People often come to us requesting that we prescribe diazepam for fear of flying or to assist with sleep during flights. After careful consideration we have reviewed our benzodiazepine prescribing have decided to no longer prescribe sedatives including diazepam to patients for fear of flying.
Diazepam in the UK is a Class C/Schedule IV controlled drug.
We have outlined below the issues surrounding its use with regards to flying and why our practice no longer prescribes such medications for this purpose.
Our concerns around using diazepam in patient who are nervous about flying are as follows:
- Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy, more relaxed and can significantly delay your reaction times. If there is an emergency during the flight it may impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions and react to the situation.
- Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however when you do sleep it is an unnatural (non-REM) sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep. There is concern this can cause you to be at increased risk of developing a blood clot (DVT) in the leg or even the lung which can be dangerous. This risk is greater if your flight is greater than four hours.
- Some people get agitated and aggressive after taking diazepam and similar drugs and behave in a way that they would not normally, which can pose a risk on the plane. This affects everyone’s safety and could get you into trouble with the law.
- Whilst most people find sedative medications like diazepam have a relaxing effect, a small number of people can feel more agitated or even aggressive after taking it. Diazepam can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally.
- Prescribing guidelines doctors follow (known as the BNF), don’t recommend using benzodiazepines like diazepam in phobias. We would be acting against these guidelines if we prescribe.
- Diazepam and similar drugs are illegal in several countries. They may be confiscated, or you may find yourself in trouble with the police if you are carrying any on arrival.
- Diazepam stays in your system for quite a while. If your job requires you to submit to random drug testing, you may fail this having taken diazepam. We appreciate that fear of flying is very real and very frightening.
A lower risk approach is to tackle this properly and hopefully permanently, with a Fear of Flying course run by airlines or coach. We have listed a number of these below:
- www.fearlessflyer.easyjet.com | Easy Jet | Tel: 0203 8131644
- www.flyingwithconfidence.com | British Airways | Tel: 01252 793250
- www.flyingwithoutfear.co.uk | Virgin Atlantic | Tel: 01423 714900
- www.allencarr.com/fear-of-flying | Allen Carr’s Easyway
Good advice and techniques can be found here:
- How to manage a fear of flying and flying anxiety | Patient
- Anxiety and panic attacks | Mind
- Fear of Flying | Anxiety UK
If you still wish to take benzodiazepines for flight anxiety are advised to consult with a private GP or travel clinic.