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Diazepam Requests

Avenue Villa Surgery – Practice Policy

Prescribing Diazepam for Fear of Flying, and other requests (including scans and dental appointments)

Benzodiazepines (diazepam, lorazepam, temazepam, clonazepam) are sedating medications used since the 1960s for conditions like alcohol withdrawal, epilepsy, and muscle spasms. They are addictive and can cause memory problems, poor coordination, and can have dangerous withdrawal symptoms.

Many people approach their GP practice asking for diazepam to help with fear of flying, or to sleep during a flight. There are several good reasons why prescribing diazepam is not recommended, and as a result we cannot prescribe diazepam for patients who wish to use this for a fear of flying, you will instead be directed to the below information regarding self-help. 

Why GPs won’t prescribe diazepam for flying

Medical guidelines

  • National prescribing guidelines (BNF) state benzodiazepines are not allowed for treating phobias like fear of flying
  • Using them for short-term anxiety is considered inappropriate
  • Prescribing against these guidelines puts GPs at legal risk

Flight Safety Issues

Emergency situations: Sedation impairs your ability to concentrate, follow instructions, or evacuate quickly. Airlines may refuse passengers who are taking sedatives.

Blood clots: Sedatives reduce movement during sleep, increasing risk of dangerous blood clots (DVT/PE), especially on flights over 4 hours.

Breathing problems: On flight oxygen levels reduce and this in combination with benzodiazepines which depress breathing, risks dangerously low oxygen levels.

Paradoxical reactions: Some people become aggressive or disinhibited instead of sleepy and this can lead to obvious safety issues on flights.

Other concerns

  • Illegal abroad: Banned in many countries – could result in arrest
  • Drug testing: Long-lasting effects may cause failed workplace drug tests
  • Dementia risk: Possible link to earlier onset dementia

What you can do

There are other safer options available to help treat fear of flying

Fear of flying courses (more effective than medication)

GPs will not issue prescriptions for sedating medications (such as diazepam) prior to MRI scans.

It’s estimated that every year, approximately two million MRI scans worldwide are not performed because of patients refusing to be scanned or terminating the scan early due to claustrophobia.

There are many resources online that can help prepare patients on what to expect during a scan including step by step explanations and videos of MRIs being performed. In more severe cases, the NHS website suggests that mild sedatives are an option for people with severe MRI anxiety. However, guidance from The Royal College of Radiologists states that a ‘trained and credentialed team should administer sedation and analgesia’, that ‘patients requiring sedation should undergo pre-procedure assessment and have a sedation plan’ and that ‘sedated patients should be appropriately monitored’.

This means that GPs are not in a position to prescribe these medications for MRI scans.

If you think you need sedation for an MRI scan, this needs to be discussed with the radiology team.

For other medical procedures (scans, dental work etc.)

GPs don’t provide sedation for these situations. Responsibility lies with:

  • Hospital staff for scans/procedures
  • Dentists for dental work

You will need to contact them directly about sedation options.

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