In brief
- Intrusive thoughts are a common symptom in people who experience a fear of flying
- The thoughts can happen at all stages of the flight, and can be triggered by things like takeoff and turbulence
- There are practical things you can do to reduce intrusive thoughts and regain calm
Understanding intrusive thoughts
Intrusive thoughts are distressing, unwanted, and often misleading – and are a common symptom among people who suffer from aviophobia. When flying, intrusive thoughts are not a reflection of reality, but reflect how your brain processes stress and uncertainty.
For many, intrusive thoughts can become overwhelming during turbulence. They can feed anxiety and make even calm flights unbearable. The good news? You can learn to reframe intrusive thoughts so that they lose their power.
We’re going to unpack the theory behind intrusive thinking, the psychology of turbulence fear, and provide some practical and evidence-based techniques that you can use to stay calm in the air.
Understanding intrusive thoughts
Before providing tools to help you manage intrusive thoughts, we’re going to explore what they are, where they come from and why they cause so much anxiety.
What are intrusive thoughts?
Intrusive thoughts are unwanted, involuntary thoughts or images that enter the mind and can cause distress. Sometimes, these intrusive thoughts can be almost impossible to ignore and cause significant anxiety in the person experiencing them.
According to the NHS, intrusive thoughts are common in anxiety disorders. Intrusive thoughts can be triggered by stress, fatigue, or a specific fear. These can all be present while flying.
Nervous flyers can experience many types of intrusive thoughts, but most involve catastrophic scenarios, like crashing. The intrusive thoughts aren’t logical, and follow a common pattern, like:
- “We’re not going fast enough to take off”
- “This bump means the wings are failing”
- “The pilots have lost control”
- “I’ve not heard that noise before. It must mean something bad”
- “We’re not going to make it”
These thoughts can arrive quickly and be persistent. What’s even worse is that these thoughts can continue to enter the brain, regardless of any logic or reassurance from fellow passengers.
Why turbulence triggers intrusive thoughts
Many fearful flyers have the confidence to get on board, but find intrusive thoughts emerge when the plane experiences turbulence.
We know that turbulence is unpredictable and out of our control while flying. During turbulence, the body interprets physical sensations, like drops, shakes, and vibrations, as dangerous. This happens even though we know in our rational minds that turbulence is normal and the aircraft is safe.
Here’s what can happen when turbulence hits: The plane jolts and your amygdala (the brain’s threat detector) activates. As a result, your body releases stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol)
Unable to fill the information void, your mind starts scanning for explanations. Intrusive thoughts fill the gap.
Simply put, during turbulence, the brain can mistake a harmless event for a dangerous one. The result is intrusive thoughts that can generate anxiety and, in some people, lead to a panic attack.
The thought–feeling–behaviour cycle
It’s time for a bit of theory. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) describes the intrusive cycle like this:
- Thought: “This turbulence means we’re crashing.”
- Feeling: panic, racing heart, sweaty palms
- Behaviour: gripping the seat, hypervigilance, catastrophising
This works as a cycle, with each wave of turbulence (or stress) building on top of the last. The more that this cycle is repeated, the stronger the association between turbulence and fear becomes.
Unless there’s an intervention, intrusive thoughts can escalate into full-blown panic. Thankfully, there are tools and strategies to help you cope.
Reframing intrusive thoughts: Cognitive reframing
Cognitive reframing is a powerful and effective CBT technique that involves changing how you interpret a thought. You’re dealing with your thoughts in a different way.
Instead of automatically believing intrusive thoughts, you acknowledge them and actively choose to think about them differently.
It might sound odd, but here’s how it can work in practice:
Instead of thinking: “This bump means the plane is failing,” you try to reframe the negative thought as: “This is turbulence. It’s uncomfortable, but I know that it’s not dangerous.”
It’s important to recognise that isn’t about denying the thought. Instead, it means recognising that it’s a negative thought, not a reality.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is another way to tackle intrusive thoughts. The concept is to notice thoughts without judging them.
So, instead of fighting intrusive thoughts or repressing them, which can make them stronger, you observe them.
You’re not treating intrusive thoughts as potential realities, you’re accepting them for what they are: your brain working against you.
When in the air, you can accept them: “There’s the negative thought about turbulence again. It’s unpleasant, but it will pass.”
6 practical strategies to manage in-flight anxiety
We’ve explained what intrusive thoughts are and the theoretical underpinning for cognitive framing
Next time you’re getting ready to fly, here are six evidence-based techniques you can apply mid-flight
1. Label the thought
Identifying and classifying the thought as intrusive reduces its power.
- “That’s an intrusive thought, not a prediction.”
- “My brain is firing a false alarm.”
This works because labelling creates distance between you and the thought. It separates it and externalises it to some degree.
2. Reality-check with facts
Prepare rational counter-statements you can repeat in turbulence. These can be typed into a notes app on your phone, written in a book, or remembered. You can say things like:
- “Planes are built to handle far worse than this.”
- “The pilots expect turbulence and are trained for it.”
- “This feels dramatic, but it’s normal.”
Replacing catastrophic thoughts with factual statements can reduce the intensity and duration of anxiety.
3. Use grounding techniques
Grounding techniques work to break you out of th negative spiral of intrusive thoughts. They can bring you back to the present, helping you to focus on what’s really happening – not what you imagine is happening.
Try this when anxiety hits:
- 5-4-3-2-1 technique: Name 5 things you can see, 4 you can feel, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, 1 you can taste. Repeat until you feel yourself relaxing.
- Breathing exercises: Slow diaphragmatic breathing, or the 4-7-8 method (inhale 4, hold 7, exhale 8) can help. Research confirms these regulate the body’s stress response.
4. Externalise and challenge
Imagine telling your intrusive thought to a trusted friend. Would they share your fears?
You can perform this exercise inside your mind, or speak with a family member, friend, or flying companion.
If this all seems a little strange, you can record any intrusive thoughts and counter-statements in a small notebook before flying. When anxiety occurs (such as when turbulence hits), you can check your notes. This can help you to be rational, rather than spiral.
5. Practice compassionate self-talk
Fear of flying isn’t a rational response. Part of us understands this. The cognitive dissonance created between understanding that flying is safe while simultaneously being afraid of it can cause us to become embarrassed and ashamed. This, in turn, can lead to a negative internal monologue.
Harsh self-criticism fuels anxiety: “I can’t cope with this.”
Instead, you should practice self-compassion.
But compassionate self-talk reframes it: “This is difficult, but I have strategies.”
Self-compassion, effectively being nice to yourself, can reduce the intensity of intrusive thoughts and can promote emotional resilience.
6. Anchor with distraction
Anxiety demands our attention, but distraction can help. If turbulence is your trigger, fight back with a positive stimulus. That could be a book, movie, music, audiobook, or turning on a mindfulness meditation app.
Distraction shifts attention from internal panic to external engagement, weakening the intrusive loop and anxiety-inducing intrusive thoughts.
Implications of reframing
Each time you reframe during turbulence, you weaken the intrusive thought cycle. In the short-term, cognitive reframing works to reduces in-flight panic symptoms. If you’re an anxious flyer, it can help to create an immediate relief and a sense of control when turbulence happens.
Over time, your brain learns that turbulence (or any other anxiety trigger) isn’t catastrophic. Long-term, the benefits are cumulative and include:
- Weakening the turbulence–catastrophe association
- Reducing anticipatory anxiety before flights
- Building resilience across repeated journeys
People with a fear of flying can often suffer from intrusive thoughts and anxiety in other aspects of their lives.
Developing the skill of reframing intrusive thoughts can transfer to all aspects of life. People who practise reframing during turbulence may find it helps deal with other stressful situations, including public speaking, health fears, and more.
Break free from the cycle
Turbulence can feel like chaos and create huge amounts of anxiety, but it isn’t dangerous – and our brains know that. What can make it distressing to those with anxiety is to create a cascade of intrusive thoughts that can turn into a panic attack.
By learning to recognise, label, and reframe intrusive thoughts, you reduce – and potentially remove – their power. While intrusive thoughts may still pop into your mind, turbulence will lose its power as a trigger. You’ll be able to fly calmer and more confidently than ever before.
For more information, support and reassurance visit the Help Desk and download the Calm Flight Toolkit.
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FAQs
Intrusive thoughts are common in anxiety disorders and phobias like fear of flying. Many fearful flyers believe that their plane is going to crash, or misinterpret noises, sounds and sensations as dangerous. The brain associates flying with fear, with negative thoughts a manifestation.
Turbulence is a common trigger for flight anxiety. The sensation of turbulence is strange. It also provides a reminder that the plane is thousands of feet in the air. While turbulence may be unsettling, it’s not unsafe.
Techniques like cognitive reframing and mindfulness are effective at dealing with negative throughs. Acceptance, too, can help. Instead of trying to ignore these thoughts and feelings, accepting them and acknowledging them before ultimately ignoring them can be effective.