Overcome the Fear of Driving / Driving with Anxiety

⬅ Equip yourself with all the knowledge you need to get to full anxiety recovery! power

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Anxiety influences our lives in many ways and one thing that i used to love doing but was now heavily impacted by anxiety was driving. Suddenly just the thought of stepping into a car would fire up fight or flight mode and i would be over flooded with anxiety symptoms. This fear got worse over time and i would get regular panic attacks during the drive. My chest would tighten up, my breath shallow, hands sweaty, eyes couldn't focus and i would be extremely sensitive to all the sounds around me. At this stage i was left with no other choice than to find the next possibility for a safe stop and wait for all of this to pass.

Now looking back this reaction makes a lot of sense. As i was suffering from an anxiety disorder and that always goes hand in hand with elevated stress levels. It dint take much additional stress and i would be in a full blown panic attack- and driving can be very stressful at times. And every time we have a panic attack the mind tries to find an explanation on why we feel the way we do. So if are freaking out in the car the brain will associate the car as the source of danger and the next time we step into a car or even just think about it we will jump right back into this state.

So to overcome the fear of divining it is important to rewire your brain. And in this video i will explain some of the simple steps i took to do just this.

[soup]

I’m really afraid of being negligent and accidentally hitting someone or a pedestrian. I don’t ever want to hurt anyone

[itsgivinggirlypop]

i feel so relieved to hear a lot of other people are genuinely struggling with this too

[asheh_]

My anxiety around driving is so bad that even the thought of having to drive in the morning/ the next day makes me unable to sleep. My chest is tight all the time and I'm so tired. This makes school so much harder because I can't always focus on what I need to, because I know I need to drive later on. I really hope this video helps. Im so lost

Edit: HEY GUYS. I just wanna let you know that the more you drive, the less anxious you get. I've been consistently driving everyday now and honestly, the fear went away within two weeks. Not Even, BUT SERIOUSLY. just hang in there, it gets better you guys <3

[julia_biss]

I thought I was the only one struggling with this. I'm anxious about getting anxious on the road and causing an accident

[matthewschardtii]

I feel like there is so much split second micro-choices to make I'm afraid of freezing mentally then crashing. Sadly I acted like that in my driving lesson today. I really want to overcome this fear.

[Evan_Solberg]

So glad I’m not alone, today my dad took me driving for the first time in an empty parking lot. I was doing fine until he told me to go on the road, stress immediately struck. I got on and felt the most scared/nervous I’ve ever been. I pulled into a parking lot and just started crying. Hope I get over this obstacle

[sharharakhanom]

My goal this year is to become a more confident driver but my anxiety is getting the better of me. I have to do this, I do everything I can to avoid it. Only drive to work and back.

[robertsimon]

I have no problem in parking lots, it's on actual roads that make me stiffen up.

[jnrsalonanddayspajenniferr]

I’ve had my permit for 17 years now but I keep trying every year. I’m not going to give up!

[SunnyMeadow-wzni]

My parents are good drivers, and I wish I could just inherit their skills and smart decision making. I don’t trust myself a lot with driving and I feel like i’m going to do something bad, or maybe even traumatic

[Aly.]

My last driving instructor made me not want to drive anymore 😀 now I’m scared and then I get overwhelmed when someone say something and start to cry and get mad :/

[Crispycactusjuice]

My anxiety is weird because I’m perfectly fine driving anywhere but for the life of me I cannot go on the expressway even if it’s less busy or crowded I’m glad to hear that there are others that can relate and I wish you all the best with overcoming your anxiety!

[curiousgemini]

Fear of Covid has caused a relapse of driving anxiety in me. I'm only calm if I drive on familar routes in town.

[glazyhaze]

I’m about to turn 21, still don’t have my license and I’ve probably drove maybe a hood 3 or 4 times in the last 5 years. Just the thought of it makes me wanna freak the fuck out and I know I need to get my license cause it’s like the one thing holding me back in life from doing everyday adult things. Shit sucks man and I feel like a damn coward but I’m scared af me being a nervous breakdown is gonna get me hurt or worse someone else hurt

[realruntz]

I’ve been in so many crashes with trusted drivers and I just can’t seem to shake this fear. I went around the block the other day and someone got behind me as I was preparing to do a left turn, I completely forgot got to turn in my turn signal and ended up doing window wipers and all 😂😂😂

[maisiespence]

I haven't even gotten a license yet, I'm just terrified of being in a car

[detrickjonesjr.]

I have a driving permit, and I always get nervous when it comes to driving with a lot of traffic. What makes it worse is how mom and dad act differently when it comes to be strong willed while driving because they always judge how I drive. I’m still learning how to become more aware of speed limit signs, speed limits, and others. But this, with many other driving vids has helped me become less nervous and more importantly, become more aware of paying attention.

[leeminn]

all of my love ones have gotten into terrible car crashes and some died and my family keeps getting mad at me for not getting my license because i turn 17 this year and i cried all night because of it because i got in really really big trouble about it and now i’m trying really hard to
overcome this fear and anxiety

[solbutton]

Every time I tell people how afraid I am of driving and how much I hate it, they just don’t understand. It’s so frustrating.

[flicksimmons]

I’m currently 18 years old and am petrified of learning how to drive. I’ve only driven 2-3 times in an empty parking lot after I turned 16 and I couldn’t handle it. I still can’t bare the thought of trying to learn again and I’m incredibly worried that I might never get my license.