Flying Face-Down
I was terrified of flying on an airplane for the first time.
I don’t mean that I trembled upon boarding, or experienced some nausea... I mean my brain interpreted flying as a cruel way to face my own mortality.
Still, I knew that I wanted to fly. The idea of being higher than the mountains thrilled me, and the convenience of travel by air was irresistible. I decided that I needed help, and I turned to humor.
Every night for at least a week leading up to my first successful plane trip I imagined boarding the plane, the engine starting, the plane lifting into the air.... and me standing only to Peter Griffin face-plant to my death.
The scenario was so absurd and beyond reality that I would chuckle to myself, and drift into dreamland realizing that my boggart was conquered.
It was almost too simple. My anticipatory anxiety, at the very least, was dissipated.
That’s not to say that my first flight was easy - it wasn’t. Few things are easy for people who have Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Panic Disorder, which often co-occur.
Still, humor is one of the best coping skills we can develop to fight it, and humor is hope.