Anyone with driving anxiety

[Heaven-bound]

I have been dealing with driving anxiety for about 5 years now. I am tired, and takes a lot of energy to battle this. I am looking for ways to get the negative thoughts n fear out ofy head while driving. Anyone else out there I would love to hear from you.

[m123454]

Hi! I still don’t have my license because my anxiety gets so bad- you’re not alone. My therapist told me that driving is something we just have to do and as soon as we think negatively about it we have to overcome it with a positive thought. For example, I think of car accidents a lot by semis, so instead I think “I need freedom so I have to drive” or “I can’t wait to get to this destination to get..” etc. Playing music at a low volume can help, some grounding exercises, and driving with someone else in the car and having a conversation with that person too.

I hope this helps! Have a nice day

[despowell]

I too suffer from driving anxiety. I had a really bad panic attack last week in the car and ever since I’ve been making my husband drive me around... I don’t want to lose my sense of driving but it’s so hard to drive without getting anxiety. You are not alone!

[Jeff1943]

You deal with driving anxiety the same way you deal with any other form of anxiety. Don't fight it when it comes, accept it for the time being. Don't keep wishing it will go away, it most likely won't.

I say again, keep driving but accept the anxiety for the moment. You know very well that you are a safe driver: you are a safer driver than people without driving anxiety because you are more careful, more on your guard than them.

Remind yourself of this fact frequently, say to yourself: "I may feel nervous but I'm a safer, more careful driver than any other driver on the road so I'm not going to have an accident. As for my driving nerves: so what? I will accept them and just get on with my driving."

If someone thinks you're being too careful or too slow say: "Who cares? That's their problem, I drive with extra caution, they should try it, there would be less accidents."

So accept your feelings of anxiety: do what you fear and the death of fear is assured!

Eventually you will feel more confident because you have driven thousands of miles without major incident. Eventually you find yourself driving along thinking about other things and you suddenly say to yourself: "Hey, I've driven 50 miles today and I forgot to feel anxious!"

Your driving anxiety fades away because you accepted it for the time being and carried on driving instead of fighting it.

[Reading_Rando in reply to Jeff1943]

I wish every driver on the road was like you, that would give me much less to be anxious about.

[Jeff1943 in reply to Reading_Rando]

With respect, Reading_Rando, it's your good self who should be more like me in the 1970s when I too experienced driver anxiety and overcame it by accepting it for the time being.

I suggest it's not the other drivers on the road that are the problem.

Acceptance is part of the teachings of Claire Weekes for overcoming anxiety disorder of all kinds. Her method can be summed up in 6 words: Face. Accept. Float. Let time pass.

The first thing we have to do is 'Face' the fact that we have a problem which can only be solved by changing our way of thinking and facing that which we fear.

We have to change ourselves not others.

[Reading_Rando in reply to Jeff1943]

My take away from this, is that as long as you dont run away from it and keep challenging it things will get better. I appreciate the perspective.

[EndUser13]

Oh yes! I always hated driving, I stopped driving ages ago because I felt like I was endangering myself and others when I got behind the wheel.

I remember listening to high-tempo music I enjoyed when driving, it seemed to make things easier.

[Expo123]

Just saw your post Heaven-bound and wanted to give you some encouragement. I had a driving license for around 20 years but never did anything with it because I was so scared to actually drive. I finally started driving around 5 years ago, due to a life circumstance that made it a necessity, but it was brutally hard for me at the start because I have anxiety and get nervous quickly. What I did was start with very short drives, never going far from where I live. I still don't go on highways but just over the past few months I've managed to go on drives as long as 30 minutes. I've been getting used to using an app on my phone called WAZE. It allows me to select an "avoid highways" option (most of the other apps do that too). Because I'm usually in some kind of residential area, it helps me to know that I can turn onto a side street and park any time I want to if my anxiety is getting the best of me. What I've also done is try to plan 1 drive per week where I go somewhere I haven't driven before. Again it doesn't have to be far, but I find each time I do that I feel a little bit better and less fearful. All I can tell you is that if I'm able to do it you definitely can too. Don't hesitate to message me if you need some encouragement.