Anxiety attack out of the blue when driving.

[Jo0410]

I am 49 and work in a national healthcare system in England. I have been driving since I was 18 and never been much of an anxious person outside of the car. I was involved in a road traffic accident as a passenger in my 20s where the driver drove fast down a bending road and the car spun around and we rolled over to to the roof. The car was mine. Since then bends in roads have occasionally made me nervous but only at high speeds and this didn't really come out until a few years later. Shortly after my accident I was driving hundreds of miles each week to Derby to see my then boyfriend and it never bothered me. But as I have got older and in last ten years stopped doing motorway driving completely. Always been fine on general A and B roads through towns and villages.

Anyway of late been stressed at work, have been driving less through pandemic but always at least 2 days a week to work rather than normal 5. I don't go out much apart from that so don't know if this has had a slow knock on my driving confidence that i didn't notice before. About 4 weeks ago I suddenly started thinking that my brand new car felt wobbly when going into corners. I had it checked out and supposedly nothing wrong but I have started getting worse and worse panic attacks. never had panic attacks as such before but these have become overwhelming. It is like an irrationally fear when a car behind me comes too close, just like normal rush hour traffic and I suddenly feel overwhelming need to slow down to like 10 miles a hour to get around a bend instead of the usual 20-40 depending on road type. As the weeks have passed I am now getting anxious outside the car when I know I have to go to work. Had to stop 10 times on way home on Monday for a 15 miles journey. I am supposed to drive on Thursday but told my boss for the first time about these feelings and not gone to work today and have booked myself a GP appt which is virtual to see if I can perhaps try an SSRI. I had a panic attack situation for the first time 4 years ago which was treated with a beta blocker and that resolved after 1 month and never had the attack again till this time around.

Just wondering if anyone else had had these out of the blue anxiety attacks especially if not been diagnosed with anxiety before. I feel like I am losing my marbles as never felt this out of control before. I am not sure if it is partly down to Menopause that I am probably going through at the moment (hot flushes galore) and probably too many energy drinks due to the fatigue of work stress. (The ones I have drunk lately seem to have B6 vitamin in them and may have added even more B6 vitamin complex when I was taking multivitamins but stopped since these attacks).

Sorry for the ramble and thanks in advance.

[notanotter]

It sounds like you’re doing the right thing to talk to a GP about the panic attacks. I have not had outright panic attacks, but I do have more anxiety when driving than I did two years ago. I told my partner I don’t even want to drive anymore.

Some (obnoxious or immature) people are driving much faster, closer, and keep nearly hitting other cars because they’re so impatient and won’t wait to pass. It makes driving more stressful and dangerous than it used to be.

So, you’re not paranoid and you’re not alone. Most of us have more anxiety. Maybe your body is recalling the old accident to try to protect you. I hope it gets better for you.

[Jo0410 in reply to notanotter]

Thanks for your reply notanotter. My doctor yesterday put me on setraline so we will see if this make any difference in the longer term and my work is allowing me to work from home every day for the timebeing. But certainly had some experiences lately with obnoxious drivers driving too fast and then overtaking me and others in front all in one go and nearly causing an accident to the driver in front of me as the car came back into the lane so close to them that I had to brake hard too.

[Midori]

I think the stress at work has made you subconsciously not want to be there, and your brain has reacted by bringing up the accident as a result.

[Jo0410 in reply to Midori]

That is a good point Midori. I don't particularly want to be there. Even on the days when I work from home unfortunately alot of rude people calling and expecting the impossible when it comes to clinic appointments. Hopefully the anxiety medicine will pull me out of the fog and it all wont seem so bad soon.