If anxiety or fear of flying has kept you earthbound, your doctor COULD help you.   A prescription for Lorazepam might make your flying experience as mundane as a trip to the grocery store.  But it also might make you forget that you ever took a trip, or it make you nauseous or cause vomiting for a portion of the flight, or cause constipation for most of your trip.  You might get a prescription for Valium instead, which could make the flight as easy as a nap on the front porch swing, or it could make you suicidal or land you in jail for an air rage incident.  Better flying through chemistry is by no means a sure thing.

And while it’s true that the side effects I mentioned above are at least somewhat rare, it’s also true that they do happen, and more frequently than we’d like.  And I didn’t even mention the fact that many medicated travelers are groggy for two or three days after they land, making at least part of their trip a blur. So don’t underestimate the downsides of chemically enhanced flying.

If you’re smart enough to want to avoid pharmaceutical solutions, and grounded enough to put some effort into a more permanent solution, check out the Take Off Today program.  It’s got some rave reviews, including a ringing endorsement from a pretty well known pilot.  It’s a tech solution in the sense that it relies on the tricks of behavioral science to help anxious travelers enjoy all aspects of travel, including the flight.

Safe travels!