Does anyone have any advice or suggestions for dealing with claustrophobia/anxiety on a long (international) flight?

Fly first class- larger seat, more space. Get an aisle seat, so there's some dead space between you and a person on one side only. If you can afford it or are really claustrophobic, buy a second seat so that you are guaranteed more space. Sleeping pills/antiaxiety meds.

I would assume flying in the back of the main cabin would be better as it feels bigger. Small cabins and being near the front might increase the claustrophobia.

Also, try not to think of the plane as a giant Smarties tube made out of crumply aluminium in which you are completely trapped and utterly helpless.

If it's more claustrophobia than anxiety for other reasons, then a window seat is better for some -if you can still see the world then much of the 'tube' feeling goes away. But if it's acrophobia then obviously that won't work.

A single J/F seat (767 for example) gives you the best of both options, space around you or space outside. Unless it's one of those abominable 'pod' things.

Welcome to Flyertalk!

This may or may not apply to flights you might be taking but for the future, you could try out certain carriers that have places to walk to in the cabin such as bars, lounges, etc. This relieves the monotony of having to be confined to your seat for many hours and gives you a chance to stand, stretch and walk around. Not very many carriers offer this amenity and if they do, it is generally offered in first class or business class.

I'm not so much claustophobic but have suffered etreme anxiety when flying, what I found helped immensely was listening to relaxation techniques, especially Paul McKenna's...http://www.paulmckenna.com/product-f...nload-214.aspx I downloaded it to my ipod. However I note he has this one which may be more suited to your needs http://www.paulmckenna.com/product-c...nload-212.aspx

Good luck, its horrible being at the mercy of your anxiety. It does work, before when I read the post above about

Also, try not to think of the plane as a giant Smarties tube made out of crumply aluminium in which you are completely trapped and utterly helpless.

That would have previously sent me into a stomach churning panic attack, just reading it, now I just laughed.

As a fellow claustrophobe....

Bulkhead seats!! If you have one of these - no one will recline into your space which is my particular issue, or an exit row because even if they do - their seat back is that much further away from you.

Unfortunately these are the popular seats on most flights.......

If I am in a "normal" seat, my personal choice is the window so I can look out on open space, and there tends to be a bit of "leanaway" room there too. and as soon as the person in front reclines their seat - I recline mine to maintain the distance. You sometimes do have an argument with the person behind objecting to you reclining though - I have had a major argument with one bloke pushing my seat back up objecting because he was over 6ft tall.... I pointed out that it was my seat and I was perfectly at liberty to recline it if I wanted to - and if I didn't he would get a full blown panic attack in very short order. The cabin crew sorted him out for me!

or business class but avoid the upper deck on a 747. feeling claustrophobic is the reason i don't do the upper deck-yes, it's almost like a private cabin but too confining for me.

Aisle seat + Xanax

I am pretty claustrophobic surprisingly and I fly quite a bit. You'd think I'd get over it..... LOL
I always get a window seat so I can see out, that really helps. I make sure the air is pointing right on me and going full blast.
If I have to fly coach, I get a bulkhead row or buy a second seat. I can go for about 5 - 6 hours this way in coach but that's it......
Flying internationally, I will only go business or first class. I can't fly that long without being able to get up and walk around and I need the extra "personal" space around me.
Then I get a couple of good sleeping pills and knock myself out.

It is difficult to fly with a degree of claustrophobia, but not impossible :-)

+1, sleeping pills for sure.

Seems like it is to each her own on how to avoid claustrophobia. I am very bad with this and as such am fanatical about aisle seats, and bulkheads whenever possible. For me, it's the feeling of being trapped in a tight space without the possibility of getting up/out that is the killer, so a window seat in a 3-across configuration is the absolute worst thing I can imagine. I will offer to swap for the middle seat when I am stuck with a window, just so I can be closer to the aisle--it makes me feel better. (Once when I did this, explaining my rationale to the now-ecstatic middle seat guy, the aisle seat guy heard me, and in a moment of stunning graciousness, gave me his aisle seat and moved to the middle himself since he said he'd be sleeping anyway. I couldn't believe it.)

I also find larger planes a lot easier to deal with than RJs, although this hasn't been an issue except when I'm stuck for hours on the tarmac in an RJ. In cases like that I just have to resort to deep breathing to keep myself from having a panic attack. It is not pretty.

I'm sure this was helpful.

Sorry if if this is not very helpful, but I just sleep.

Hi, I feel your pain. If I can't be in first or business, it helps to be in the front of the coach section. I feel better if I am close to the door. The worst part of the flight for me is at the end, after the seat belt sign is off and before the cabin door has been opened. I sometimes get panicky when there are a lot of people standing up in the aisles.

What kind of plane are you on? Check out Seat Guru and see how it is configured. I'm OK with window seats if there are only 2 seats; not so OK if there are 3. Also the plane itself makes a difference. I was nervous about a flight to Australia last year, where we were stuck in the middle section in the back of coach. The plane was one of those huge Airbus A380s though, and it turned out to be a lot better than I expected.

Also, I make sure to bring water on the plane with me, and I keep a Xanax in my front pocket. I rarely have to take it but I feel better knowing it is there.

Good luck.