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Avatar universal

arggh red lights and anxiety

few years ago had a huge problem with anixety when it came to riving/stop lights

i just felt uncomfortable and would get panic attacks

at stop lights i felt trapped

i would go out of my way to avoid them

(lets face it though some stop lights hsould be avoided with how long they take)

anyway i got over it without medication oranything and ended up being great at driving again

in fact for work i had to drive all the way to indiana (3 hours away) and i did it with no problems. I wasnt nervous at all

Another time i drove 2 hours alone with no problems

but last week i was in traffic at a stop light waiting to turn red and a bus was at the light/ buses cant turn right on red and i was getting annoyed that they just wouldnt go

i ended up getting panicky like i use to and since then my driving is starting to get affected again

mostly at these two stop lights I CAN NOT avoid

I try to stay calm and say "hey there gonna change, theres nothing different" or "who cares if they break? people will realize"

im turning music up all that but its starting to creep up which i do not want to happen

any tips on how i can squash this now!?
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370181 tn?1595629445
For those of us with anxiety, we often go out of our way to avoid the situation/people/place etc when we first had an anxiety attack. It's called, obviously enough, "avoidance," and it's very common.

But the question is, did you have an anxiety attack BECAUSE of those lights specifically, or did you just happen to be at those lights when your first attack hit you? Do you see how, in your mind, you could easily relate the attack to the lights when in fact it could (and most likely was) something totally unrelated to them.

I think it would really be beneficial for you to talk about this with a therapist. Personally I don't think it's the lights........they are simply the trigger for your anxiety. Find the root cause of that anxiety and you'll be able to deal with it head on and overcome it. Your therapist will guide you and also give you valuable tools to help deal with the anxiety.

Since you've written to us, you are obviously motivated to get this anxiety out of your life..........use that motivation to seek help and get your life back.

I wish you the best. We are always here if you need to talk
RubyWitch
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Avatar universal
its the stop lighs. its those two because thats where i had the problems before
Helpful - 0
370181 tn?1595629445
You say that your sense of anxiety/panic is happening "mostly at these two stop lights I CAN NOT avoid."

Why THOSE specific lights? Did something happen there that caused you to first feel anxious, and as you've said "trapped?"
Were you in a car accident there in which you could not get out of your car for some reason? Car accidents can be extremely traumatic.

You've had this problem before and said you got over it without medication. Did you talk to a doctor or therapist about this then? But you fine for a number of years until just recently it has come back. Do you know what triggered the resurfacing of this fear? It had to have been something more intense than getting angry a bus wouldn't take it's free turn on a red light! It sounds much more like your anxiety was creating a NEED to get away from that light.

You said you had a job that required you to DRIVE to a city three hours away and you had no problems and another time you DROVE for two hours without problems. So, is it the DRIVING causing the anxiety or having to stop at red lights?

Either way, I suggest therapy for you to overcome this.
I wish you the best
RubyWitch  


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Avatar universal
anyone
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Arlington, VA
370181 tn?1595629445
Arlington, WA
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