Suffer From Driving Anxiety

Does your heart rate increase every time you get behind the wheel of a car? Does your chest feel tight and do you experience difficulty breathing? If you experience these emotions, you suffer from driving anxiety. Many people suffer from this problem, and while some have been able to conquer their fear, there are those who have given up driving all together. It is important to understand why this happens, and why you are scared of driving. Having the knowledge and understanding is the best way to overcome the problem.

Those who suffer from driving anxiety find that it is extremely difficult to do many things. Visiting family and friends becomes difficult, and even the act of going to work everyday becomes nearly impossible. Fortunately, this does not have to be a permanent condition. Many people have managed to overcome the problem, and they do not have to suffer anymore. Once people understand what the anxiety is, and what causes it, they can find out what to do about it. They will be able to overcome it, and can start living a normal life.

Anxiety occurs due to brain conditioning and the subconscious mind. Those who experience the anxiety, do so because the brain has been conditioned to experience fear. They feel the presence of danger every time they are behind the wheel. This fear often develops and increases over time due to certain experiences, or situations that occur on the road. With time, the experiences cause the subconscious mind to develop an association between driving and the danger. Fortunately, these conditioning can be reversed. In most cases, the reversal is fairly simple and takes a short time once the concept has been grasped.

Once you have understood how the anxiety was developed, it is easy to overcome it. Everyone has something they fear, and in most cases, the fear is quite irrational. We tend to build up negative experiences, and every time you do this you create a problem. For most people, their fears do not affect their daily life and can be set aside. When the fear affects or interferes with your normal life, it has to be dealt with. Your brain and your subconscious mind have learnt to associate driving with the fearful experiences you have gone through.

It is important to remember that while there are dangerous situations while driving, the same can also be said of walking, crossing the street, and virtually everything we go through every day. It is important to see the fear for what it is. Once you are able to confront it, you can deal with it. The anxiety is brought about by blowing fear out of proportion.

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More on Driving Anxiety - Scared While Driving

For many drivers, once they get behind the wheel, they are totally calm and the act of driving is so natural, it becomes second nature. There are, however, those who get anxious about driving and every time they are behind the wheel, they experience different levels of anxiety. There are many ways to define anxiety and panic attacks. Most people define them as feelings of tension, fear or dread, in the absence of a direct threat or any clear justification. Those who get driving anxiety can not explain why they feel the way the do.

Psychologists describe anxiety as irrational fear. While it is common for most people to feel nervous or stressed when driving in heavy traffic, this is not the same as having anxiety. In some driving situations, some degree of fear or anxiety may even be justified. With driving anxiety, the physical and emotional symptoms are severe and go beyond nervousness. Those who experience the fear get physical as well as an emotional reaction, and the tension is often very high. This condition has left a number of people too scared to drive.

A number of people who get the driving anxiety often find that getting off the road and stopping, will often help to calm them down. The minute they feel an attack coming on, they can pull over and calm down which often takes a few minutes. Once they are off the road, the obsessive thinking that comes with the anxiety attacks is diminished. It is, however, important to get back on the road after the attack has passed. Like with most fears, the best way to deal with it is by not giving in to the fear. The more you build up a negative experience, the worse it becomes.

Most people who have given up driving all together, are those who chose to give in to the fear. What started off as anxiety has been magnified to larger proportions and they are too scared to drive? In order to deal with the panic attacks, it is important to reduce the level by giving yourself permission to fail, without remaining in that position for too long. You should never feel guilty about the need to pull over until you are relaxed. As long as you do not attach much significance to the act, then you will find that you will need to do it less.

Those who fail to conquer the fear are people who do not allow themselves to deal with it. They feel that they have to get it right every time, and the pressure they put on themselves causes them to fail. You must give yourself permission to deal with the anxiety by pulling over until the panic subsides.

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What Triggers Anxiety While Driving, and What Are Some of the Solutions?

Anxiety while driving is a mental disorder affecting both males and females. This involves feelings of immense dread, anxiety and or apprehension towards driving with no justifiable reason. Experts have shown that this condition affects about one in ten people at some point in life. Anxiety while driving falls under mental disorders known as neuroses. Neuroses are phobias that affect individual´s behaviour but not their rational thinking. They may exhibit anxiety every time they sit in a car driving or not. Though it affects both men and women, women are more affected by this condition regardless of their age.

This condition may be triggered by a traumatic experience in the past that affected the motorist like a collision, car accident or any other event. This may cause a motorist to be more apprehensive, unsafe and insecure while driving. The condition may also be triggered by driving under stressful conditions like speeding vehicles on a motorway, or traffic congestion regardless of previous driving experience or accidents encountered. The signs that show a motorist experiencing an anxiety attack are dizziness, trembling or shivering, nausea, headaches, flushing and stomach upset. As these anxiety signs progress, the motorist develops driving phobia. Phobias tend to protect the body against potential dangers. This is when the mind conditions the body into believing that driving is dangerous, so the person may be apprehensive and he may experience panic attacks while on the road.

A motorist may consider consulting a medical professional like a psychiatrist or a psychologist after experiencing such symptoms; he must get a proper diagnosis and know which treatment options are available. This condition is not permanent and, with help, one can overcome it. A motorist may positively affirm him or herself by thinking positively, instead of thinking about the bad experiences in the past. He can reaffirm himself by saying that he is an excellent driver and by thus doing boost his confidence on the road. He or she may also avoid hesitation as this triggers anxiety and panic while driving. If a motorist stops without knowing which way to go, he may worsen the situation causing snarl ups, and he becomes unsure. A motorist may try to relax the body and mind, and ease tension every time he sits in the car, through meditation and he may strengthen his respiration system by trying out some breathing exercises. Another therapeutic means of trying to get back to driving is taking a few minutes a day driving from home, around the neighbourhood and back.

Medical experts suggest that an affected person should do this every ten minutes and have regular five minute breaks. This helps the motorist view driving as a relaxing experience.

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