February 11, 2024
Today, the Los Angeles Times published “Flight anxiety? Here are 5 tips to stay calm during takeoff and landing”.
Among the experts tapped for insights and advice was UCLA professor of clinical psychology Lauren Ng.
Below, is an excerpt quoting Dr. Ng.
Anxiety may be experienced as a partially physiological pathway, said Lauren Ng, an assistant professor of clinical psychology at UCLA. For example, thoughts lead to physiological responses such as trembling hands. That can then lead to behaviors such as avoidance. Which is then how you arrive at feelings like fear.
To disrupt the first part of this pathway, try to halt the hamster wheel in your head. Then, if you’re a logical person, you can remind yourself of the facts. Ask yourself: What is the actual thought driving this fear? Is this thought accurate?
If logic is less your thing, turn to mindfulness, which is the practice of being aware of your thoughts and then letting them pass on. Mindfulness can look like meditation or prayer depending on the person. The idea is to accept that the fear is there but to not ruminate over or attach to, it.
… Anxiety, and anxious thoughts, can manifest physically as sweaty palms or jittery thighs. If reminding yourself that airplanes are generally safe doesn’t comfort you, you can ease your mind by targeting the physiological aspects of panic, said Ng. Work in reverse to relax your body. A good place to start might be by loosening the grip of your hands from your armrests.
For all five tips, read the full article by Karla Marie Sanford in the Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2025-02-11/afraid-flying-plane-tips-air-travel