Airports step up mental health aid

ATLANTA — Robin Hancock gently worked her steel tongue drum with a pair of mallets, producing a set of soothing, mystical tones. They blended with the soft sound of chirping birds and bubbling creeks pouring from a Bluetooth speaker. Her warm voice invited the two visitors in the dimly lit room to slip into a nature setting of their choosing.

The 20-minute guided meditation took place at an unlikely location: Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which until 2020 was the world’s busiest passenger hub. The airport interfaith chapel’s executive director, Blair Walker, introduced the meditation sessions last fall in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

People were noticeably more stressed during the past year, Walker said as he stepped out of his office onto the second-floor gallery, which overlooks the airport’s main atrium. Walker is an ordained minister who previously worked in higher education and public health. He said people have been quicker to lose their temper, lose their patience or lose it altogether.

“There was a tightness that I’ve never seen before,” he said.

That’s why he brought on board Hancock, a nature meditation guide, to join his team of 40 volunteer airport chaplains. She said her goal is to provide people with “a piece of calm in whatever storm is going on at that moment” and leave them with a tool to use the next time they’re feeling overwhelmed.

“Traveling is tough,” said Jordan Cattie, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor at Atlanta’s Emory University School of Medicine. Airports, in particular, trigger panic and anxiety because of the frenetic pace, noise and glaring screens, she said, but COVID amplifies travel anxiety.

Airport chaplains have become close witnesses to people’s worsening mental condition. “No doubt, the pandemic has accelerated the need for our services to a new level,” said the Rev. Greg McBrayer.