The tiny screen bounces in front of you, the sound quality is terrible, constant interruptions. Watching a movie while flying is not a pleasant pleasure. Nevertheless, the constant "flyers" must have found themselves in a situation - or have seen with their own eyes - how the most harmless films during the flight turn into masterpieces of cinema. Even frivolous comedies like The Simpsons can make passengers cry.
Physicist and TV presenter Brian Cox and musician Ed Sheeran admitted that they get overly emotional when watching films on airplanes. A survey by London Gatwick Airport found that 15% of men and 6% of women said they were more likely to cry while watching a movie on the plane than at home.
One of the major airlines even began to warn passengers before viewing about "excessive stress on the emotional state" that could upset them.
There are many theories about why flying can make passengers more vulnerable to tears - the absence of loved ones, the anxiety before the trip, homesickness. But there is also evidence that the flight itself may be the cause.
Recent research suggests that being 10 kilometers above the ground, in a sealed metal tube, can have strange responses to our minds, change moods, feelings, and even make it itch.
“Not much research has been done on this topic in the past, as it is not a big deal for healthy people,” says Jochen Hinkelbein, President of the German Society for Aerospace Medicine and Assistant Medical Director for Emergency Medicine at the University of Cologne. “But as air travel becomes cheaper and more popular, older, less healthy people are starting to travel by air. Hence the interest."
Hinkelbein is one of the few researchers now studying how the conditions we experience in flight can affect the human body and mind.
Promotional video:
There is no doubt that the cockpit is the most intriguing place to visit. An amazing environment in which the air pressure is commensurate with that of the 2.4 kilometers high mountain. Humidity is lower than in the driest deserts in the world, and the air that is pumped into the cabin is cooled to 10 degrees Celsius to remove excess heat generated by bodies and electronics on board.
Reduced air pressure in air travel can reduce the amount of oxygen in the blood of passengers by 6-25%. In the hospital, with such indicators, doctors are already prescribing additional oxygen. It is safe for healthy passengers, but older people can experience breathing problems, as can those who already have such problems.
There have been studies, however, that have shown that relatively mild hypoxia (lack of oxygen) can reduce our ability to think clearly. At an oxygen level corresponding to an altitude of 3.6 kilometers, healthy adults can notice significant changes in memory, ability to calculate and make decisions. Therefore, the aviation authorities insist that pilots wear oxygen masks if the pressure in the cockpit is equivalent to an altitude above 3.8 kilometers.
What's unusual is that air pressure at 2.1 kilometers has been shown to increase reaction times - bad news for those who enjoy playing computer games while flying.
There have also been studies that have shown that there may be a slight decrease in cognition and judgment at an oxygen level corresponding to an altitude of 2.4 kilometers - like in the cockpits of aircraft. Most of us are unlikely to notice a change.
“A healthy person - a pilot or a passenger - shouldn't have cognitive problems at this altitude,” says Hinkelbein. "If a person is not completely healthy, or someone is sick with the flu, hypoxia can reduce oxygen saturation so much that cognitive deficit becomes apparent."
But Hinkelbein also says that the mild hypoxia we experience while flying can have other easily recognizable effects on our brains - for example, we get tired. Studies in hypobaric chambers and non-acclimatized military personnel arriving in mountainous areas have shown that short-term exposure to an altitude of at least 3 kilometers can increase fatigue, but in some people this also manifests itself at lower altitudes.
“Whenever I sit on a plane after takeoff, I feel tired and can easily fall asleep,” explains Hinkelbein. "It's not that the lack of oxygen will send me into oblivion, but hypoxia definitely contributes to this."
If you can manage to keep your eyes open long enough to see the cockpit lights dim, you will experience a different effect of reduced air pressure. A person's night vision can deteriorate by 5-10% at an altitude of only 1.5 kilometers. This is due to the fact that the cells of the photoreceptor in the retina, which is needed for night vision, are in great need of oxygen and can hardly get everything they need at high altitudes, which will reduce their efficiency.
Flying also wreaks havoc on our senses. The combination of low air pressure and humidity can reduce the sensitivity of our taste buds to salty and sweet things by up to 30%. A study by Lufthansa also showed that tomato juice tastes better in flight.
Dry air can also rob our sense of smell, making food tasteless and bland. This is why many airlines add condiments to their meals to make them palatable for absorption during the flight. Perhaps it's a good thing that our sense of smell diminishes during flight. Because the change in air pressure makes gas more frequent.
And while the prospect of breathing in the bodily gases of your fellow passengers doesn't bother you, the pressure drop also makes passengers feel anxious. A 2007 study found that after three hours at altitude, like in the cockpit, people begin to complain of discomfort.
Add low humidity to that, and it's no surprise that we find it difficult to sit still on long flights. A study by Austrian scientists has shown that long-distance flight can dry up the skin by 37% and cause itching.
Low levels of air pressure and humidity can also exacerbate the effects of alcohol and hangovers the next day. But these are still flowers. Get ready for some really bad news.
“With hypoxia, anxiety levels can increase,” explains Valerie Martindale, president of the Aerospace Medical Association at King's College London. Anxiety is not the only aspect of mood that can change during flight. Several studies have shown that staying at altitude can increase negative emotions, tension, make people angrier, less energetic, and interfere with stress management.
“We have shown that some aspects of mood can change when exposed to cabin pressure equivalent to an altitude of 2–2.5 km,” says Stephen Legg, professor of ergonomics at Massey University in New Zealand, who studies the effects of moderate hypoxia on humans. This might explain why some passengers might cry over a movie mid-flight, but most of the effects studied in this study should appear above the altitude at which passenger planes normally fly. Moderate dehydration, Legg says, can also affect mood.
“We know very little about the effects of several mild stressors on complex thinking and mood processes,” he adds. “But we know that general fatigue is definitely associated with long-haul flights, so I am inclined to assume that the combination of these effects leads to“flight fatigue”.
There is also research showing that height can make people happier.
Stephen Groening, professor of cinematography and media at the University of Washington, believes that happiness can be expressed in tears. The boredom of the flight and the relief that the movie brings, combined with the privacy of the small screen and headphones, can bring tears of joy rather than sadness.
“The configuration of flight entertainment devices creates a proximity effect that can heighten emotional responses,” Gröning says. “You can cry on the plane from relief, not necessarily from sadness.”
Hinkelbein found another strange change in the human body that can interfere with the normal functioning of our bodies. Even 30 minutes in a commercial airliner can alter the balance of molecules associated with the immune system. That is, low air pressure can change how our immune system works.
If flying does change our immune system, it will not only make us more vulnerable to infection, but it will also change our mood.
“People are used to thinking they have a cold or flu when traveling because of climate change,” Hinkelbein says. “But the reason could be a change in the immune response in flight. This should be studied in more detail."
If our immune function does change in flight, it will not only make us more vulnerable to infections, but it will also change our mood. It is believed that inflammation may be associated with depression.
"The inflammatory response following a vaccine can lead to a 48 hour drop in mood," says Ed Bullmore, head of psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, who studies how the immune system affects mood. "It would be interesting if a 12-hour flight to the other side of the world caused something similar."
Ilya Khel