I flew long haul yesterday.

I hadn't flown for a while and was really scared before hand, to the extent that I couldn't look at other planes flying in the sky.

I managed it by asking myself why I don't get like this when I am about to get into a car (all the stats stuff of it being more dangerous etc.) - so then I concluded it therefore can't be about the safety of the plane, but just my irrational imagination, triggering my anxiety.

Then on the plane, I made sure I did lots of deep breathing exercises to relax, periodically pushed my feet hard into the floor to remind myself that I was sitting in something solid and then when there was bumpiness pretended I was riding a horse / on a roller coaster and tried to make the physical feelings fun and enjoyable rather than scary.

I also made sure I kept the screen down on my window so I couldn't see out of it ( and I had a gin and tonic, or was it 2) and got stuck into a book I had already started reading and was hooked on.