with poll: Air travelers should expect stress linked to terrorism fears, University of Michigan psychiatry professor says

"What happened on Christmas Day certainly puts this on the forefront of people's minds: 'Is there going to be a terrorist on my plane?'" said Rachel Glick, who is also director of U-M's psychiatric emergency services.

"People cope with that it different ways," Glick said. "First of all, travel is stressful for a lot of people anyway. And a lot of people are already afraid of flying."

During holidays and times of travel, many people interrupt their typical eating, drinking and sleeping patterns. "It all adds up," Glick said.

On Sunday, on the same flight between Amsterdam and Detroit, another plane reported problems when a passenger refused to come out of the bathroom during landing. Authorities later said the passenger was simply ill.

"When I heard about what happened with the man who had a sick stomach, it made me think there's almost this hysteria," Glick said.

Her suggestions for calming the nerves of air travelers?

Nervous travelers should prepare themselves first by sticking to the basics of getting proper sleep, nutrition and hydration. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, Glick said.

She suggested people focus on things that make them relax outside of flying - and think practically about the actual threat of having a problem while flying. For many people, that perceived threat may be hugely inflated right now after hearing about the incident, she said.

"People need to keep reminding themselves, when you look at the numbers, you're more likely be be hurt on I-94 than in an airplane," she said. "But how many people are nervous when pulling on the exit ramp? It's an issue because of what they're comfortable with."

Tina Reed covers health and the environment for AnnArbor.com. You can reach her at tinareed@annarbor.com, call her at 734-623-2535 or find her on Twitter @TreedinAA.