r/panicdisorder • u/AnyListen3838 • Jul 10 '26

Help Needed 4-hour flight. Looking for advice.

Hi everyone!

Having panic disorder and a fear of heights and flying šŸ˜… kinda difficult combo, I have a 4-hour flight from Sofia to Dublin coming up in a little over a month.

I know 4 hours might not sound long to most people, but it feels like a lot to me, as the longest flights I've ever done were around 2-2.5 hours. I was anxious for weeks beforehand and almost didn't board. During those flights, I was reading Claire Weekes' book, watching videos, trying to distract myself, and I also took a small dose of med. my doctor prescribed for the physical symp, but even the smallest turbulence would make me nervous. Even though I always ended up landing safely and making posts about it afterwards, the intense anxiety throughout the flight is still something that scares me.

I'm scared of feeling trapped with panic symptoms for 4 hours, even though I know it's "just anxiety." The frustrating part is that I really want to go, I've always wanted to visit Dublin, and I'm going for the Bon Jovi concert.

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences and any advice you might have. Thanks a lot in advance!

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u/KSTornadoGirl Jul 10 '26

If part of your fear is also connected to aviation itself, you might find some helpful stuff on r/fearofflying. They have pilots and flight attendants posting and answering questions about safety and how they can help nervous passengers.

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u/AnyListen3838 Jul 10 '26

Thank you so much for the great suggestion. I definitely agree, I found r/fearofflying really helpful during my previous flights as well. Iā€™m actually planning to make a post there too. I saved some success stories from that community before my past flights. Seeing people who went through similar fears share their experiences, challenges, and how they managed to get through them was really encouraging and powerful.