Do you hate red lights? Can't stand the feeling of cars backed up behind you? Do you dread traffic jams? Are you afraid others are judging you when you drive? Do you hate city driving but love going on road trips? It's easy to assume it's all due to driving phobia. But if you answered "yes" to more than one of these questions, it's possible the cause is actually social anxiety.Use the lists below to find out if it's really driving that's getting under your skin. You may be surprised to learn it's not driving, it's your fellow drivers.
A Few Problems with Just Assuming You Have Driving Phobia.You HATE having cars back up behind you at red lights: Having a bunch of vehicles behind you is very stressful. Who wouldn't feel stressed out? You dread traffic jams: Any normal person dislikes driving in heavy traffic. Having to deal with all those cars in close proximity makes you crazy! You think other drivers judge your driving skills: Look, we live in a very competitive society where we're judged on performance. It's natural that the skills we display behind the wheel will also be judged.
Tell yourself.I trust that life supports me. I am safe. The truth is, you are safe. Driving is an everyday activity that untold millions engage in without incident. The thing that makes you feel anxious is the belief you're in danger. You're really, really not.I am solutions oriented. Driving anxiety disorder is solvable. One of the main reasons people become more and more afraid of driving is because they see it as an intractable problem with no real solution. This is false. This disorder is very treatable - IF you're willing to change your belief that it's not. That's the starting point for all therapies: the belief that change really is possible. I take charge of my emotions, my desires and my abilities. You've gotten in the habit of letting fear take charge of you instead of the other way around. I know the fear feels big and unmanageable. That's perfectly OK. It's still just a feeling, YOUR feeling. It's a feeling that belongs to you. You don't belong to it.I'm confident. I know I will solve my problems successfully. Confidence is simply the belief you can do something. The more you believe you can do it, the more likely you are to do just that. Confidence starts with belief. Beliefs are just thoughts, and affirmations are an effective way to start changing them.
So You Have Driving Phobia. Now What? Whether your driving phobia is gradual or is a result of PTSD, I'm sorry. I sympathize, because I've also suffered with this phobia. It can be a tough thing to live with.The good news is that phobias respond well to treatment. Treatment options for driving phobia (or any other) include: Cognative Behavioral Therapy (CBT),Hypnosis,Gradual Exposure Therapy,Meditation,Self Help.Which Solution is Right for You? In a way, it doesn't matter how you choose to treat your phobia... as long as you take action and are serious about wanting to change. If you approach it sincerely and with a real desire to change, chances are that you will see significant improvement. And of course the opposite is also true.If you're brand-new to phobia and have no experience with anxiety treatment, I recommend you choose a good anxiety treatment therapist. You may need guidance early on in your anxiety recovery.
Those experienced treating and living with other phobias may find that learning meditation or using self-help resources is enough to successfully treat driving phobia. Keep in mind that self-help alone is often not enough for many people, especially if you're inexperienced.Treating Phobias Focuses More on Solutions Than Causes.Whatever caused your driving phobia, treating it successfully means learning new here-and-now skills. It will probably not be necessary to spend much time re-hashing the past.Modern anxiety treatment methods are about retraining your brain, nervous system, and emotions to judge and respond more appropriately to actual dangers instead of perceived ones.
If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. You're one of millions of people gripped by intense fear of driving on freeways, a type of driving phobia.Wikipedia defines a phobia as "persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding". If you have driving phobia, it's probably specific to only a few situations. You may have no problems most of the time, but certain settings trigger powerful sensations of anxiety, panic, and being trapped. Freeways are one of the most common trigger environments.Breaking Down Freeway Fear: What Are You REALLY Afraid Of? It's likely you struggle with one or more of the following:
The initial stage to overcome driving phobia is to identify the source of the fear. To know the cause of the fear will offer significant clues to assist you in selecting a method to overcome it. Different fears - and even different people - react more readily to some types of help than others, so it's worth experimenting. After you have identified the cause of the fear, then you can choose a treatment option which can possibly help and start your recovery.
One technique which can help to overcome this problem is to go through a driving training course. Often the fear comes because you do not have enough confidence in your driving skills or because you have experienced a minor accident or even a moving violation. In circumstances like this a driving course will be of great help. The course will assist you develop your skills which will raise your confidence in your abilities behind the wheel. When you feel better regarding your capability in driving, you should be in a position to do it with no fear.
A very effective way of approaching driving anxiety is to examine your mindset going into your "trigger" situations. A trigger situation may be a certain street, bridge, highway, etc. where you tend to feel most anxious. Going into these trigger situations, anxious and panicked drivers often convince themselves they will have a panic attack.These types of thoughts tend to defeat any attempted efforts being made to help yourself with driving anxiety. Someone who has a strong desire to be able to drive comfortably will never achieve that state of mind when they are preparing to panic in certain situations.
Hypnosis is another helpful alternative to people having a typically milder fear such as general anxiety. Hypnosis can be conducted by a hypnotist or specialized therapist or sometimes it may be self-induced by use of audio recordings. The hypnosis should train your mind to respond to the experience to drive with tranquil confidence rather than panic and anxiety.If the driving phobia is more severe, possibly resulting from a traumatic incident like serious crash, the best choice can be to go for professional counseling and therapy. Jointly working with a professional, you can slowly overcome your fears in a secure environment. Techniques may be used that develop exposure to drive on a controlled road until you are in a position to perform the task without fear. Group therapy may also be helpful since you know that you are not alone. In the group set up, guidelines and techniques are usually shared concerning methods of overcoming the problem. Sometimes medication is prescribed to alleviate anxiety as another option to deal with driving phobia.
A Few Problems with Just Assuming You Have Driving Phobia.You HATE having cars back up behind you at red lights: Having a bunch of vehicles behind you is very stressful. Who wouldn't feel stressed out? You dread traffic jams: Any normal person dislikes driving in heavy traffic. Having to deal with all those cars in close proximity makes you crazy! You think other drivers judge your driving skills: Look, we live in a very competitive society where we're judged on performance. It's natural that the skills we display behind the wheel will also be judged.
Tell yourself.I trust that life supports me. I am safe. The truth is, you are safe. Driving is an everyday activity that untold millions engage in without incident. The thing that makes you feel anxious is the belief you're in danger. You're really, really not.I am solutions oriented. Driving anxiety disorder is solvable. One of the main reasons people become more and more afraid of driving is because they see it as an intractable problem with no real solution. This is false. This disorder is very treatable - IF you're willing to change your belief that it's not. That's the starting point for all therapies: the belief that change really is possible. I take charge of my emotions, my desires and my abilities. You've gotten in the habit of letting fear take charge of you instead of the other way around. I know the fear feels big and unmanageable. That's perfectly OK. It's still just a feeling, YOUR feeling. It's a feeling that belongs to you. You don't belong to it.I'm confident. I know I will solve my problems successfully. Confidence is simply the belief you can do something. The more you believe you can do it, the more likely you are to do just that. Confidence starts with belief. Beliefs are just thoughts, and affirmations are an effective way to start changing them.
So You Have Driving Phobia. Now What? Whether your driving phobia is gradual or is a result of PTSD, I'm sorry. I sympathize, because I've also suffered with this phobia. It can be a tough thing to live with.The good news is that phobias respond well to treatment. Treatment options for driving phobia (or any other) include: Cognative Behavioral Therapy (CBT),Hypnosis,Gradual Exposure Therapy,Meditation,Self Help.Which Solution is Right for You? In a way, it doesn't matter how you choose to treat your phobia... as long as you take action and are serious about wanting to change. If you approach it sincerely and with a real desire to change, chances are that you will see significant improvement. And of course the opposite is also true.If you're brand-new to phobia and have no experience with anxiety treatment, I recommend you choose a good anxiety treatment therapist. You may need guidance early on in your anxiety recovery.
Those experienced treating and living with other phobias may find that learning meditation or using self-help resources is enough to successfully treat driving phobia. Keep in mind that self-help alone is often not enough for many people, especially if you're inexperienced.Treating Phobias Focuses More on Solutions Than Causes.Whatever caused your driving phobia, treating it successfully means learning new here-and-now skills. It will probably not be necessary to spend much time re-hashing the past.Modern anxiety treatment methods are about retraining your brain, nervous system, and emotions to judge and respond more appropriately to actual dangers instead of perceived ones.
If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. You're one of millions of people gripped by intense fear of driving on freeways, a type of driving phobia.Wikipedia defines a phobia as "persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding". If you have driving phobia, it's probably specific to only a few situations. You may have no problems most of the time, but certain settings trigger powerful sensations of anxiety, panic, and being trapped. Freeways are one of the most common trigger environments.Breaking Down Freeway Fear: What Are You REALLY Afraid Of? It's likely you struggle with one or more of the following:
The initial stage to overcome driving phobia is to identify the source of the fear. To know the cause of the fear will offer significant clues to assist you in selecting a method to overcome it. Different fears - and even different people - react more readily to some types of help than others, so it's worth experimenting. After you have identified the cause of the fear, then you can choose a treatment option which can possibly help and start your recovery.
One technique which can help to overcome this problem is to go through a driving training course. Often the fear comes because you do not have enough confidence in your driving skills or because you have experienced a minor accident or even a moving violation. In circumstances like this a driving course will be of great help. The course will assist you develop your skills which will raise your confidence in your abilities behind the wheel. When you feel better regarding your capability in driving, you should be in a position to do it with no fear.
A very effective way of approaching driving anxiety is to examine your mindset going into your "trigger" situations. A trigger situation may be a certain street, bridge, highway, etc. where you tend to feel most anxious. Going into these trigger situations, anxious and panicked drivers often convince themselves they will have a panic attack.These types of thoughts tend to defeat any attempted efforts being made to help yourself with driving anxiety. Someone who has a strong desire to be able to drive comfortably will never achieve that state of mind when they are preparing to panic in certain situations.
Hypnosis is another helpful alternative to people having a typically milder fear such as general anxiety. Hypnosis can be conducted by a hypnotist or specialized therapist or sometimes it may be self-induced by use of audio recordings. The hypnosis should train your mind to respond to the experience to drive with tranquil confidence rather than panic and anxiety.If the driving phobia is more severe, possibly resulting from a traumatic incident like serious crash, the best choice can be to go for professional counseling and therapy. Jointly working with a professional, you can slowly overcome your fears in a secure environment. Techniques may be used that develop exposure to drive on a controlled road until you are in a position to perform the task without fear. Group therapy may also be helpful since you know that you are not alone. In the group set up, guidelines and techniques are usually shared concerning methods of overcoming the problem. Sometimes medication is prescribed to alleviate anxiety as another option to deal with driving phobia.
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