Whoo Hoo! My doc gave me some Valium for my flight in a week!

[Shell Beau]

:woohoo: :bounce: :7

I don't fly a lot and I don't care to!!

[Goldmund]

1. Whoo hoo...

Glad we don't live in those bad old days when people actually had to face their irrational fears...

[Shell Beau]

2. I have faced it before.

This will be the first time I have ever taken any meds for flying. Why feel anxious and edgy when I can relax and enjoy? I don't see the point. If this fear is irrational then there must be millions of irrational people b/c it is a very common fear and ligit IMO.

[Goldmund]

3. The point is...

First of all, don't take anything I say personally. I am against the general phenomenon, your particular case is only a small manifestation.

Here's what I don't like about the whole idea of taking drugs for non-clinical reasons:

1) We seem to have settled into this idea that life is supposed to be all sugar and comfort. The less discomfort, the better. I think that without pain, pleasure loses its meaning, and without tension, there is no relaxation, and this culture of comfort has led us to become, in the words of Pink Floyd, "comfortably numb". It is a good part of the answer to the question "why are people not waking up???", "how much more are Americans gonna take??" -- they'll take plenty, because they worship comfort.

2) We have this big campaign against smoking, against red meat, against fat, we have the fitness culture, etc, etc -- and I'll go on record and say that I believe that smoking isn't any more harmful than the habit of taking medications whose long-term effects are little known (since most have existed for less than a generation) for non-clinical reasons. Again, I'm not saying this is you personally, since I don't know; but anti-smoking campaign is useless when a half of the nation is popping anti-depressants just so they can comfortably avoid experiencing the normal stresses of life. Also, stress and depression are natural triggers for psychological re-examination and growth; instead of improving their psychological beings, people are simply altering their psychiatric balances, and as a consequence of that, it's inevitable that people on the whole will be less psychologically mature, perceptive, developed.

[Shell Beau]

4. I understand your point.

I, of all people, know that life is not all sugary and sweet. I lost my brother 8 years ago in a car accident. He was only 24 and I was 18. I know the deepest pain and I saw my parents go through what no parent ever wants to face. That created an anxiety within me. I have generalized anxiety disorder and have been on Paxil and now Lexapro. But I didn't want to fly because of my fear and the only way I agreed was if I had something to calm my nerves so I won't have an anxiety attack. My doc would not prescribe it if he felt I didn't really need it.

[Goldmund]

5. I understand yours too

If you have clinical reasons to take these drugs, then by all means. I didn't know that based on your first post. But if you do have genuine clnical reasons, I think that you're an exception, not the rule.

[Shell Beau]

6. Good!

We see each others point! And we did so in such a nice manner.

:hi:

[Goldmund]

7. Indeed

It ain't so hard, I don't know why so many people get their panties in a wad when somebody disagrees with them. :hi:

[Pendrench]

8. Speaking of flying...

I've only flown a few times in my life (10 years ago on my honeymoon) and the opportunity hasn't arisen since then.

Now that our kids are getting older, we're thinking of taking trips that might involve flying (or at least they would involve destinations that would be easier to get to if we flew).

Anyway, after thinking about this for awhile, I don't think that my fear is a fear of flying, but rather claustrophobia...I don't know if I could stand being in a plane for the length of the flight.

Of course I haven't had to face the reality of the situation (yet!) but I imagine that this is something that I will have to deal with within the next couple of years.

Tim

[Shell Beau]

9. Well I was dead set on driving to West Virginia.

It is about a 17 hour drive compared to a 2.5 hour direct flight. It came out cheaper to fly and gave us more quality time with my in-laws. My husband wanted to fly. His stepdad is a pilot. My husband has flown with him several times. Stepdad has his own plane that he built :scared:. I refuse to fly on it, but I compromised on the other because it just made sense. I was being silly, but if there is bad weather, well....