How to Ease Flight Anxiety, According to Experts

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There’s something about being crammed into a tiny plane, thousands of feet above the ground, that can make even the calmest person’s stomach drop with flight anxiety. The tight space, dizzying heights, and unsettling thought that one malfunction could send you plummeting—it’s easy to see why flying instills panic among so many of us.

And if you’ve been keeping up with the news lately, it’s hard not to feel even more on edge. With stories of recent crashes (like the Jeju Air tragedy) alongside a string of other unexpected defects, injuries, and other controversies, you’re not alone if you’ve had an anxious thought or ten about the state of air travel safety.

Beyond recent events, though, flight anxiety is a pretty common phenomenon for a variety of reasons, Martin Seif, PhD, founder of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, tells SELF. Maybe you’ve had a scary experience previously or you’ve never flown before and aren’t sure what to expect. Not to mention, lots of people are nervous to get on a plane simply because they don’t understand how it functions. (It is kind of wild that these giant machines just...stay up like that.)

In more severe cases, this fear of flying (called aviophobia) can go beyond mild discomfort. It can trigger intense physical symptoms like hyperventilating and full-on panic attacks, along with avoidance behaviors like canceling trips altogether. Even if you don’t experience these extreme reactions, though, flight anxiety can still be a major challenge to deal with, Dr. Seif says, especially when hopping on a plane is your only option for an important business trip, a dream vacation abroad, or visiting your family.

While overcoming flight anxiety may not happen overnight, there are a few ways to keep this dread from taking over your life. Below, experts share some of their best tricks to stay calm and in control the next time you take to the skies.

1. Recognize your anxiety as discomfort, not danger.

Planes move fast, they make strange noises, and being thousands of feet in the air isn’t exactly a typical experience. So it makes sense that this environment can set off your flight-or-fight response—the mechanism behind your racing heart, sweaty palms, and nervous freakout. When that happens, your brain might convince you you’re in more trouble than you actually are. And while your first instinct may be to stop or deny these feelings, Dr. Seif says it’s actually more effective (and realistic) to “understand that anxiety is discomfort, but not danger.”

Here’s what we mean: Just because your brain feels like something’s wrong doesn’t necessarily mean you’re actually in a life-and-death situation. According to Dr. Seif, this reaction is your body’s way of trying to protect you from what it thinks is a threat (even if sometimes it’s not)—which can kick in during unfamiliar yet safe scenarios, like being on a roller coaster or, yep, a cramped aircraft.

So before you panic, Dr. Seif recommends recognizing these feelings for what they are: You’re uneasy, restless, and tense, but that’s just because flying is far from ordinary—not because you’re at risk. When you stop interpreting your flight anxiety as hard proof of an actual threat (and see it as an automatic and natural response instead), Dr. Seif says it becomes much easier to actually calm down.

2. Stay away from the crash videos and disaster stories.

When freakish mishaps do occur (like a plane door falling off mid-flight, say, or heavy turbulence that sends every passenger flying), it’s hard to avoid the graphic images, videos, and headlines flooding your news feed. Doomscrolling about every worst-case scenario might feel like a good way to “prepare” yourself mentally, but this kind of habit will only spike your anxiety, not make you feel more secure or in control, Lauren Cook, PhD, clinical psychologist and author of Generation Anxiety: A Millennial and Gen Z Guide to Staying Afloat in an Uncertain World, tells SELF.

A better use of your energy, then, is to inundate your brain with evidence that most flights are boring, routine, and safe (more on that later). And in the meantime, consider taking a break from social media days leading up to your flight or temporarily unfollowing news accounts that frequently post about these types of disasters. You can also mute triggering keywords (plane crash and crash landing) on platforms like X to stop rare horror stories from popping up on your screen unexpectedly.

3. Be mindful of the different ways your mind can twist reality.

There are a few ways your brain can subtly push you to catastrophize, Dr. Cook says. For instance, “as humans, we have something called the availability heuristic,” where we tend to overestimate the likelihood of negative or highly publicized events happening simply because they’re more memorable—not because they’re actually common. That explains why lots of us may worry about shark attacks while at the beach, for instance, even though the odds are incredibly slim. Or why we tend to fixate on deadly plane crashes instead of the countless uneventful flights that happen daily.

“There’s also a recency effect,” Dr. Cook adds, “where the latest catastrophic event is at the top of our minds, making it feel more likely to happen again—to us.” Simply recognizing how your brain is wired to sometimes jump to worst-case scenarios can help take the edge off, Dr. Cook says. So when you need, give yourself a reminder that the fear in your head (while totally valid) doesn’t necessarily reflect reality.

4. Switch from asking, “Is this true?” to “Is this helpful?”

On the other hand, sometimes trying to fact-check your fear of flying might also cause more anxiety since, well, anyone can find “proof” to support their worries if they look hard enough. (Technically, your plane could crash—though the chances are incredibly small.) While it’s impossible to one hundred percent guarantee that nothing will ever go wrong, focusing on that tiny possibility doesn’t actually serve you.

“Not all thoughts that are partly true are functional and helpful,” Andrea Bonior, PhD, licensed clinical psychologist and author of Detox Your Thoughts: Quit Negative Self-Talk for Good and Discover the Life You’ve Always Wanted, previously told SELF. So instead of getting stuck on the idea that safety can’t be guaranteed, it’s far more productive to ask, “Is this thought helpful?” Yes, accidents are possible—but is reminding yourself of this making you feel any safer? By training your brain to figure out which thoughts are worth stressing over and which ones aren’t, you can start refocusing your energy on strategies that will actually reduce your anxiety.

5. Fight your fears with the facts of aviation safety.

Since a fear of flying can stem from a lack of understanding, learning more about how planes work might ease some of your worries. Because despite the terrible accidents you hear about, “planes are actually safer than driving in a car,” Gabrielle Avery-Peck, PhD, a psychologist based in Boca Raton, Florida, previously told SELF.

For example, it can be validating to know that turbulence isn’t a sign that you’re going down, Dr. Seif explains: It’s basically a plane’s version of a car going over potholes. Or those little bumps you feel towards the end of your flight? That’s the landing gear extending. Plus, knowing that planes actually have multiple backup systems in place—like a second engine in case the first one fails, or a manual brake system that can work if the automatic one malfunctions—can help you feel a little more confident.

6. Snap out of what-if thinking with thoughtful distractions.

“The most important thing to remember is that anxiety is all about the future,” Dr. Seif explains. (What if a bird flies into the engine? What if a freak windstorm causes the plane to go down?) The trick is to remind yourself that these what-ifs are just that—hypotheticals about the future, and “anything that helps you stay in the here and now is going to, by definition, be anxiety-relieving.”

This could be as simple as counting how many black or blue suitcases you spot at the airport, say, or focusing on the texture and flavor of the sour candy you’re sucking on. Dr. Cook also suggests keeping yourself busy: Get lost in a mobile game of Candy Crush or your favorite comfort show—preferably one that’s light and engaging enough to pull attention away from spiraling thoughts and ground you back into the present.

7. Focus on what you can control.

No matter how much you worry, the fact of the matter is that there are just some things you can’t control—the weather, turbulence, or even who’s piloting the plane. So stressing over things out of your hands isn’t just a waste of time—it’ll also just keep you stuck in a cycle of helplessness and anxiety, according to Dr. Seif.

Rather than ruminating on what you can’t control, it’s better to focus on what you can. If the thought of being cramped in a tight space triggers your flight phobia, book an aisle seat in advance. Or avoid certain aircrafts you’ve seen in the news if that makes you feel more at ease. You can also prep some go-to soothers we mentioned above, whether that’s a relaxing book, playlist, or TV show. During your flight, you can also follow seatbelt instructions and brush up on your plane’s emergency exit plans. These small, manageable steps can at least provide some semblance of agency, Dr. Seif says, especially when everything else feels so uncertain and, well, up in the air.

Related:

• I’m a Psychologist Who Gets Panic Attacks. Here’s the One Thing That Calms Me Down Instantly

• How to Maintain Some Semblance of a Health Routine on Vacation

• I’m an Entomologist. Here’s How I Avoid Bed Bugs When I Travel

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Originally Appeared on Self