How to cope when flight anxiety appears without warning

In brief

• Sudden and unexpected flight anxiety is usually a normal stress response, triggered by something happening during the flight
• Anxiety may feel like it appears from nowhere, but it’s likely to be a conditioned fear or a result of heightened sensitivity
• Tools like grounding, cognitive reframing, acceptance and understanding can reduce intensity, although not remove it entirely
• Flying more can reduce in-flight anxiety spikes

Why anxiety can appear suddenly when flying

Sudden anxiety during a flight is a common psychological response as your brain flips from a safe space into threat-detection mode. 

Anxiety isn’t linear, instead it can spike – appearing from nowhere when you least expect it. During flight, your stress system may spike, leaving you convinced something is wrong. It’s often worse because the feelings appear without warning. 

If you’re prone to flight anxiety, the key is to be prepared. You can do this by having a selection of tools and techniques that can immediately relieve stress and restore calm. You can also use information on how planes fly, what turbulence is (and why it isn’t dangerous), and what plane noises are, to reorient your thinking. 

We’ll show you how.

Flight anxiety doesn’t come “out of nowhere”

A spike in anxiety can be stressful if it appears from nowhere, but psychologists and researchers have found that it normally follows a predictable psychological pattern. It’s all about how our brains deal with perceived threats. 

Evolution has shaped our brains, psychologists have established. To stay safe, we rapidly – and unconsciously – scan for threats. 

In an airport and on a plane we’re exposed to new sounds, sensations and movements. Whenever we experience these things, our brains effectively ask: is this dangerous? 

Even though we know rationally that flying is safe, our brains interpret new noises and feelings – especially things like turbulence that affect us physically and psychologically – and can activate the fight-or-flight response.

You’ve likely experienced this before at a time of anxiety. Your body prepares to either fight head on or escape, with your heartbeat increasing, breathing getting shallower, and tension increasing. Psychologically, you can feel a sense of dread. 

These feelings can push you into thinking something must be wrong, even though everything on your flight is progressing safely, smoothly and according to plan. Each new sensation and stressor can add to your cognitive load. 

At a certain point, you can’t ignore these feelings anymore and anxiety appears. But it’s not from nowhere, it’s caused by your brain continuously misinterpreting noises, sounds and sensations as signs of danger. 

Recognising that is the first step in reorienting your thinking and wrestling back control.

Recognise what’s happening

Understanding what causes anxiety can help you to recognise it when it occurs. Instead of getting washed away in the wave of anxiety, understanding what’s happening and why can help you to respond calmly and restore some confidence. 

This works because you’re recognising anxiety as a temporary stress response, not a permanent state. You can help regulate the response and reduce the risk of escalation.

You can calmly use your internal voice to counter the waves of anxiety. Instead of trying to avoid or ignore it, create a phrase (or phrases) that you can use to help:

“This is anxiety. I’m safe and I’ll soon be at my destination.”

It’s important to find words that work for you. You can jot these down somewhere, like a piece of card in a book or on a phone notes app. You can refer back to these positive affirmations as often as you need to. 

Regulate your breathing and body

Anxiety is a psychological issue which can have significant physical impacts. When anxiety spikes, it can affect your breathing, speeding it up. As a result, you can feel dizzy and tense, which can – if left unchecked – increase feelings of panic. 

Researchers have established that slowing your breathing reduces anxiety. Controlling your breathing sends a powerful signal back to the brain that the situation is safe.

Here’s a handy breathing exercise to have for those times when anxiety spikes:

• inhale slowly through your nose for four seconds
• pause briefly
• exhale gently through your mouth for six seconds

This works because the longer exhale activates the body’s calming response. Repeat the exercise and you should notice that you become more relaxed.

Anxiety can lead our bodies to tense up as if bracing for a fight. Try to relax your shoulders and release your jaw. These are small signals that, when combined with controlled breathing, tell your brain that you’re not in danger.

Focus your attention on the present

One of the worst aspects of sudden onset anxiety is that it pulls attention into catastrophic thinking. Instead of focusing on what’s happening at that moment, you start to imagine terrible scenarios. This can lead you to fixate, unless you can break out.

Grounding is a powerful way to bring your attention back to what’s happening at that moment, not in some imagined future.

Exercises like 5-4-3-2-1 which features in our Calm Flight Toolkit are really powerful and worth remembering. If you find yourself becoming drawn into negative thoughts, look around the cabin and observe what’s happening. Listen to the sound of the engines, the crew going about their business and the other passengers calmly experiencing the flight.

If you’re travelling with someone else, starting a conversation is an easy way to break out of a negative thought cycle. If you’re travelling alone, then the cabin crew will often spare a few moments to chat. 

Any fearful flyers are concerned because flying seems unnatural. But the stats done lie: flying is incredibly safe. If you find your thoughts drifting into doomsday scenarios, find ways to snap out of it as quickly as possible for your own peace of mind.

Understand the sensations of flight

One of the reasons anxiety can spike is because your body and brain are dealing with lots of new and strange sounds, sensations and movements all in a very short space of time. 

In this situation, knowledge is power – and Fly Above Fear can help you. We’ve written extensive guides on all aspects of commercial flight, including:

• What happens at take off
• What happens during landing
• What happens during turbulence

Learning about the experiences of flying can help you to understand more. In the end, the more familiar flying becomes, the less likely you are to interpret normal aspects of flight as dangers.

Building long-term confidence

While anxiety may seem to appear as if from nowhere, it’s likely to be the result of a  conditioned fear around flying. You’ve come to associate flying with fear, and your brain interprets new and unfamiliar sounds, sensations and feelings with danger.

Evidence shows that the most effective way to reduce these moments is through education and gradual exposure. Instead of avoiding flying, accept anxiety is part of that for you and find ways to cope with it. The practical advice here can help, but you may also want to seek professional help.

Alongside ways to calm yourself, learning how aircraft operate and understanding triggers like turbulence can help. The more safe and successful flights you go on, the lower stress levels are.

The reality is that millions of people who once experienced intense flight anxiety now travel comfortably – and you can too. For a little extra support, visit the Help Desk and download the Calm Flight Toolkit.

Please share this article with anyone who might benefit from it.

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