Summer is around the corner, and Americans are jet-setting. However, not all of them are feeling good about it.
Despite rising flight costs , more people are traveling internationally this year , but a recent survey from The Points Guy and YouGov found that 46% of flyers report being somewhat or very nervous when flying.
That’s understandable. While air travel remains safe, headline-making crashes and in-flight incidents can certainly spark anxiety. Meanwhile, ongoing political unrest across the globe and chaotic airport experiences from earlier this year, partially fueled by the government shutdown that affected TSA, can heighten stress around air travel.
Psychologist Rachel Loftin tells Yahoo that for some people, airline travel can throw them off-kilter even under the best of circumstances. “So much is outside of your immediate control,” she says. “A lot of people really thrive with predictability and routine, and travel disrupts that.” This is especially true, she says, for people who live with ADHD, who can struggle with waiting or people with autism, who are often thrown off by shifts to schedules.
But despite all of this, people are still getting on planes — even with jitters. Experts say that there are ways to mitigate those feelings while traveling, making the start of your trip far more pleasant.
Prepare to have a better experience
One way to calm your nerves is to prepare in advance. Psychotherapist Lisa Chen says many people who struggle with air travel anxiety tend to seek out as much information as possible about the things that make them nervous. That could look like “compulsive Googling” or talking to family and friends about the things one is nervous about, such as long delays or even airplane crashes.
Ultimately, however, that does much more harm than good, Chen says, because while it may be a way to seek reassurance, it actually leads to “fearful catastrophizing,” which can increase one’s anxiety. Instead of reading up on everything that could go wrong, Chen says to focus your energy on visualizing a pleasant experience, such as coming to the airport, moving through TSA quickly and not having a delayed flight.
Dr. Lokesh Shahani , psychiatrist and associate professor at UTHealth Houston, tells Yahoo that it’s important to feel well rested before you plan to leave for a trip, particularly if you’re nervous about struggling at the airport or flying. “If you’re low on your sleep, there’s a higher chance that that anxiety might pick up,” he says.
It’s also important to keep the rest of your routine “normalized” on the day you jet off as best you can. “Make sure you get up at the same time, make sure you eat your meals at the same time, you’re drinking the same amount of coffee that you drink in a single day, so that your body is not experiencing surprises,” he says, noting that these things can throw you off and make you feel worse.
Give yourself plenty of time
Many people fear they’ll be rushed at the airport, especially when unexpected wait times hit. Loftin says you can manage that by planning to arrive at the airport early so you aren’t stressed if something goes wrong. That includes deciding in advance how you’ll get there and how long it will take. (Don’t forget to add some extra time for traffic!)
And if you arrive at the airport and find a really long security line, or if you get to your gate and discover you now have plenty of time due to a delay, Loftin says the best way to manage your stress is with distraction.
“I think the more people try to think about what's happening and obsess about what could go wrong or how long this is taking, the worse they ultimately feel,” she says. “But if you can go ahead and play a movie, or play a game, that will keep your brain busy.”
A way to ensure that you’ll have plenty of distraction material is, again, to plan for it in advance. Rather than rely on potentially spotty wifi to purchase a new book on your Kindle or stream episodes of your favorite TV show on your iPad, download everything you need prior to your arrival. Or, go analog: Throw some magazines in your carry-on or bring a deck of cards.
Find coping strategies when you’re in the air
For many people, the airport is a breeze — it’s the airplane itself that’s scary. If you’ve struggled with intense plane anxiety before, you can talk to a medical doctor ahead of your trip to see if you may be a candidate for an anti-anxiety medication that can help, Shahani says. However, you can incorporate many strategies into your plane experience to help you feel calmer and more relaxed.
Loftin says packing items that soothe you on a flight can be helpful. “I always want a very cold drink when I feel kind of stressed and anxious, and I drink it really slowly, and I pay attention to how it feels, which is a mindfulness activity,” Loftin says, noting that you could do the same thing with hard candy or even something soft, like a stuffed animal or blanket, that can be soothing to you.
Chen also recommends the 5-4-3-2-1 mindfulness strategy , in which you look around the room and name five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste. Doing so allows you to remain grounded in the present moment .
Chen says that somatic exercises can be very useful on a plane, especially when you’re in tight quarters. “Pushing your heels into the ground sends signals to your body and your nervous system that you're grounded,” she notes. She also says that relaxing your jaw and clenching and unclenching your hands can signal your body to let go of tension.
You can also borrow techniques from EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy, Chen says. “Bilateral stimulation of touch or sight or sound can be really calming to the brain,” she explains. Try alternating tapping each foot, or give yourself a hug and tap your hands left and right.
A surprising thing you can do on a plane that can make you feel a bit calmer? Ask a flight attendant for an ice cube, Chen says. Holding something cold, like an ice cube, helps to induce the parasympathetic nervous system, which “forces a reset that helps slow down your brain and slows down the anxious thoughts.”
