bubbles08

hi ,think of the worst prson flying and that would be me ! 5 years ago i was flying with my friend and her children back to uk and i had a panic attack.
It was so bad that my body started shaking and they had to warm me up,i even had the co pilot come to see me.
That actually was quite funny as i had passed out, and when i woke ,i saw him and tol him to get back and fly the plane.
My body was going into shock, i was told later that if i had not been seen to my organs would have started to dhut down so i was very critical!
After that i went to see a hypnotist three times and that was great.
After those sessions he gave me a cd that i played throughout the flight and that got me through it.I normally cry on take off but i was listening to the CD and did breathing exercises .Maybe its worth a try.

brits1

Sorry to hear about your son, depending on where you are in Aus there is always the "boat" option, here in Perth there is a "ship" that leaves Freo and arrive in Harwich...could be Hull......via some stop over's....for the journey it is very well priced as not a "fancy" huge ship.....maybe you could look into something like that.

My Sister in Law works for B.A training Flight Attendents and they do offer excellent courses for people who have a "fear" of flying/planes etc....

Good luck and hope all works out well for all of you.

exvj

John Prescott was working for Cunard for years - and being a government minister wasn't much easier either

The Brits will get it

Pollyana

I see you still don't have a solution? Must be awful for you

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/s...003402,00.html

Samual

Am i the only one who finds the whole thing ridiculous? I dont understand why a fear of flying would cause a panic attack on a boat?! If it were my son id pump him full of drugs and tell the airline hes in a vegetative state.

jonfrank123

I think counselling with a psychologist, to get to the root of the fear followed by a fear of flying course might be your best and cheapest way forward. I have used counselling before, it got me over a bout Panic attacks within weeks on the first occasion without any need for anti anxiety drugs.

OrkneytoPortugal

I had put off flying for years, as I manage to have panic attacks in lifts and theatres and tube trains - you name it - but I really wanted to fly out with my kids to visit a friend in Vancouver. I sought the help of a hypnotherapist who used a combination of hypnotherapy and NLP - it did the trick for me. I survived 13 hours on a tiny cattle-truck of an aeroplane, and have flown regularly since. It was well worth it because it opened up the world for me again. Good luck

Dorothy

There are some really good books out there to help your son deal with his fears. Give some of these a go. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...irdisastercom/

times up

Well if he won't come on a plane and won't go on a ship it looks ike a life in Oz for the young lad.

Must be hell for the parents but wht other options are there ? Surely some drugs are the answer. Knock out stuff.

Personally I'd rather he was on a ship as the last thing I want is someone trying to open the doors on the plane in mid flight and then finding out that he did it previously as well ! no, the more I think about it I think flying should be denied him.

livinginreality

I've just tuned into an Oz radio station (online)as this story of this family are on their website today.Apparently the family had paid $7,500 for the Mum and Son to come back to the UK on a cruise ship but unfortunately the son had a panic attack before they boarded and the ships doctor advised him not to travel.They have now been advised to pay for a doctor to escort the young man on a flight but the father has stated this will cost a fortune,so they still have no answers.Feel really sorry for them,and I wish the Mum and Son lots of luck,and safe journey home!

Bevm

I've had panic attacks, so I know how awful they can be, and often there's no particular cause. I'm not a nervous person. They were physiological as it turned out, but no one saw them that way for ages. (Ladies, if you ever have them, get your ferritin level checked. It's iron stores, and that was the sole cause of mine.)

I'd want this son to have a thorough medical check first -- hormones, brain chemicals etc. Then taught some stress blocking techniques, mainly breathing. I'd also do all the same for the mother, and whatever sedatives he gets, she gets, because stress is very easily communicated.

It is really hard to believe that modern medicine doesn't have a happy juice to get him through this. On a more basic level, have they tried bribery? That implies he has more control over this than it seems, but he might not know that. If there's something he really, really, really wants but is unlikely to get as things are, it might work wonders.

Bev

ezzie

The story in the paper mentions the lad has Aspergers...which was not divulged on this thread - different kettle of fish then of course. People with Aspergers are generally very bright and can revel in technical nitty gritty so a session with a flight engineer probably would have allayed a lot of fear, although after so many failed attempts I would imagine the behavioural response is pretty ingrained now.

Maybe medical repatriation by plane - pay for a psych. nurse to travel with highly sedated lad who will know how to apply firm reasoning during the flight to avoid dipping into a full-blown panic attack. Dreadful situation though...really feel for the family.

OrkneytoPortugal

I'm really interested in this. Does it mean that if you are anaemic you are more likely to be prone to panic attacks? We found out recently that my daughter's migraines were linked to her being iron-depleted. My own panic attacks certainly started at puberty, when I became a vegetarian and started menstruating, so there was possibly a link there. Fascinating, isn't it?

Bevm

Yes, and for some reason the medical community just won't catch on! Any woman in menstruating years who has one of these odd things -- panic attacks, chronic fatigue, migraines, fibromyalgia... First check her iron stores. It's an easy thing to do. If they're fine, then move on to other causes.

But apparently most women in their menstruating years have low stores (not clinically low, but lower than optimum), and it has effects, even if not serious ones. They do slightly less well at physical and mental tasks, for example. Handle stress less well etc etc

As you can tell, it's a soap box of mine.

Bev

carolinephillips

Maybe that's what happened to me- my iron levels are borderline at best, and I have had symptoms as above. They just told me to stop stressing, but I'd have them when I wasn't stressed Mind you now they think I have ms. Welcome to Australia- but at least the doctors are proactive here and don't dismiss it out of hand.