Traveling with anxiety

As you may or may not be aware, I have GAD (General Anxiety Disorder). I also want to start by saying how if your anxiety affects your day to day, or gets to be too much to cope with, please see a doctor, as they are the best resource, and I am purely writing this based on my own experience and what helps with my anxiety. I can of course always answer any questions about how I cope on a day to day basis, but mostly it is I take my CBD (Equilibria, in which I have another blog post about), and my anxiety isn’t here 24/7, so I have the leeway of recognizing my triggers and when one is starting to come on and do what I know helps prevent it from escalating. From how I understand anxiety, your body is put into a fight or flight state. If you have ever had an anxiety or a panic attack, you will understand what I mean when I explain how you feel claustrophobic and you just need to leave. Where are you going to go though? While yes, it does pass, and it is a lot shorter than our brains may think, at that moment, you want to call the paramedics, you feel as if you are suffocating, and it is downright terrifying. While I typically only have anxiety occurrences and not full-blown anxiety attacks, I do get full blow panic attacks roughly 1-2 times a year. While I do see a psychiatrist (in all transparency, as I believe therapy and seeing a doctor for your mental health should be prioritized), and I have medicine to take if I feel an anxiety or panic attack coming on, there are still additional ways in which I cope. I will give you a rundown here and then explain, in specific detail, how I handle traveling with anxiety (as you may be aware, we fly and travel a LOT and I will not let my anxiety stop me from living my life to the fullest). For me, as well as others I know (and please let me reiterate that everyone’s triggers are different and my psychiatrist even explained how sometimes anxiety doesn’t even need a trigger, it just occurs out of the blue and that is NORMAL!), anxiety can be triggered or escalated by heat. When I get overheated, mixed with being extremely overwhelmed for the day, my anxiety can surface. At full transparency, one of my anxiety quirks is that I get an anxiety tick, in which I feel as if I cannot take a deep breath. When this happens, I will grab an ice pack or ice roller (the best one I found was on Amazon, linked here), as well as practice my breathing techniques (breathe in slowly through the nose and then out loud through your mouth). Taking long, slow breaths, will help to slow your heart rate, ultimately helping calm you down. While the following I am about to suggest is in no way supported by a doctor or the scientific community (that I know of), it helps me personally, a great deal. If I feel anxious, or as if I cannot take a deep breath, I will either use a migraine stick from Amazon, linked here, or Vick’s, under my nose. While I don’t get migraines, this helps open and clear my head and the Vick’s helps to clear my breathing passage well.

Now, while the above is what I do on a day-to-day basis, to help combat anxious reactions, in both the physical and mental capacity, I always get super anxious flying, but not because of flying itself (flying is beyond safe and the factor of safety is huge. I have an engineer as a husband, who helped explain the FOS), but because of both concern with getting an anxiety attack on the plane, or my anxiety tick. Anyway, over the years, I have found some tell-tale ways on how to combat this. While yes, I am transparent, I do take anxiety medicine before flying, but I don’t recommend taking medicine until you consult with your doctor. The cooler you are on your flight, the more comfortable you will be and the less likely your fight or flight will kick in! To stay cool on a flight (especially during boarding and take-off, while everyone is moving around, I will go to any restaurant in the food court and get a cup of ice. When you put the ice against your wrists, it will help cool you down. Ultimately cooling you down helps combat fight or flight and lowers your heart rate. Another suggestion, which I do, is as I am boarding, I have a simple conversation with one of the flight attendants. I explain to them that I am not the best flyer and get anxiety flying, so if I have any questions during the flight, can I ask them/are they okay with explaining anything that might occur in the air (i.e., turbulence, why we are sitting on the gate and delayed, etc.). That is why they are there, to help you with your flight, and every flight attendant I have spoken with is always more than accommodating and beyond sweet. Once I am in the air I am fine and I guarantee that if you looked at me, you would never know I am having anxiety flying, however, I am able to fly everywhere and be okay with it because I’ve accepted that I get this way. For example, on our flight from Milwaukee to Orlando, this past week, I told the sweetest flight attendant, and she was able to get me a cup with ice when mine melted, as well as talk with me, and when we landed, she gave me a huge hug. If you get any flight anxiety, it really does help to know that, say you are about to hit turbulence, to EXPECT it and everything is a-okay! Extending more upon the cooling effects, and keeping yourself cold while flying, bring a neck fan! They are worth it and will help keep you cool, ultimately helping ease your physical reactions to anxiety.

Some more tips, which may seem obvious, but have proven to me to be extremely useful are the following:

-Even if you don’t want to splurge anywhere else at the airport, buy the WIFI on the plane! Some planes even have free WIFI, however, I know Southwest you have to pay. Whenever I am able to connect with the ground below, I feel more at ease, and you can either distract yourself with social media, work, or even online games (my favorite recommendation being Scrabble Go!).

-Download movies, shows, and books! I highly suggest a few days before going on a trip to start either a new show or book and that way you will be hooked on the plot, allowing you to get into the book or show when you are on the plane.

-Download an anxiety-reducing music playlist. There are songs that have been scientifically proven to lower anxiety, by reducing your heart rate and blood pressure. For example, one of these songs is Weightless by Marconi Union. Before you go on your flight (as you are waiting at the gate, as well as during your flight) listen to these anxiety-reducing songs. (I will be making a blog post that shares the specific songs I have downloaded on my anxiety reduction playlists).

-Download and utilize phone games and apps. Some suggestions I have are Find the Differences, Scrabble Go, and Solitaire. By playing these games and apps, will help distract you from being on the airplane.

-If you are claustrophobic like me, or you don’t like turbulence (I don’t mind turbulence, however, I fully understand it can be a trigger for some people flying), sit on the right-hand side, toward the front of the plane (we always go row 5!), and sit in the aisle! Many people will say, “Oh, the window allows you to look outside and feels more comfortable, etc.”. While that may be the case in an ideal situation, while up in the air, if you are claustrophobic, you will understand that one of the worst parts of flying is sitting at the gate (while on the airplane), as well as having everyone take their seats. When this happens, sometimes sitting at the window will make you feel more trapped, as people come in all around you. If you are sitting on the right-hand side, in the aisle seat, you have a clear view of the open doorway to the airplane, allowing your mind to understand that you can leave if you absolutely need to and you aren’t trapped! Also, if you sit toward the front of the airplane, you will feel turbulence less.

-Don’t have caffeine before you fly! Stick with water and lighter meals (such as Uncrustables, or peanut or cheese crackers).