Keeping Calm

Hi All! I’ve been feeling pretty decent this week, but over the last few weeks I’ve been showing becoming very insecure and doubtful of myself. A lot of young people around me are traveling and I wanna do that too but am too scared to fly right now. Long story short, I wanna fly but I’m scared and I feel like a loser and I’m also worried my boyfriend will like me less/ leave me because of it. This is causing a lot of anxiety which of course makes symptoms worse. I’ve always thought my anxiety has caused dizziness for me and I’m honestly tired of letting anxiety cause problems for me. Does anyone have any advice for how to keep calm? I wish I could just take this light heartedly.

Keeping calm is really tough, especially when your whole world is spinning. I find focusing on something other than how I feel generally helps. The easiest thing to do is focus on your breath, be conscious of each breath and try not to dwell on anything else besides your breathing

I also find just having an anti-anxiety medication on hand (xanax or ativan) gives me peace of mind. I hardly actually take it, but knowing it’s an option helps calm me down.

As far as flying goes, I haven’t had any issues. I’ve flown many many times. I would recommend giving yourself an extra day on the front end to relax/unwind/destress when you arrive. It’s also good to have a day in case a migraine pops up.

The biggest thing I can recommend to you is don’t let MAV limit you. Yeah, it sucks, and it’s not fun feeling dizzy and out of it, but always just keep in mind you’re not in any real danger and you’re not going to die no matter how crappy you feel.

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I’ve also struggled a lot with anxiety, especially with travel and hanging out with people because I feel so awful its hard to be at ease and relax. There is no quick fix for anxiety that I’ve found. Yes, having some xanax around can make you feel at ease (I do the same even though I never take them).

Have you considered some counseling? When you get a good counselor they can work on a long term strategy to ease the anxiety. I have had success with changing my job, meditation, taking time off, spending more time in nature, spending more time with family, and cognitive behavioral therapy. “Feeling Good” by David Burns is a good book for DIY cognitive behavioral therapy, it can help you deal with automatic thoughts that are causing anxiety. But, its also important to look at possible life changes, which a counselor can more thoroughly help with.

Anxiety is totally treatable, you can get it resolved, it just takes some time and effort. I know how tough it is though.

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With @Camille_Chaf’s post in mind I’ve created a poll.

Hello all,

Thank you for your response. I do see a therapist now and I am working on some stuff with her. I wish there was a quicker way to get over this but I’ve had anxiety and dizziness for much of my life. I know that this is anither kountain I will conquer, it just takes a lot of time and effort.

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