As the world is becoming more aware and open about one’s mental health, it is important to identify flight anxiety as one of the most common forms of anxiety that travellers might have.
Some travellers experience a pang of anxiety at the mere thought of boarding a flight. The flight anxiety of a traveller can range from mild nervousness to hardcore fear.
This blog will help such nervous travellers by providing them with the 6 most helpful tips and methods to manage as well as fight flight anxiety!
Understand Your Anxiety
First of all, travellers need to understand that flight anxiety is a common type of anxiety and that they are not alone in this.
Further, understanding flight anxiety will also help the traveller managing it. Travellers should sit down and try to understand the specific areas of flight travelling that makes them anxious.
The reasons for flight anxiety can include but are not restricted to travelling being claustrophobic, having fear of heights, fear of turbulence or a past bad experience.
If a traveller understands the root cause of their anxiety, they have a better chance of managing or fighting it.
Educate Oneself About Flying
If a traveller educates themselves about the entire mechanics and process of flying, then, they can better manage their anxiety.
A nervous flyer must learn about the various aspects and dynamics of an aeroplane like the science of flight, how planes fly and the various safety measures that are present in an aeroplane.
Educating oneself will provide the traveller with a sense of control leading to reduced anxiety levels.
Inform The Crew
For a better flight experience, the traveller must inform the flight crew of the fact that they have flight anxiety. Flight crews are professionals who have been trained to assist and help nervous flyers during flights.
The assistance that the flight crew provides nervous flyers includes reassuring the flyer throughout the flight duration & providing them with information about turbulence in advance so that the flyer can prepare in advance and become calm and relaxed.
Practice Relaxation Techniques
Relaxation techniques help in every kind of mental health issues. Similarly, for flight anxiety, several relaxation techniques can come into play to help a nervous flyer.
Exercising relaxation techniques like progressive muscle-relaxation & meditation or deep breathing can help the flyer build up a relaxation routine and stay calm before the flight.
Choosing the Correct Seat
Often, it is the seat placement of a traveller that increases the chances of them feeling flight anxiety.
Some seats should be avoided depending on the root cause of the traveller’s anxiety.
For example, ideal seats for different travellers include –
- Claustrophobic traveller – Aisle seat
- Traveller anxious about turbulences – Seat over the aeroplane’s wing (because the area over the wing experiences minimal turbulence)
Distract Yourself
Flight anxiety is induced by a traveller’s mind indicating that if a traveller distracts themselves with the help of any activity, their mind can be taken off their flight anxiety and relax.
Activities that can help with flight anxiety include but are not restricted to reading, playing games, listening to podcasts or even watching movies.
All the above-mentioned anxieties will distract the traveller shifting their focus from their flight anxiety.
Conclusion
Even though coping with flight anxiety is a gradual process involving understanding your anxiety and finding methods to cope with it, it can still be managed for all the nervous flyers.
A traveller must implement different strategies to find the strategy that best suits them and decreases their level of flight anxiety.
The above-mentioned strategies are the top 6 methods that can be used by nervous flyers though several other methods can also be used by travellers to fight flight anxiety.
