Intrusive thoughts on planes? You’re not alone

For most of my life, the idea of flying wasn’t a dream, a wish, or even a memory—it was a nightmare. Any hopes of travel seemed limited because I couldn’t stomach the thought of stepping onto an airplane. I faced my fear of flying for the first time on a family trip when I was 18. The anticipation filled me with dread for weeks. As I envisioned my plane crashing, I wondered whether I needed to start writing my will.

If this strikes a chord, know that there are more people like you and me than you might think. In fact, one review found that up to 40% of Americans are afraid of flying. Flight anxiety can manifest in different ways. But many of us are haunted by intrusive thoughts about what might happen on our flight, says Taylor Newendorp, MA, LCPC, a therapist and the Network Clinical Training Director for NOCD, the leading telehealth provider of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) treatment. 

You may realize the thoughts aren’t rational, since planes are technically safer than cars. But that doesn’t necessarily stop your mind from scrambling through the “what ifs” whenever you get on a plane.

A lot of people can manage their nerves. Cling to the armrests. Close their eyes. Do the Wordle to take their mind somewhere else. But for some people, intrusive thoughts can be a sign of a more serious mental health disorder. The good news is that these conditions are treatable, and it’s possible to transform air travel from a paralyzing source of fear into an opportunity to explore the world without fear.

What are intrusive thoughts?

Intrusive thoughts are images, ideas, urges, sensations, feelings and/or thoughts that pop up in your mind uninvited. They’re very common. A study of 293 members of the general population found that most participants experienced them. More than half of them had intrusive thoughts about insulting strangers, or swerving their car off the road.

When it comes to flying, people might have intrusive thoughts of a fire, terrorist attack, or plane crash. Or they could imagine a door or wing falling off the plane. They could also have intrusive thoughts about the number of germs lurking around them.

Here are some intrusive thoughts you might have on an airplane:

• The plane is going to be damaged.
• The plane is hijacked.
• A crew member might forget to do a check and the plane will crash or explode.
• What if I lose control, rush the cockpit, knock out the pilot, and try to crash the plane?
• The airplane will fall and sink into the ocean.
• I will definitely get sick from all these germs—or I’ll get someone else sick.
• This could be the day I die.

These sorts of thoughts can arise before or during a flight. In fact, the anticipation can be as anxiety-provoking as the flight itself. This was true for me—I would say I was more anxious in the airport than I was inside the plane.

Many people without anxiety disorders can brush off intrusive thoughts pretty easily. But for people with disorders, such as OCD and phobias, the thoughts can be hard to shake off. Here are some signs your plane-related intrusive thoughts may be related to a mental health condition:

• They keep coming back.
• They last at least an hour each day.
• They lead to panic attacks.
• They cause a significant amount of stress or anxiety.
• They get in the way of your daily life or prevent you from doing things you want or need to do. You may miss out on vacations, or turn down work that requires air travel. Or you resort to traveling on the ground even when it’s inconvenient.
• You feel like you need to use alcohol or prescription medication to get through a flight.
• You avoid anything (such as books or movies) that reminds you of air travel. 
• You become obsessed and preoccupied with plane-related security measures. 

Not all of the above signs have to be present to suggest a mental health disorder. The key thing is that whatever your symptoms are, you feel they’re taking a toll on your life and well-being. Fortunately, mental health disorders are treatable. If you have signs of an anxiety disorder, a licensed mental health professional can help you get to the bottom of it. 

Why does flying give me anxiety?

It makes sense why you might get nervous about flying on a plane. After all, you’re stepping into a huge vehicle soaring high in the sky. And unless you’re the pilot, you don’t have any control over, well, anything. The fact you’re so high in the air—and it may be difficult to escape—can make you feel powerless. 

As much as flying seems normal in the modern day, humans spent most of history planted on land, so planes are relatively new territory for us. And they can trigger many common anxieties—like a fear of heights, confined spaces, and germs.

Many people are afraid of fires, terrorist attacks, violence, or illnesses on planes. And news reports can make plane crashes and other disasters seem far more common than they truly are. They display every tragedy, but not the thousands of planes that fly every day without a hitch.  

For some of us, though, airplane anxiety goes beyond jitters and gets in the way of our everyday life—and that’s when it becomes a problem. If your fear of flying keeps you from traveling—or turns it into a miserable experience—that could be a sign of OCD, a phobia, or another anxiety disorder.

Mental health disorders that can cause intrusive thoughts on planes

As we discussed above, most people have intrusive thoughts, and they’re not always related to mental health issues. But when they persist and get in get in the way of enjoying your life, they could point to conditions such as:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

If your anxiety on planes is related to PTSD, you may not even need to ask what’s causing it. You’ve likely had or witnessed a traumatic experience involving a plane—perhaps a crash, hijacking, or other emergency.

PTSD isn’t uncommon after these sorts of catastrophes. A study of six airplane crew members who survived a deadly crash found that each one developed PTSD. Meanwhile, another study of 82 people who lived near the area of a plane crash found that many participants experienced traumatic stress and intrusive thoughts.

Intrusive thoughts are a common symptom of PTSD. You may find yourself reliving the traumatic incident in your head over and over. This can make it daunting to step on a plane again.

Phobias

Intrusive thoughts on planes can be related to several phobias. Perhaps the least surprising of these is aviophobia (also known as aerophobia). This describes a severe, persistent, and irrational fear of traveling by air.

Many people with aviophobia avoid flying whenever possible. When they’re forced to fly, they have extreme anxiety that might lead to panic attacks. 

Other phobias that can contribute to flight anxiety include:

• Acrophobia: Acrophobia refers to fear of heights. It’s understandable that many people who are afraid of heights would get anxious flying in the sky. “You can’t get any higher than that,” says Newendorp. “So if you’re looking out the window and seeing how high you’re going, that could cause a lot of anxiety and stress.”
• Agoraphobia: People with agoraphobia are afraid of panicking in a place where they might feel trapped or unable to receive help. Some people with this condition may fear having panic attacks while in flight.
• Claustrophobia: Claustrophobia is the fear of confined and crowded spaces—which can easily include airplanes.
• Mysophobia: Mysophobia is an extreme fear of germs. People with this phobia may worry about germs on the plane that might make them sick.

It’s important to note that not everyone with phobias necessarily has intrusive thoughts. 

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

People with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) may find themselves in a near-constant state of anxiety that they have trouble controlling. The worries often pop up for no clear reason. 

Many people with this condition have intrusive thoughts about disasters striking them or their loved ones. When on an airplane, this can easily translate to intrusive thoughts about sickness or plane crashes. Leading up to a trip, people with GAD may even worry about missing their flight, says Newendorp.

OCD

For people with OCD, intrusive thoughts turn into obsessions. These obsessions can affect many different areas of life, and flying is no exception. In fact, there’s a lot of overlap between OCD and phobias like aviophobia and agoraphobia.

A flight may be especially likely to trigger intrusive thoughts if it’s related to something important to you. “For example, if you have OCD and need to take a flight to go see family or do something that’s really important to you, you may start to have intrusive thoughts and fears related to something going bad, or something going wrong on the flight that would prevent you from being able to do that,” says Newendorp.

Signs your intrusive thoughts on planes may be related to OCD

While anyone can have intrusive thoughts, if you have OCD, these thoughts turn into obsessions—often lasting for at least an hour each day, according to Newendorp. They’re hard to get rid of, and they won’t stop popping into your mind. Many people with OCD also perform compulsions to alleviate the stress that these obsessions cause.

Compulsions are physical and/or mental behaviors that you keep getting the urge to do. Typically, the goal is to relieve anxiety—but any benefit is fleeting. You may also believe the behavior will keep something bad from happening. Here are some examples of compulsions you may experience related to airplanes:

• You may avoid air travel.
• You may ask people to reassure you over and over again that your plane won’t crash.
• You may find yourself compulsively reading about plane tragedies and security measures.
• You may feel you need to sit still or pray (or engage in another compulsion) or else your plane will crash.
• You might try to avoid germs by excessively using hand sanitizer, repeatedly wiping down your seat, or avoiding using the bathroom even when you really need to.

Obsessions and compulsions are different for everyone, but they all cause distress. Luckily, OCD is treatable. 

How do I stop intrusive thoughts about flying?

As we’ve said, it’s common to get nervous on planes. If going on planes gives you the jitters but you don’t have OCD or an anxiety disorder, you may be able to manage your nerves by educating yourself and using self-care strategies. Some people find it helpful to look into the statistics—it can be a relief to learn that planes are among the safest modes of travel. It can also help to learn what the different sounds and bumps during flight mean, so they’re less likely to cause fear and uncertainty. Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and meditation can also put you into a positive headspace.

If intrusive thoughts still strike during your plane ride, that can also be normal. Most people have intrusive thoughts, whether they have a mental health disorder or not.

“I don’t have a fear of flying, but I still get intrusive thoughts any time I know I’m going to take a flight or I’m on a plane,” says Newendorp. “Where people with OCD and people with other anxiety disorders start to experience more distress is when they’re attaching a lot of meaning to having those thoughts.”

A person with OCD or an anxiety disorder worries that their thoughts will turn into reality. But as Newendorp points out, thoughts are just thoughts—they’re not facts. 

“What we often recommend is to sit with a thought. Sit with the discomfort and then see if that fear comes true, and what people experience 99% of the time is that those fears simply don’t come true,” explains Newendorp. “It’s not necessarily going to get rid of all your intrusive thoughts forever. But the more experiences you have where you face that feared situation and none of the fears come true, it helps you detach any meaning from having those thoughts in the first place.”

In other words, the goal isn’t actually to get rid of intrusive thoughts. Instead, you accept the thoughts, recognize them as intrusive, and let them naturally come and go. As you see the thoughts pass by without turning into reality, they typically begin to lose power.

Personally, I benefited from going on a flight despite my intrusive thoughts. For years, I had worked up an image in my head of all the tragedies that might happen if I ever stepped foot on a plane. But actually flying and seeing that none of those fears come to fruition took a massive weight off my shoulders. I’m still not a big flier, but I know that if I ever want to take a plane for a vacation or other opportunity, my anxiety won’t stop me.

Of course, getting to that point isn’t always easy. Sometimes, taking that step and boarding a plane can feel impossible. If your intrusive thoughts are causing a lot of distress or interfering with your life, you may benefit from professional treatment.

Getting treatment for intrusive thoughts on planes

If you find your fear of flying persists, one of the most recommended forms of treatment is exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, which is exactly what it sounds like. You expose yourself to your fears in a safe and structured environment, which allows you to become more comfortable with your intrusive thoughts over time.

That doesn’t mean you have to fly right away if you’re not ready. You might start by just looking at a picture of an airplane. While doing so, you observe any intrusive thoughts without trying to avoid them. Your therapist may even recommend purposely inviting the thought that would otherwise be intrusive.

Over time, you may start to watch videos of planes. “Then you might watch scenes from movies or TV shows where something goes wrong on an airplane,” says Newendorp. “Or your therapist may have you look at real life news stories where there’s been a crash landing but people survived.”

A fascinating innovation in recent years is virtual reality. It can imitate the experience of driving to the airport, sitting at the gate, and finally being on the plane. 

“Patients are usually able to work themselves up to the point where they can get on an actual plane. They might still experience intrusive thoughts and maybe have some discomfort, but it’s not nearly as intense as it used to be,” says Newendorp. He has personally seen patients start to fly regularly after avoiding planes for decades—all thanks to exposure therapy. With treatment, work trips turned from 12-hour car rides to quick flights.

Exposure therapy might vary slightly depending on the cause of your airplane anxiety. A common treatment for people with PTSD is prolonged exposure therapy.

If you have OCD, however, the most effective treatment is always exposure and response prevention (ERP), which addresses both your obsessions and compulsions. ERP also involves exposures, but in addition, your therapist will slowly guide you on how to avoid performing the compulsions that temporarily rid yourself of the anxiety that the obsessions create. Here’s why this type of therapy is so effective for OCD: Your brain will learn that you’re actually capable of accepting uncertainty when you stop performing compulsive rituals. Uncertainty is a part of life, even when it’s hard!. So you can live your life without the shadow of OCD.

Treatment may seem daunting, but imagine what your life would look like if air travel made you feel excited and free, instead of overwhelmed with anxiety. From vacations to work trips, and whatever else you desire, being able to fly comfortably will open you up to a world of opportunities.