As of the writing of this article, the mask mandate for airports and airplanes that has been the new normal for the last two years has been lifted. What does this mean? Well, for some it’s the green light to get on a plane and travel for the first time in years. For others, it might be the time to start checking off vacation destinations that have been put on hold. And for others still, it might mean travel feels a little riskier than before the mandate was lifted. One thing that most of us can agree on, regardless of mandates, is that when it comes to airports we get some airport anxiety.
While it’s easy for us to attribute and even accept some form of anxiety when it comes to travel, Dr. Weinstein, our CEO and Michigan Psychiatrist would like to encourage you to examine those feelings through the lens of mental health and not just “travel anxiety”.
“Airports represent a perfect storm of mental health triggers” says Dr. Weinstein. “From social anxiety caused by overwhelming crowds of people to the last-minute cancellations and delays that can test our coping skills, airports put our mental health to the test.” And while for some of us it’s truly a fleeting moment that passes as soon as the wheels finally touch down on your long-awaited vacation, Dr. Weinstein says that for many of us, it’s a situation that pulls back the curtain on unresolved mental health challenges.
The good news is that it’s ok to not feel ok at an airport. In fact, if you’re reading this and finding that these feelings of anxiety ring loud and clear, you just took the first step on your mental health journey: recognizing a problem that you’d like to address.
Here at Mind Health Group, we treat a wide range of anxiety disorders through consultation and medication. We want you to know that while the airport might trigger more extreme anxiety reactions, it’s not uncommon to have feelings of anxiety that affect your everyday life. From mild inconveniences to feeling like you need to completely shut down, anxiety has a way of working itself into our lives. Part of our mission as a company is to make sure everyone knows that “just living with it” is not a treatment.
If you’d like to treat your anxiety to have better experiences in the airport and everywhere else in life, start a conversation with us and learn why OK Starts Today.
