod at the time but they let you buy for a dollar or two earphones and you could tune into radio stations. That was my saving grace...my favorite artist was on a channel doing a concert so I focused on the music and was able to relax. So in addition to trying to take something to help you relax find what you really enjoy that you can do on the plane such as listen to music, read, or do puzzles or games. Good luck!