Which benzo is good for flight anxiety?

People often come to us requesting the doctor or nurse to prescribe diazepam for fear of flying or assist with sleep during flights. Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy and more relaxed.



People Also Ask

The use of psychopharmacologic drugs can aid in the various stages of treatment during exposure therapy. Benzodiazepines, such as clonazepam, help reduce anticipatory anxiety and can enable a patient to manage fear and anxiety during the initial stages of exposure therapy [15].

MORE DETAILS

Ativan and Xanax are both benzodiazepines used for the treatment of anxiety, and both are equally effective for this use. The differences are: Xanax has a quicker onset of effect, but a shorter duration of action (4 to 6 hours) compared with Ativan's 8 hours.

MORE DETAILS

What Are the Best—And Safest—Sleeping Pills for Flights?
  • Ambien. Ambien—the most powerful option on this list and the only one that requires a prescription—works as a sedative-hypnotic medication that slows your brain activity to make you feel very sleepy. ...
  • Tylenol PM. ...
  • Melatonin.


MORE DETAILS

Flight anxiety medication
  • fluvoxamine (Faverin)
  • citalopram (Celexa)
  • escitalopram (Lexapro)
  • paroxetine (Paxil)


MORE DETAILS

Benzodiazepines are only advised for the short term use for a crisis in generalised anxiety disorder in which case they are not fit to fly. Fear of flying in isolation is not a generalised anxiety disorder.

MORE DETAILS

While Xanax may be useful for flying on an airplane, it will not help you with your anxiety. It may help in the moment but you will not tackle your fear of flying if you are asleep the whole flight. If you ran out of your medication or left it at home, the anxiety will still exist if you go on an airplane again.

MORE DETAILS

The two main medication classes most often prescribed are:
  • Benzodiazepines, such as the antianxiety drugs alprazolam (Xanax®), clonazepam (Klonopin®) and diazepam (Valium®).
  • Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, such as paroxetine (Paxil®) or escitalopram (Lexapro®).


MORE DETAILS

Yes, the sedative properties of benzodiazepines such as Ativan, Klonopin and Xanax can help reduce anxiety and stress and in some cases are completely necessary. But these medications, particularly when used without the advice of a doctor, come with a whole host of baggage.

MORE DETAILS

Prescribing these drugs is not recommended any more for these reasons: Although plane emergencies are rare, taking Diazepam reduces awareness and reaction times for patients so you risk not being able to react to save your life if you have to escape quickly.

MORE DETAILS

Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners: Pharmaceuticals, Do Not Issue Do Not Fly— from angina to weight-loss medications, including these psychiatric medications: antidepressants (certain SSRIs may be allowed – see SSRI policy) antianxiety drugs – e.g.: alprazolam (Xanax) antipsychotics.

MORE DETAILS

Try holding your breath and then breathing deeply, or better still, force yourself to breathe out for as long as you can and then take a long, deep breath. Seif and Farchione both recommended taking deep breaths, since this triggers the calming response and can help to prevent hyperventilation.

MORE DETAILS

Distract yourself
Reading a book or listening to a good podcast can refocus your mind and attention. Distracting yourself from the fact that you are flying can be a great way to keep calm if you're a nervous flyer.. Time tends to pass much more quickly when adequately distracted.

MORE DETAILS

For example, deep breathing or meditation during take-off, landing or turbulence can reduce your symptoms of anxiety. You can also learn to “talk back” to negative thoughts about flying when they arise.

MORE DETAILS