“It's very normal for people to experience anxiety when they're on flights,” says Dr Michelle Chan, a clinical psychologist. “Anxiety isn’t necessarily a disorder; it’s just a feeling, like joy and sadness. Think of the film Inside Out.”

Dr. Chan explains that a fear of flying can stem from multiple contributing factors.

“From a psychological standpoint, it can be a case of people liking to control things,” says Dr Chan. “We might be fine when we’re the driver. But when we fly, we don't have control – over what the aircraft or the weather will be like, or whether there’ll be delays.

“There can also be situational factors, such as a previous bad experience – not necessarily our own, but a story recounted by a friend or reported in the news. These stories, which tend to be negative, can give us a skewed perception of flying.”

Then there’s the long checklist of things you need to do before you travel – from booking excursions to packing your suitcase – which can make it difficult to switch from alert to relaxed once you board your flight.

“In the days, weeks and even months before a flight, people start to worry about things like, ‘am I going to make the flight’ or ‘will I have a long wait when transiting’”, says Dr Chan.

This means that even though you know it’s time to relax and enjoy the journey, your brain and body may struggle to do so.

Dr Chan explains: “If your anxiety is mild – at the level of, ‘oh, perhaps the weather won’t be good today’ – you might be able to talk yourself out of it. You can remind yourself that pilots are able to fly in all kinds of weather. We call this cognitive reframing.

“However, when your level of anxiety shoots up, it’s no use trying to tell yourself ‘I shouldn’t be anxious’,” she continues. “You’ll have repetitive negative thoughts. You may experience shortness of breath, palpitations, tense muscles, a headache, or even nausea.”

These responses in your brain and body hardly make for a pleasant start to your holiday. The good news, however, is that there are ways to mitigate them.