Why people cry on planes: the ‘Mile Cry Club’ explained and other emotional and sensory risks
- Why do people start sobbing over Deadpool or airline safety videos on planes? There could be a host of reasons, from feeling a lack of control to fatigue
- It’s not just emotions that can go haywire on planes – many of your senses are also compromised, with a variety of interesting results
When model and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen asked on Twitter whether there is a reason she cries more at movies while on a plane, she tapped into a shared – and apparently emotional – travel experience.
The answer from her followers was an overwhelming “yes”. They attested to sobbing over Deadpool 2, Bridget Jones’s Baby, airline safety videos – you name it. And the reasons hypothesised to explain the emotions were just as varied. It’s the vodka. Or the altitude. Or the lower oxygen levels in the blood.
Comedian Joe Randazzo, confessed plane-crier at Legally Blonde 2 and Thor: Ragnarok, offered a slightly morbid view: “Some say it’s the air pressure but I believe it’s because deep down your subconscious knows it might be the last movie you ever see.”
Although there are far more anecdotes than pieces of solid research, psychologists can point to explanations behind what’s been dubbed the “Mile Cry Club”.
The effect of altitude on emotions is one of the interests of Jodi De Luca, a clinical psychologist in the US state of Colorado. She says passengers might feel a lack of control over their environment or a sense of anxiety that something bad could happen on the plane. That prompts the brain to produce a stress hormone, which can result in an increased heart rate and faster breathing.