Reader’s Question

My partner says he feel stressed and “wound-up” whenever he’s at an airport. He insists he doesn’t have any fear of flying and has flown many times without problems. He cannot understand why he feels like this even when he actually likes flying so much. Could there be a sub-conscious reason he has these feelings at airports?

Our Clinical Psychologist’s Reply

When a person experiences apprehension that isn’t attached to any particular place, thing, or situation, we call it anxiety. When there is an identifiable object or circumstance attached to the anxiety, we call it a phobia.

Although persons who fear flying might have uncomfortable reactions in airports because airports are related to the experience of flying, a person who becomes anxious in airports need not have his/her apprehension attached to any fear of flying per se.

Sometimes people are phobic to a particular place or situation because of some past traumatic experience associated with that situation or a very similar situation. Sometimes, one situation has so many characteristics similar to those of another situation that a person knows that they’re afraid of the similar situation too without necessarily knowing why consciously. Sometimes, various mildly anxiety-evoking situations “cluster” together in a particular way to heighten the overall level of anxiety. For example, if crowds, open spaces, hustle and bustle and time demands are all mildly anxiety provoking, then when they occur together in a place like an airport, the total anxiety might become more noticeable or overwhelming.

Whatever the reasons for your partner’s discomfort, the good news is that such situations are among the most easily and effectively ameliorated problems that come to the attention of mental health professionals. A vast variety of safe, reliable interventions can help your partner enjoy his entire flying experience, including his trips to the airport.