5 Best Tips On How To Deal With Anxiety When Flying

This blog post is about the “5 Best Tips On How To Deal With Anxiety When Flying” and was updated in 2024.

Today I have the pleasure of featuring a new and exciting blogger here on Travel Addicted Unicorn.

Her name is Tsvetty and she is the creator of the Mental Health Memo blog.

She is a Social Worker and has struggled with anxiety and depression from a young age.

If you are one of the many people who suffer from anxiety during flying, read ahead for some great tips.

Check out her socials:
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My Story Of Traveling With Anxiety Disorder

Flying with anxiety is something I got to experience for the first time a few years ago when I went to Cuba with my mom.

It proved to be extremely difficult for me which is why traveling is not something I can easily do.

Personally, I have a fear of being in a space I can’t get out of, I panic when I’m far away from home, and I’m claustrophobic.

The perfect recipe for disaster on a plane.

When I went on that trip to Cuba, it ended up being a huge learning curve for me because I wasn’t well prepared.

Flying with anxiety can be extremely unpleasant, plane anxiety tips — Flying with anxiety can be extremely unpleasant – plane anxiety tips

I hadn’t flown since I was 6 years old, so I had no idea what to expect.

Because of that, I ended up nearly running out the door before takeoff due to a severe panic attack.

Safe to say I didn’t end up running out, and I’m glad I didn’t.

Because I got to enjoy a relaxing vacation with my mom, and I learned how to better deal with flying through the experience.

Here I’m going to be sharing with you the 5 best tips for flying with anxiety that I have sadly learned the hard way (so you don’t have to).

anxiety, panic attack, plane, tips for flying anxiety — Traveling with Anxiety can be difficult – tips for flying anxiety

How To Deal With Anxiety When Flying

Let’s begin with the list of tips on how to deal with anxiety when flying.

1. Being Organized

It’s so important to be organized and well-prepared so that you can have a smooth experience at the airport.

The days leading up to the flight

I suggest starting with reading about what’s allowed on your flight.

In terms of luggage weight, how much liquid you can bring in your carry-on, what you’re not allowed to bring etc.

This way you won’t get into any trouble at the airport, and you can write your “what to pack list” easily.

Start prepping and packing early, packing list, How To Deal With Anxiety When Flying — What helps with flying anxiety – start prepping and packing early

After you know what is and isn’t allowed, write a list of everything you need to pack well in advance.

The reason I say well in advance is you may not remember everything at once. It also allows you to see if there’s anything you may need to buy.

If you do need to buy some stuff or get anything sorted out, you have more time and won’t have to scatter.

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Packing for a trip, organizing, tracking, what helps with flying anxiety, dealing with flying anxiety — Keeping organized about your trip will help keep anxiety at bay – dealing with flying anxiety

Don’t leave anything till the last minute, because if there’s a problem you’re going to get incredibly anxious and start off on the wrong foot.

If there’s nothing for you to buy, print out the list a day before your flight (or earlier) and check items off until you have everything packed.

Next, are legal documents. Make sure you have your ticket, passport, and any other documents you may need organized and ready to go.

I suggest getting a little folder and having everything in there to make it easier.

things to help with flying anxiety, Pack early for your trip — Things to help with flying anxiety – pack early for your trip

On your way

Now it’s time for you to go. Leave nice and early for your flight because you never know what might happen on your way there that could lead to arriving late.

I don’t even want to imagine what running late for a flight must be like. I’d likely explode from anxiety.

Also, try and have at least a general plan of what you’re going to be doing immediately after you land, and throughout your trip.

Leave nice and early for your flight, flying with anxiety — Leave nice and early for your flight – flying with anxiety

This helps minimize that scrambling feeling I was talking about earlier and ensures you get to do everything you want.

The more organized and prepared you are, the smoother the whole experience will be.

It’ll save you a lot of hassle, and avoidable anxiety.

You’re already scared; you don’t need anything else to make the situation harder.

alarm clock, time, organized, How To Deal With Anxiety When Flying — Always try to be nice and early for your flight – how to prepare for a flight with anxiety

2. Distractions, Distractions, And More Distractions

Thinking about how anxious you are is going to make it worse. For me, this happens by focusing too much on my breath, my heart racing, my hands shaking, and my dissociating.

So the more distracted you are, the less you’ll be focusing on how you’re feeling.

I DIDN’T do this on my first flight and suffered gravely because of it.

Download a bunch of games for your phone before your flight, phone games, how to deal with flying anxiety — Download a bunch of games for your phone before your flight – how to deal with flying anxiety

I ended up ripping apart this magazine in the pocket of my chair because I was SO fidgety and needed to distract myself (sorry AirTransat).

So now, I know to better prepare by having lots of distractions, easily available.

That includes games on the phone, a book, a fidgeting toy, movies downloaded on my laptop, a blog post to write, music, or anything that can offer a distraction.

The more the merrier!!!

apps, distractions, phone, games, coping with flying anxiety — Coping with flying anxiety – distract yourself as much as you can with phone games and puzzles

3. Taking Your Pills BEFORE The Flight

Another one I didn’t do on my first flight. If you have any anxiety medication that you take when you’re having a panic attack (for example I take Lorazepam), take it a bit before you get on the plane.

The reason I recommend this is that you will likely start freaking out the most when you actually get on the plane.

Therefore, you might assume that’s when you should take the meds (that’s what I thought at least).

pills, medications, pill bottle, how to prepare for a flight with anxiety — Make sure you take your medication before boarding the plane – how to prepare for a flight with anxiety

However, the medication takes a bit of time to start having an effect, so you’ll end up in full panic mode for a while.

As you may recall, I mentioned that I almost ran out before takeoff.

That’s because I didn’t take my pills BEFORE getting on the plane, and ended up panicking so bad I almost backed out.

So, on the flight back, I took my medication right before we boarded so that by the time I had sat down on the plane, the pills were already doing their thing.

medicine, pills, prescriptions, How To Deal With Anxiety When Flying — Medications take a bit of time to start having an effect – How To Deal With Anxiety When Flying

The point is for the pills to have already started working by the time you’re on that plane.

For me, that tends to be the hardest part. Once the plane has gone off it’s almost as if my mind accepts that I’m stuck on this flying piece of metal and there’s nothing I can do about it, so I calm down.

If that’s also you, I recommend taking the pills right before getting on the plane.

pills, meds, prescriptions, dealing with flying anxiety — Don’t forget to bring enough medication for the entire duration of your trip – dealing with flying anxiety

4. Looking Good For The Flight

Just because you’re flying with anxiety doesn’t mean you have to look the part.

Dressing nice (but also comfortable), and being put together can do a lot for your confidence.

When you feel more confident, you also feel more in control and powerful. The opposite of what anxiety is.

And I don’t know about y’all, but when I have my nails done and my hair doesn’t look like a bird’s nest, I can take on the world.

It does something to help boost how I’m feeling.

nail salon, nails, getting nails done — Going to the nail salon and getting your nails done can help with anxiety

And when I’m dealing with such severe anxiety, anything that helps is a win in my books.

One thing I personally focus a lot on is nails.

I like to get fake nails whenever I’m going to be doing something super anxiety-inducing. The reason for that is I rip off and pick at my nails when I’m anxious.

I also scratch my skin and pick at things a lot.

The fake nails prevent me from doing all those things, while also helping me look better put together and giving me that confidence boost.

hair salon, haircut, salon, pampering yourslef, How To Deal With Anxiety When Flying — Looking good and put together will make you feel more confident

Now, this may not be your thing, and that’s totally fine.

The point is to try doing something for your appearance to make you feel better.

Whether that’s putting on your nice leggings, doing your hair, or putting on makeup, it doesn’t matter!

But the impact LOOKING put together can have for how put together you ACTUALLY FEEL is huge. So give it a try.

nails, calm down, pamper yourself — Getting your nails done can help make you feel more confident

5. Grounding Objects

For those unfamiliar with the term, a grounding object is something physical that brings you comfort due to its emotional connection to you.

For example, a partner’s hoodie, a teddy bear your mom gave you, a blanket from home, etc.

Bringing a grounding object can help provide some comfort if you are flying with anxiety.

On my first flight, I didn’t bring one because I had my mom. She was basically my grounding object.

hoodie, sweater, grounding object, — Dealing with flying anxiety – A grounding object can be your partner’s hoodie

But for future flights when I’m not with her, I plan on bringing something of hers (don’t judge me!).

One thing that I find helps a lot is the clothes of people that calm you down. We underestimate how powerful a scent can be.

You’ve likely had a moment where a smell brought you back to something good or bad in your past.

Similarly, you can use this to your advantage. As I said, for me, it’s something of my mom’s that has her scent on it because it reminds me of comfort and home.

Of course, you can do this with anything else.

For example, if you have an essential oil going when you’re practicing a calming activity like meditating, you can put it on your body and smell it throughout the flight.

stuffed toy, teddy bear, toy, How To Deal With Anxiety When Flying, grounding object, tips for flying anxiety — A stuffed animal is another example of a grounding object – tips for flying anxiety

That way your brain has associated the essential oil with calmness and therefore makes you less anxious on the flight even though you’re not meditating.

But of course, your grounding object can be something like a pencil. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It simply has to work.