Nerves Advice Needed

[joannieh29]

I have just failed my 2nd driving test because of one stupid mistake- a really silly thing that i have NEVER done on my lessons before and was caused by my being extremely nervous.  I know everyone gets nervous in such situations but i just don't know how to control it.  Its costing me not only a lot more money and time but also its starting to affect my self esteem as i feel like a stupid failure and like i'm letting my instructor down.  I have tried relaxation cds and Bach Rescue Remedy.  This helped a little but clearly not enough.

Any advice on how to tackle nerves please?

Thank you.

[joannieh29]

ah ok.  Yeah its more the mental anxiety i have the issue with...

When i was on my test i drove fine apart from the start where i pulled away and forgot to put the car in gear first so it rolled all the way back! To make matters worse, once i stopped the car from rolling back, i did exactly the same thing again!!! The examiner had to tell me what to do! I have been learning for nearly a year now and even as an absolute beginner i NEVER did that!!  It was just pure nervousness and it was the ONLY thing i failed on.  So frustrating...

[lynn57]

nervousness ! oops.

[lynn57]

That might help with the physical symptoms like your heat pounding etc.  It's not going to help with the mental anxiety or nervuosness.

[joannieh29]

Would taking a beta-blocker before my test help?

[joannieh29]

Thanks for your encouragement everyone.  It really helps.  

[lynn57]

I failed my drivers test twice.  I finally passed in a different town.  Try changing towns.  Find out where the road test is given.  You don't have to drive there.  You can just be a passenger and still familiarize yourself with the course.  Just keep trying.  That's all you can do.  Use a little humor to break the tension between you and the inspector.  I told my third inspector if I didn't pass this time I was gonna buy a bike.

[caregiver222]

Everyone gets anxiety when taking a test for skill evaluation. Decades ago we were flying Beech-18's out of Washington National. The Chief Pilot was undergoing an FAA part 121 evaluation and the FAA inspector cut off the left engine. The Chief pilot reacted swiftly, and shut down and feathered the right engine, leaving the airplane with no engines.

So don't consider yourself a failure!

In a testing situation a person who is otherwise competent may do something very inappropriate. There is no higher level of stress than that generated by an inspector, sitting silently next to you writing down your errors, and you know he holds the key to your licensure.

Go on and take a while, getting as much driving experience under your belt as possible, preferably with a variety of supervisinjg drivers. On the highway. In traffic. In some states you are allowed to practice on weekends in the areas where the tests are conducted.

The other idea is to take the test far away from where you live - preferably in a rural area where there isn't much traffic. Taking the test in a different location would be best.

You might try a small dose of prescription valium, but try that out a week before. With some people even a little valioum causes degradation of driving performance.