Will my doctor give me anxiety medication for flying?

Pharmacological treatment Medication is sometimes prescribed on a temporary basis to treat the symptoms of a flying phobia, such as anxiety and nausea. These drugs are usually taken shortly before a flight. They include: Anti-anxiety medication, such as diazepam (Valium) or alprazolam (Xanax).



People Also Ask

Pharmacological treatment Medication is sometimes prescribed on a temporary basis to treat the symptoms of a flying phobia, such as anxiety and nausea. These drugs are usually taken shortly before a flight.

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

Aerophobia usually doesn't have a specific cause. It's very rare for aerophobia to stem from a traumatic experience on a flight. Specific triggers might include: News stories about terrorism, crashes or violence on airplanes.

MORE DETAILS

During the flight, distract yourself When we're really, really anxious, we can't think straight, says Marques. The key is to try to connect to your rational, thinking brain. When we really focus on thinking, like doing a math problem, our emotional brain calms down.

MORE DETAILS

She told the group what worried her. “I am afraid of dying.” Fear of flying, or aviophobia, is an anxiety disorder.

MORE DETAILS

While we don't recommend trying to get class As through security, there are legal, over-the-counter sleep medications which can be helpful. Nytol, Kalms and valerian root extract pills are a gentle way of nudging you off to the land of nod.

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

Physicians can prescribe medications as needed for flight anxiety. The most common class includes benzodiazepines like Xanax and Ativan, which are relatively fast-acting to relieve anxiety and stay in the body for several hours, which is the duration for most cross-country flights.

MORE DETAILS

Travel anxiety is not an officially diagnosed mental health issue, but can be severe enough to interfere with people's daily lives. People with travel anxiety may be unable to see family and friends, go on vacation, or travel for work.

MORE DETAILS

Fear of flying can present at any age and involves a chronic, persistent fear of flying because of a number of different reasons. This fear can present on its own as in a Specific Phobia or as an obsession in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

MORE DETAILS

This traps us in our fight of flight response. This can explain the different symptoms of anxiety from why we overthink (we are trying to anticipate danger) to the tension in our muscles (our body is getting ready to respond to danger).

MORE DETAILS

However, it is never able to do this perfectly, because frightening experiences, whether real or imagined, automatically trigger the flight or fight response. An anxiety disorder results when the flight or fight response becomes triggered too easily and too frequently.

MORE DETAILS

Some people fear fire, illness spread through the air system, using the toilets, or violence on a plane. Others have a “bad feeling” about their flight, afraid that their anxieties will somehow predict a catastrophe.

MORE DETAILS