needing support

[cheryl2827]

I've been dealing with panic and anxiety all my adult life and have taken the medications, therapy. My main problem is driving myself where I need to go and at times staying there, such as work. I desperately need someone to talk to during the rough times....lately that is EVERY MORNING on my drive to work. Today I feel as though I'm at my wits end, don't know how much more of this I can take. Work has called...evidently boss didn't get my message about being late this morning...sending someone to get me...hoping once I'm there and busy I will feel better...usually do...just getting there is major problem.

[Jeff1943]

Cheryl, all you have to do is to accept the bad feelings you have about driving for the time being and keep driving. You see, the problem isn't your driving, nothing bad is going to happen to you while driving, the problem is anxiety. Your nerves have become over sensitive which is what causes your fear of driving and the fear also fuels your anxiety in a vicious circle of fear-anxiety-more fear-more anxiety etc.

You can overcome your bad feelings about driving by just accepting them for the moment as calmly as you can and driving regardless of those bad feelings. They are uncomfortable but they don't stop you from driving safeky, believe me. So let anxiety be your troublesome passenger, agree to co-exist with it fir the time being and stop fighting it because fighting causes more tension and your nerves don't need any more of that.

It will take time to recover but if you just accept the anxiety and drive on regardless and pay less attention to the anxiety and attach less importance to it then eventually your anxiety feelings die of neglect and disperse.

So just keep driving as normal, nothing bad is going to happen to you, Cheryl, everything is going to be fine and all you have to do is accept the symptoms with the least of fear and sirt of just switch onto autopilot. Speak to your anxiety as you drive, say: "You're not going to stop me getting to work, you are just a blip in my nervous system, you can't really harm me, all you can do is to frighten me and now I've got you sussed I'm less and less frightened. So you just sit there and enjoy the ride because you're not going to be around for much longer, in fact you can get out at the next traffic lights, I don't care either way!"

Say this in your head of course if you do it out loud other road users will think you're really cuckoo😁

So don't worry about anything Cheryl, dont give the drive a second thought, you are a capable driver and everything will be o.k.