Flight anxiety is a physical response, not a mental weakness

If you have ever gripped an armrest through turbulence whilst the person beside you slept soundly, you will know how isolating flight anxiety can feel.

It is not imagined, and it is far from uncommon. What makes it particularly frustrating is that it does not respond to logic — you can know, intellectually, that flying is statistically safe, and still feel your heart rate surge the moment the cabin door closes.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Aanandita Vaghani, mental health counsellor and founder of UnFix (Your Feelings), explains how flight anxiety can be managed through practical, body-based strategies rather than rational thinking alone.

Anxiety that lives in the body, not in facts

Vaghani is clear that airplane anxiety is a deeply physiological experience, and that understanding what the body is reacting to is the essential first step.

"Airplane anxiety almost never lives in facts. It lives in the body. The loss of control, the strange sounds, the pressurised air, the sense of being sealed into a metal tube with nowhere to go, these are all things the nervous system can read as threat, regardless of what your rational mind is telling it," she explains.

Rather than attempting to reason one's way through the fear, she recommends getting curious about what specifically triggers it.

"Stop trying to think your way out of it. Instead, get curious about what specifically triggers you. Is it takeoff? Turbulence? The moment the doors close?"

Regulate early — don't wait for panic to set in

One of the most important shifts anxious flyers can make, according to Vaghani, is learning to regulate their nervous system before anxiety reaches its peak.

"Most people dealing with flight anxiety try to manage it in the moment, when they're already mid-panic at altitude. At that point, it's hard to access calming tools because the nervous system is already in overdrive," she says.

She recommends practising extended exhale breathing both before and during travel — a technique in which the exhale is longer than the inhale.

"Extended exhale breathing, where your exhale is longer than your inhale, directly activates the part of the nervous system responsible for rest and calm. It's physiology, not a trick," she explains.

Stop resisting physical sensations

Vaghani also cautions that fighting anxiety symptoms often makes them worse. "The anxiety about the physical sensations is often worse than the sensations themselves," she notes.

Her advice is to acknowledge the feelings without attempting to suppress them, using a simple internal prompt such as: "This is adrenaline, it peaks and passes on its own, I don't have to fix it."

Give the nervous system a sensory anchor

Sensory grounding tools play an important role in Vaghani's approach. She recommends giving the brain something familiar and neutral to focus on during a flight, whether that is a playlist, a comforting scent, or something tactile.

"Anxiety needs a redirect, not just a suppression. A sensory anchor, a playlist, scent, or something tactile, gives the brain something neutral and known to land on," she says.

Redefine what a successful flight looks like

Vaghani also challenges the common goal of simply "getting through" a flight, warning that enduring high levels of fear without any sense of safety can actually reinforce anxiety over time.

"When you power through something in a state of high fear, your brain files it as: that was dangerous and I barely made it out," she explains.

Instead, she encourages flyers to build tolerance and awareness that they came through the experience intact.

"What you're working toward is being uncomfortable on a flight and coming out the other side with enough presence to notice: I was okay. That's the data your nervous system needs."

Vaghani concludes that flight anxiety is highly treatable with the right support, including therapy, structured exposure, and consistent self-regulation techniques.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.