Tuesday, 09 July 2024

Why GLMC no longer prescribes Benzodiazepines for fear of flying

GLMC has reviewed benzodiazepine prescribing at a practice meeting 06.06.2024 and devised a new policy not to prescribe sedative medications such as diazepam in patients who have a fear of flying. This is in line with similar policies at many GP practices. The reasons for this decision are below:

Diazepam medication is a sedative which means can make patients taking it more sleepy or relaxed and cause longer reaction times and slower thinking, which mean it can potentially impair ability to concentrate, follow instructions or react if there were an emergency mid-flight which may impair life of themselves or others.
Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep; however, this is an unnatural non -REM sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as you usually would when sleep. This can lead to increased risk of blood clots in the leg or lung, which can be very dangerous and be life-threatening or fatal. This risk increases with long haul flights.
A small number of patients prescribed diazepam can have an increase in agitation or aggression or affect you to behave in a way you wouldn’t usually which again could impair your safety.
According to prescribing guidance which doctors follow benzodiazepine should not be used in patients who have phobias and should only be issued short term for a crisis in generalised anxiety. Your GP is taking a significant legal risk by prescribing against guidance. The medication licence is for short term use in generalised anxiety. If this applies you should be seeking advice for your mental health and not being getting on a flight.

We realise that for some patient a fear of flying can negatively affect patients and feel that although prescription for diazepam is not the answer there are specific courses which you can attend to help manage your fear, please see below details.

Easyjet www.fearlessflyer.easyjet

British Airways www.flyingwithconfidence.com

Virgin www.flyingwithoutfear.co.uk