In brief
- Anxiety makes your brain highly alert to potential threats (a process known to psychologists as interoceptive awareness)
- In this state, neutral sounds and sensations of flight can feel hugely significant – and stressful
- Understanding what’s causing anxiety and why you’re stressed can help you tackle it
Why fearful flyers are ultra-sensitive in the air
People afraid of flying find their nervous systems are working over time in an attempt to identify signs of danger. In a heightened state of arousal, this can easily become over-monitoring.
In this state, the brain is constantly scanning and processes what can be safe, sensory signals and mistake them for signs of danger. Unfamiliar noises, turbulence, the wings bending, and even things like the behaviour of flight crew can be seen as signs something bad is happening.
Fixating on small sensations – like feeling trapped – can lead to a negative spiral, with each new trigger pushing you further into the panic spiral. Understanding what’s happening is the first – and most important – step to stopping things from getting out of control.
Understanding interoceptive sensitivity
We’ll start with some theory and explore what psychologists call interoceptive sensitivity.
When you’re anxious, you’re more aware of your bodily signals. This can include your heart rate, stomach sensations, tension in your muscles, ear pain and pressure and more.
When you’re flying, your body will experience many new sensations. Instead of accepting them as a natural and normal part of flying, nervous flyers can interpret them as signs of danger.
This can create a negative feedback loop. In a state of heightened awareness, you notice everything. Each new sound, feeling or sensation increases anxiety.
The impact of conditioning
Aviophobia isn’t something we’re born with, it’s a learned fear – so it can be beneficial to explore why you experience it.
A professional counsellor can provide clarity, but you can also explore these feelings yourself.
In some cases, there’s a clear cause like experiencing a turbulent flight, a panic attack, or even a sensational news story. Each of these experiences can help to train your brain into believing that flying is something to be afraid of, a process psychologists call conditioning.
It’s likely you’ll have heard of conditioning before. When it comes to flying, the brain associates the activity (flying) with fear. In this state, even small things (like a change in engine sound or a slight drop in the cabin) can be interpreted as dangers.
The brain is making an association between the experience today and the previous trigger (or triggers) of anxiety.
Can this process be reversed? Actually, yes.
Over time you can teach your brain that the activity (in this case, flying) is safe through successful flights. It can be tough, but evidence shows that exposure therapy and CBT can help people to fly with confidence.
Awareness and acceptance, not anxiety
Fearful flyers understand that, objectively, flying is incredibly safe. But understanding this rationally doesn’t make fear of flying any less real.
The first stage (which you’ve taken by reading this article and visiting Fly Above Fear) is accepting you have a fear. This awareness of fear of flying enables you to start to work toward tackling it.
One potentially effective approach is to embrace acceptance: understanding that you’ll find flying stressful and facing it head on.
Instead of attempting to avoid the fact you’re flying, you can take negative thoughts and label them neutrally (“engine noise increasing” rather than “something’s wrong”).
You can remind yourself that aircraft systems constantly adjust and what’s happening is normal. (Check out our guides on takeoff, landing, plane noises and turbulence to see what’s happening.)
Don’t try to control emotions. When you recognise them and accept them, anxiety can sometimes reduce.
We’re trying to teach the nervous system that flying is safe.
This is one technique that you can use alongside others, including breathing, grounding and mindfulness. Preparation, too, can play a huge part in how you experience flight.
Why over-sensitivity can make you scared
Focusing on small sensations while flying is a symptom of a larger fear. Understanding why you’re ultra-sensitive is an important start in developing techniques to tackle it.
Accepting anxiety as a part of flying is one way to challenge the conditioning. Instead of being on edge, you can experience what’s happening in the moment – the good and the bad. Over time, you’ll help to change your perspective of flight and your perception of dangers.
If self-help isn’t working, consider professional support and evidence-based therapies like CBT or exposure-based programs. They can help with this relearning process, changing and improving your relationship with flying forever.
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FAQs
When you’re anxious, your brain becomes highly alert to potential threats, a process known to psychologists as interoceptive awareness. Your nervous system is over-monitoring safe, sensory signals. When you’re in this heightened state, neutral flight sensations can be mistaken for signs of danger. The more you notice these things the greater your anxiety can become.
We’re all unique, so we can’t diagnose the cause of your fear of flying. It’s likely that your brain has learned to associate flying with fear, often due to a past trigger like experiencing a turbulent flight, a panic attack, or even a sensational news story. You can reflect on the potential causes of your fear of flying yourself, or work with a professional if you’d like an independent, expert perspective.
Yes, evidence shows that this process can be reversed. The first important step is to be aware and accept your fear. Things like breathing exercises, grounding and mindfulness can all help to make you feel calmer. Over time, successful flights help teach your nervous system that flying is safe. If self-help isn’t working, evidence-based therapies like CBT or professionally organised exposure-based programs can help you.