Does anyone else get anxiety while driving? If so can you recommend any remedies?

[ShakeyD]

Anxiety while driving

[Agora1]

ShakeyD, there was a time when my anxiety was so high that I hated being stopped

at a train crossing. I would go into the left lane so if I had to escape, I could make a U turn.

If the light was turning red, I'd go in the right lane so I could make a right turn and not feel

stuck.

Toll roads were difficult esp. when merging. As you begin to fear all these things, your world gets a little smaller each time. There were even times I took side roads as far as I could in getting to a store.

It was then I became Agoraphobic and I started working on myself. That is when I discovered Meditation and Breathing which became the "key" to my overcoming both

agoraphobia and anxiety. Breathing properly did wonders to that anxious feeling in my

stomach. It brought down the adrenaline. Driving no longer became fearful, going to the

big box stores no longer were a trigger. Breathing was a life changing key for me.

I use it throughout the day while watching tv, writing on the forum. It keeps me in a calm

peaceful state of mind and body. YouTube as many videos on Breathing (3-5 min is all you need) Wish you well xx

[ShakeyD in reply to Agora1]

What kind of meditation would you do?

[TangledUpIn]

I definitely get anxious when driving. I was out today to get one thing (a watch battery) and the neighborhood was swarming with cars and people. I got anxious real fast and had to head home😬 I prefer to be a passenger.

[Theloudone]

I’ve had a few panic attacks while driving. It’s definitely scary and the thought of it occurring again can exasperate it.

Something that you can have on hand is peppermint oil- sniff that to help bring your scenes to the present. The other thing that helps me during a panic attack behind the wheel is to notice something 5 things I can hear.

[ShakeyD in reply to Theloudone]

Never heard of using peppermint oil. Does that actually work?

[Theloudone in reply to ShakeyD]

Yes! Don’t just trust the research. I tried it myself and found it helpful. The potent scent brought my mind to the present - taking me out of fight or flight response.

I think there are other actual reasons why it decreases stress and anxiety- but that’s the reason why it worked for me.

[ShakeyD in reply to Theloudone]

Thanks. Ill try it out.

[witherrae]

Stalking this post for answers

[Willow91]

The remedy kind of depends on the situation, like if the anxiety was triggered by an event or if it was always there. If there's any OCD elements like checking or obsessively thinking about it afterwards then that might require OCD treatment as well. I have OCD and didn't realize it when I started developing a fear of driving. I wish I could tell you a success story, but I wasn't able to deal with it and I stopped driving altogether. I just want you to know that you're not alone.

[ShakeyD in reply to Willow91]

Thank you for your support. It really does help and i appreciate it.

[Hidden]

I am so proud of you! I don't even have my license because I'm so anxious all the time. I hope it gets easier for you. My cousin who also has anxiety driving says: good smelling lotion, ice water, and the AC blasting helps her!

[ShakeyD in reply to Hidden]

Good advice, thanks

[Hidden in reply to ShakeyD]

You're welcome!

[Hidden]

I'm trying to get back in the hang of driving after I was in a really bad traumatic accident a few years ago where I'm lucky I wasn't hurt but it did completely total the car. So for me I especially get anxious making left turns and driving in really heavy traffic where some impatient people just love to stupidly honk at you and startle you for no good reason because of course that's how my accident played out. So what I've been doing is I drive with my mom sometimes down roads when the traffic isn't that bad and I'm not going very fast and I feel less pressure. I don't have a problem with freeways but it does still cause me a lot of anxiety to try to drive around when it's around 5pm rush hour time and you really have to watch out for some other people who aren't really paying attention to what their doing. I'm building up to it, I don't even have my own car these days. I take buses and Uber cabs sometimes and I walk to some different places in town where I hang out and it isn't easy but I will say I get my exercise in walking around so much and I really feel for some people where it's their lifestyle where they absolutely HAVE to take a bus to get to work!!!! Public buses really make me nervous, you've got to watch your back. And I absolutely AVOID where I had my accident, it's a spot not far from my parents house that I found out is considered one of the top 3 worst intersections in all of Michigan where the police have noted has had so many accidents so apparently I'm far from being an isolated case there. Yeah, this is a Michigan thing, because we're so big on being the motor city there is no subway like NYC has or I know in the San Francisco area they have this BART train where you can park your car and then the train takes you into the city so that cuts down on congestion but no, we're Michigan where if you don't have a car you're just screwed and there really needs to be better public transportation but that's a whole other issue. So I think the best thing I can say to you is just keep practicing and build up to the situations that cause the most anxiety.