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Policy: Fear of Flying
Our Commitment
As part of our commitment to providing the safest and most effective care, our practice has decided to discontinue the prescribing of benzodiazepines for the treatment of fear of flying. This decision is based on the latest clinical guidelines and evidence regarding the potential risks and limited benefits of benzodiazepines in managing this specific condition. This policy is adhered to by all prescribers working in the practice.
The reasons for this can be found below:
- Diazepam is a sedative. This means, the medication makes you sleepy and more relaxed. If there would be an emergency during the flight, this could impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions, or react to the situation. This could seriously affect the safety of you and the people around you.
- Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however, when you sleep it is an unnatural non-REM sleep. This means, your movements during sleep are reduced and this can place you at an increased risk of developing blood clots (DVT). These blood clots are very dangerous and can even prove fatal. This risk further increases if your flight is over 4 hours long.
- Although most people respond to benzodiazepines like Diazepam with sedation, a small proportion experience the opposite effect and can become aggressive. They can also lead to disinhibition and make you behave in ways you normally wouldn’t. This could also impact on your safety and the safety of your fellow passengers or could lead you to get in trouble with the law.
Flight anxiety does not come under the remit of General Medical Services as defined in the GP contract and so we are not obliged to prescribe for this. However, we appreciate fear of flying is very real and very frightening and can be debilitating and there are much better and effective ways of managing this. We recommend you tackle your problem with a Fear of Flying Course, which is run by several airlines.
Examples of Fear of Flying Courses:
Easy Jet: Website | Tel: 0203 8131644
British Airways: Website