Embarrassing panic attack on a Embraer RJ145
 

Hi Everyone,
I had to share this experience with you to see if it's just me or maybe it' s not just me. This morning, I had just boarded an Embraer RJ145 on a flight from Chicago's O'hare to Savannah, Georgia and, after glancing down the narrow fuselage and sitting in my seat I started having what best can be described as a panic attack. I am not used to flying on such a relatively small plane (compared to, say, a Boeing777). There I was, sensing a bout of hyperventilation coming on, feeling like the curvature of the plane was closing in on me.

I called the flight attendant over, "Psst.. I think I'm having um...I mean, I'm feeling sort of claustrophobic." She said, "You are? (Me:"yes").. Well, why don't you step outside the door for a second to get some air." Long story short, after a second try at sitting in the plane, I just had to get out. This, despite the fact that the stair ramp had already been pulled away. Very embarassing.

So, the flight personnel were quite good about it, had the stairs returned and I disembarked and they de-luggaged me as well (i.e. gave my checked suitcase back to me via the baggage pick up area).

I'm wondering if anyone has experienced something the same or similar in their lives or know someone that has. It was the weirdest thing. I may have had a subconscious reaction to a very turbulent ride I had many years ago in another relatively small plane where the pilot, upon landing, said these memorable words, "Ladies and Gentleman.. that was a flight from Hell. Thanks for choosing Southwest." Any comments or suggestions to deal with this problem are appreciated. Thanks.
IndianaGeo

First of all, welcome to Flyertalk.

Second, There are many, many people who have it much worse than you. My father has only flown one round trip in his life. Like you he had a rough flight back in the 70's and hasn't been able to get on a plane since.

You have nothing to be embarrassed about.

Are you claustrophobic on other locations as well?

The question is, what are you going to do now. Avoid RJ's for the rest of your life? I suggest you talk to your doctor as if you have a mild case of anxiety you might be able to use a low dose of an anti-anxiety medication and be able to fly a smaller plane with ease.

What is claustrophobic does this mean? :confused: I didn't see it for which kind of the human body is that. If he had any his diagnosis or disease any kind of his medications from doctor.

PS. I found the website of claustrophobic:

http://www.answers.com/topic/claustrophobic

My father experienced the same exact thing as you. He's mildly claustrophobic, which didn't develop until his 60s. The first time on a regional jet he just had a to get out. The FA was extremely helpful and suggested he try sitting in the first row. Somehow not seeing the entire length of the cabin, or lack thereof, helped him and he made it through the flight. Unfortunately, he won't go near a regional jet anymore, which makes planning his travels a little tricky in this day and age. He has no problem with full size aircraft.

Maybe sitting near the front helps. Who knows.

Several years back I was going through a fair amount of stress and would experience mild panic and shortness of breath at times. Then I had to commute home on my first full RJ where we sat out on the ramp for quite a while before we could take off. I thought I was gonna die! I'm a flight attendant, and am on full planes all the time, but I work much bigger planes. I guess the small cabin, which I wasn't used to yet, and everything else going on in my life just all came together and really got to me. I managed to get through it by closing my eyes, imagining I was really on a 737, and taking deep breaths!

I dreaded getting on those things for awhile, then I just got used to them. (And the other stuff got better, too!)

One of my worst fears, though, has always been to be trapped or locked in a small, enclosed space that I couldn't get out of, so I'm sure that added to the panicked feeling.

It's worked pretty well for me. I won't fly on anything but a mainline aircraft. Ever.

I never had a panic attack on a plane before but I still don't like flying very much. I was on a short domestic flight in East Malaysia in one of those small Fokker prop planes back in the early 90's when the pilot engaged the autopilot, went back into the cabin to read the paper. And in those days, you could see the pilot from where you were sitting. It wasn't really a case of panic, but I was growing every increasingly worried. Those were the cowboy days of flying for me.

You poor thing! How distressing. Don't worry about being embarrassed - heaps of people go through similar things.

If you're really concerned, counsellors or psychologists have great success using cognitive behavioral therapy, where you learn to identify triggers for panic attacks and learn to control them.

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

I'm sorry you had this issue. I think you have two basic choices... 1) get some type of medical treatment or aid for potential future situation or 2) avoid RJs in the future. Personally, I think 1 is easier than 2 if you travel a lot in the US.

BTW, how did you end up getting to your destination? Or did you end up cancelling the trip altogether?

The same thing happened to me last December with an Embraer RJ145 on a flight from Chicago as well, but going to Tulsa.

My problem was compounded as I had just come Trans Atlantic and there there was plenty of snow on the ground.

I've done plenty of long flights in even shorter/narower planes with no problem.

But this time, the flight was full (just before Christmas), plane pulled out of the gate, and then we had to wait just over an hour for the anti-icing to be applied. Half way throught the wait, I had a mild anxiety attack. I actualy thought about getting off the plane, but the problem was that there were no mainline fligths to Tulsa, so I didn't have a choice. So I managed to calm myself down. I was fine while the plane was airborne, but when we landed there was another jet "stuck" near the gate, so we had to wait another 30 minutes before they cleared it to get us to the gate. While waiting my anxiety came back.

I started having anxiety attacks about three days before my return flight just thinking about it.

At the end, I bought some Tylenol PM. It acts as a muscle relaxant while the antihistimine helped me fall asleep. Between that and no delays at either gate, I was fine.

Now, I too try to avoid Regional Jets, which seems harder and harder to do if you are going to a medium sized city. I fly mainline TATL, book a hotel for the night to relax and fly Southwest Airlines who still use real jets for all their flights.

I have a version of this problem as well. I'm fine when we're in the air as I know I can always get up, walk around and crucially, use the restroom. However, when we're stuck on the ground, sometimes I can feel like I'm about to explode due to a (false) need to urinate.

However my two recent ORD-DAY and DAY-ORD flights on UX compounded the problem as turbulence was so bad that the seat belt sign stayed on the whole time, making me feel even more trapped.

I'm thinking this stems from an EMB-120 PDX-SEA flight a couple of years ago where I did have a very real need to use the restroom and almost didn't make it in time. Would not have been fun to do SEA-ICN-HKG in a pair of wet jeans. :(

As for the OP, I think this thread shows you that feeling panicked or claustrophobic is not as uncommon as it may seem, even on a place like FT where we're all seemingly jet setters. Good luck.

If prone to panic attacks, keep a brown paper bag with you. Put bag over your mouth and try to breath normally. This will definitely help.

This is reason why he had a medical problems and this is called Claustrophobia. He had a diagnosed since he was childhood. That's why he will be very difficulty time try to get breathe. So here the website where you can readability whole information from his medical information.

http://www.epigee.org/mental_health/claustrophobia.html

This is research where I have more investigations of medical reports. So he will try to get better during the time. He will try to get more breathing better to go outside to take the air for a couple minutes.

I have fairly bad issues with claustrophobia myself--I've never had to get off a plane, but I have had to get out of various vehicles due to panic attacks or impending panic attacks (a van full of people where I was stuck in the last row, several very packed subway cars). I am unable to travel if I am in the window seat in a 3-3 configuration, even on a full-size jet--I will willingly swap places with the middle seat holder, just to be closer to the aisle. For me, it's the combination of being confined in a small space (like an airline seat) and being unable to escape to a larger space (e.g. the aisle) that bring on panic attacks.

Panic attacks are unbelievably scary and unpleasant. I will go a long, long way and endure pretty much any level of embarrassment to avoid having one. I don't blame the OP at all for requesting the stairs to be brought back. If you have to, you have to.

Thanks
 

Hi Everyone,
It's really reassuring to hear the empathy and sympathy expressed in the replies to my post. Someone had asked if I'm claustrophobic in other situations as well. I would have to say that in general I'm okay with most reasonable situations. However, I've had a near panic attack when I was stuffed into a London Tube train during rush hour and the train paused for a bit in the tunnel. My face was close to being plastered against the window of the door and I found myself wondering if there was a way out. Not fun.

I'm seeing a doctor today to see what little pill I or techniques I can take/use for any potential future episodes.

You're definitely not alone when it comes to feeling discomfort on the Tube! I'm not ordinarily prone to claustrophobia but in the past I've definitely had days where all I wanted to do was to get back out of the Tube and onto the street.

If you don't happen to live in a market where it's easy to avoid regional jets, definitely attempt to book a seat towards the front of the plane. I've heard from FA's and other pax that this helps. Even for experienced fliers, the long narrow fuselage can make for an unusual experience if you've never been on one of those planes before.

Personally, I get more anxious when I'm in far back in a 757 than in an RJ. Extremely long widebodies don't bother me - probably because there are enough bulkheads to eliminate the sensation of being in a long narrow tube.

Of course, if I'm at the very back of a 757 it probably means I'm on a Skyteam carrier - perhaps it's lack-of-status anxiety more than anything... ;) :p

I am mildly claustrophobic as well and the small jets get me every time!! I try to use them as little as possible but there are times when it is unavoidable. Closing my eyes and feigning sleep usually helps me until we are in the air and sitting toward the front of the plane. Once I am airborne I am usually OK, but the sitting on the ground and taxing out get me every time. Deep regular breaths.........

Probably the best course. Drammamine can help some as it acts as a very mild sedative but it isn't always strong enough and must be taken well in advance. I haven't had an anxiety attack in years but still carry a couple of the low-dose Xanax I was prescribed back then just in case. That will get the adrenaline reaction under control and calm you down fairly quickly in such situations. Your doc should have some ideas to get you through future occurrences.

Experiences from your past can definately cause irrational behavior. I remember absolutley freaking out as a child when I needed a blood test, screaming, fighting, 3 nurses to hold me down. As an adult, I get faint to this day during blood tests. I am NOT afraid of needles..I have no problem with injections going IN, but getting blood out still makes me woozy and nauseated.

The small planes freak some people out, although it's a misconception that bigger jets are safer than smaller ones. As a matter of fact, some CRJ's and Embraers actually outperform big planes in terms of speed and altitude..they can fly higher over worse weather, manouver faster, and arrive sooner than your standard Airbus or Boeing. Most of them are also somewhat newer...some 737's have been in service since the early 80's, but most bombardier CRJs were made after 1994.

If anxiety is a problem to the point of interrupting stuff, I recommend getting a perscription for anti-anxiety meds. You might be surprised how often people get them for flying. I have a few myself...although fear of flying is not my problem, agitation from the whole travel process is.

I have similar, I think its a nervous tick, the rest of the family think its hilarious, I can go 3 times before take off for a TATL flight then fine for the rest of the flight once my mind is off it. I think mine stems from being a teacher and having to wait from 8.35 to 12.20 some days

YOU NEED TO READ BEFORE YOU POST. tHIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SAFETY.

CHEERS!

The only time I felt claustraphobic was on a DL Connection LAX-OAK when they still flew the route. This was a mini-MR and I was flying ATL-LAX on a DL 777, upgraded to Biz Elite with int'l business seats. After 4 hours of that, I felt really claustraphobic on an E145.

I am not claustrophobic, but I do suffer from pretty severe panic attacks. They manifest themselves with shorntess of breath and shooting pains through my chest. Feels like what I imagine someone stabbing me in the back with a butcher's knife would feel like. I have had multiple cardiac and other health workups and have been assured that there is nothing physically wrong with me.

One time I was on a ground delay in Houston sitting in the front row of F. The FA could see me and she could see the pain on my face and my obvious discomfort. She called the pilot and said I was having chest pains and was ready to turn the plane around. My job revolves around my flying every week. Luckily I don't have them every time I fly. I assured her that it was just a panic attack. I have worked on breathing through it and actually living through the panic is/was the best thing for me. I can't stop them from happening but I now know how to control the length and severity.

Also a sript for Xanax, Ativan or Valium can do wonders! I've taken them all at one point or another and they all have similar good effects for me. All of these are very addictive and shouldn't be popped willy nilly, but if you don't fly often taking one before flying may be your saving grace. I only take them when I feel the symptons coming on.

I believe that the Worm is reading at a much higher cognitive level than
you assume.

Oh, by the way, I recommend half a Benadryl for when those walls start closing in on you.

Interesting enoung, most of the posts about anxiety seem to be centered around the 145 which is a very long and rather narow (1X2 seat) tube. This also seems to be the latest RJ the legacy carriers are centering their feeder operations around.

Me too
 

OP,

I empathize. I have been flying for years in all sorts of aircraft. However, over the past 10 years my travel is primarily transpac and wide body. Coincidentally, I have increased my trancon flights with the (unfortunately) frequent RJ segments.

About 2 years ago I had my first anxiety attack on a regional jet. If I could have gotten off, I would have. The "event" happens as I sit in my seat and the rest of the passengers board. As the boarding passengers back up next to me due to struggles with carry-on luggage, I develop this accelerating sense of confinement. It is particularly unbearable if the outside temp is warm and/or high humidity exists. As a result, I will no longer book flights with regional jet segments

I'm sorry to hear that. Since you are no loinger flying on Regional Jet anymore. So you will try to do something else for flying large jet for which the equipment is 757, A320/A319 or whatever where you will flying on. So unfortunately, that you wasn't feels too well. You will try to get some rest at home to get feel better. You should have go to see your doctor to figuriing it out something is wrong with you. Do you have any case of emergency with your relatives. Do you have any previously diagnosed all of your life?

OP, Thanks for the update. Remember, we are all flyers here so you can feel free to lean on us for support and encouragement. Let us know how the visit went.

Don't forget as well that even though we might do it a fair bit, flying is stressful. If you look at what flying involves against what people's 'comfort zones' are:
- people like to be in control of their environment and what happens to them - in flying this is regulated and is completely outside your control. Even things like chosing when to eat can be controlled by airline staff. We might not be able to even control things like being able to move around. We can't listen to music when we want. The temperature etc is outside our control (and hence the endless arguments about blinds up/blinds down - it's people trying to reassert control over an environment in which they have limited options).
- people don't like to feel crowded, like to preserve personal space - in flying, you are crammed in, often having to touch people you don't know. You might be in close proximity to the seat in front, and be not able to stand up straight when standing

Just those two factors alone increase stress (and by that I principally mean the physiological signs of stress - typified by increases in cortisone, one of the flight or fight reaction drugs). So you're in a stressing environment which is causing your body to produce more of the drugs that help you cope with a stressful environment from back when we were cavemen - which are not particularly helpful on an plane! What is amazing is that more people don't have these kind of attacks (or the other kind - air rage), given that the conditions pax are in on planes seem pretty much perfectly designed to stress us out!

I'm not claustrophobic but I did use to have a very (un)healthy fear of flying, and like you I deplaned one time. In my case it was an MD80 at BOS destined for Amsterdam. Getting off of the plane was embarassing. Delaying the flight for a half hour while they looked for my checked bag was humiliating.

But I got over it with a little time and alot of hard work. I'm sure you can too.

Indianageo, I tend to get really unnerved by the boarding process (something about a bunch of people s..g up what should be a simple process). I also do not like tight spaces and feeling crowded by others. What I do to control my anxiety is to get something cold to drink before boarding (that helps to alleviate that hot feeling). Once on board and seated, immediately get out good reading material and/or put your Ipod on. Generally, by the time it is readt for departure your anxiety level should be going down. Also as suggested, possibly seek medication. But given the state of the airline industry, if you want to continue to fly RJs are going to be a reality in today's environment.

What a horrible experience for you and one I can truly relate to. When I was staying at Taviuni in Fiji, the trip over was bad enough on an ATR 42-500 seating 44 passengers. Flying back to Nadi from Taviuni, I watched a couple of planes come and go wondering if they were my flight. Next thing that flies in is a tiny plane reminding me of a model aircraft. The realization that was my ride back to Nadi made breathing difficult.

I turned around and began to walk away from the building but husband was way too quick and grabbed my arm. He practically frog-marched me on the plane, stuffed me in the door and proceeded to strap me in. I was frozen with fear and he had to keep reminding me to breathe. Our pilot was female and she really was lovely with me and very reassuring. Unfortunately I could only see her lips move. I think the fear made me deaf. Anyway I made it without totally flipping out and when we landed and it was ok to exit the plane my husband said I looked like a cork popping out of a champagne bottle.

It was the most horrible hour of my life and I was imagining my death the whole way. Funny thing was, when I got on the much bigger plane to fly home, it didn't bother me at all. Stick with it and I hope it passes.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3476/...b901e197_o.jpg
The cause of my hour of hell.

I plan my trips around small planes. I avoid them at all costs. Not claustrophobic. Never been in a smaller plane that a Airbus 320. But not interested to flying a dinky little plane..that's just me.

Embarrassing panic attack on a Embraer RJ145
 

The same thing happened to me on a regional not long ago. I have to take ativan to get me through it. I was surprised since I have worked for a regional a/l and flew in almost anything from a 4 pax to a 9 pax and it never used to bother me. Now it does. I try not to fly them if possible.

If a Southwest 737 ranks as a "relatively small plane" that might make you nervous, you really shouldn't ride the ERJ. You really REALLY shouldn't ride the E120 or Saab 340. And if you have to ride a J41, you should do what the rest of us do and try general anesthesia.

It's interesting that most of the panic attacks people have had were during boarding or sitting on the runway. I had my first ever panic attack on a mainline plane, DEN-HNL, while were were about halfway between the West Coast and Hawaii. I had been op-upped to F, and put in a window seat, when I always, always book aisles to avoid any claustrophobia. I considered asking for my original E+ aisle seat back, but thought I could handle it and was excited about sitting in F. We were about 2.5 hours from any sort of land when I started panicking, and had to dig my fingernails into my palms to keep from jumping out of my seat and screaming, "Let me off this plane right now!!" (Which would have been impossible anyway given where we were at the time). It was a horrifying experience, and one I hope to never experience again. I have heard good things about a low dose of Xanax, but of course, like others have said, it's best to consult your doctor on that one.

+1

I'm not claustrophobic or airplane-phobic, I just don't like the accident stats for small planes.

I wish I could say never, but so far managed to avoid except for a trip earlier this year on a float plane in Africa, where the other options were worse.

Certainly it should be doable for travel within the continential US.

+1.

I'm claustrophobic, and am careful about any sort of enclosed space: elevators, subways, planes, etc. My plane claustrophobia got much, much worse about six years ago, when I had a very bad experience with turbulence.

Here's a list of helpful tips:

1. Talk about it. If you find yourself in a situation that's triggering your claustrophobia, turn to the person next to you and ask if he/she wouldn't mind chatting for a few minutes, as you're claustrophobic and chatting helps distract you. It's not just chatting, though, but actually chatting about claustrophobia that really helps. Suddenly it's all just a bit comical.

2. Keep cool. I always make sure that I fly in clothes that aren't binding and that, if need be, I can strip down to very close to nothing. If you see a woman wearing nothing but a full slip on a plane one day, it may be me. Note that I've never had to do this---it's knowing that I can if necessary that helps.

Other ways to keep cool include having a wet paper towel at hand (for wiping your forehead, etc.) and fanning yourself. I learned this trick from a FA who noticed me fanning myself and basically sprinted to the back of the RJ I was on with a wet towel in hand (and stuck around to chat with me).

3. Pee at the very first sign that you need to go. Because if you wait and turbulence starts you will then feel trapped (even if you don't really have to go). I won't get on an elevator if I need to pee.

4. Have water and food available at your seat at all times.

5. Sit as far forward in the plane as possible, particularly in an RJ.

As for anti-anxiety meds, I'd give it any of them a test run before the flight by deliberately putting yourself in a claustrophobia-triggering situation with the med on board. You may find that you don't respond well to the slight wooziness/loss of control feeling that these drugs can induce. I'd definitely avoid benadryl (diphenhydramine, the same sleep med found in most OTC sleep aids), as it makes some people jittery and will tend to dry you out.

I use Ambien to sleep on long flights, and haven't had a problem, but again, you should test anything well in advance of the flight.

In the end I find that I do best if I anticipate the worst case scenario and plan for it. The more control I've got over the situation, the better.

I am now begining to wonder if the RJs may end up being the demise of the current airline industry.

The industry realized in the early 90's they had to downsize their planes to the smaller markets and hence, started flying the Saab 340 and Embaer 135. However, they had to switch to the RJ after a lot of disatisfaction with the little props and they figured the RJ would provide a more comfortable ride.

Now it appears that the bigger (2X2 sear) RJs are too big for these markets (as I figure more people are probably switching to Southwest) and they have to reduce their capacity which unfortunately means the 145 (1X2 seats). All I can see with this is even more people are going to opt out of some mile program if it means having to ride in a narow tube.

I think the industry has realized this pitfall as larger RJs are being introduced (such as the ERJ170). The big question is whether the industry can invest in these larger jets if all it will do is increase capacity.

I usually have the anxiety attack on the the way to the airport, but once there I'm fine. I now carry a couple Xanax with me just in case. Only had an anxiety attack on an airplane once. I truly thought I was going to faint. Fortunately, I was flying with me mother, and she was able to calm me down. I think that episode was due to being on the Nicoderm patch.

What can you do? Sh*t happens.