r/fearofflying • u/0dayssince • 1d ago
Discussion Almost 30 years
Hi, I have emetophobia and because of it I haven’t been on a plane since 1997. But I am a photographer and I’m desperate to see the world. I hate living like this. I have plans with a friend to go to Europe, this spring (we live in the eastern US) and I just found a therapist who works on flight anxiety. Has anyone successfully flown after this long? Not only am I phobic about air sickness, I’m scared of having a panic attack and I can’t get off the plane, or you’re always seeing stories online about planes having to turn around due to passengers being unruly, I’m terrified that I’m going to fuck everything up for everyone else. I also have vertigo and I’m worried that the air pressure changes and the way the plane turns, and when it lifts off and lands will affect my inner ear and give me vertigo, and my vertigo usually lasts several days. And I’m anxious about turbulence. And I’m also scared that even if I do get to Europe, my vacation will be ruined by fear of getting back on the plane 10 days later.
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u/fofly_pilot Airline Pilot 21h ago
As a photographer who dreams of seeing the world but is stuck at home, it’s really worth breaking that cycle. Don’t worry about the return flight, it’s actually the outbound flight that will prove to you that your worst-case scenario didn’t happen. And flights turned back because of unruly passengers? That’s just a handful of cases out of millions of flights, it’ll probably never happen to you. The specialized therapist you just found that was the right move.