Study Says Frequently Flying May Be Bad for Your Mental Health
Joe Cortez August 21, 2015
Study completed by European professors suggests frequent flying comes with “physiological, psychological, emotional and social costs.”
Could frequent flying be an emotionally damaging proposition? The Daily Mail reports a study completed by a pair of European researchers concluded hypermobility comes with an increased risk of psychological damage.
The 15-page study, titled “A darker side of hypermobility,” was printed in Volume 47 of Environment and Planning A, a peer-reviewed journal focusing on human geography and environmental studies. In their investigation, the researchers argue that while travel is an important part of establishing identity, the activity of traveling too often can be damaging over time. The researchers conclude that frequent flying comes with “…physiological, psychological, emotional and social costs of mobility for individuals and societies.”
The study focused on many different aspects of how regular travel can be damaging to flyers, including the regular risk of physiological problems. The most common of these was jet lag, with some flyers feeling the effects up to six days after traveling. The researchers also pointed out several other risks inherent to frequent flying, including exposure to germs, dehydration and the potential of deep vein thrombosis.
However, the research team also identified several ways frequent flyers could experience psychological damage as a result of their travel habits, concluding that frequent travel can be an isolating experience. While visiting new destinations may be culturally enriching, the researchers discovered that frequent flying can lead to problems in creating lasting friendships, while regular business travel can have a negative impact on families due to the absence of a parent.
“Mobile lifestyles left many of the participants in these studies searching for more enduring relationships,” the researchers wrote in the study. “Mobility in such cases cuts both ways, leading also to distress when returning ‘home’.”
While the study was written to show “the darker sides of hypermobility,” not all studies agree that travel is a hazardous experience. A 2001 study printed in the Journal of Clinical Activities, Assignments & Handouts in Psychotherapy Practice (now known as the Journal of Creativity in Mental Health) discovered some travel can also have therapeutic effects on travelers.
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The premise of this study is abundantly demonstrated by a random sampling of postings on this site's various fora.
I'm glad I'm a giraffe and not affected by this.
Actually, despite my frequent travel, I do think that creating lasting friendships is not that difficult, and know people that would consider me their friend (and I consider them the same) across 4 continents. Do also keep in mind that not all of us frequent flyers want a family to begin with (I mean, many of us already have very little spare/free time as it is.) Jet lag to me does not seem a huge problem, considering I can (over)sleep on planes easily and I can adjust to my desired time zone before I even board the flight. Dehydration is mainly avoidable as well (and something that many people on land also deal with.)