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Situational Anxiety/Anxiety while driving.
I don't know if this is even a legitimate problem area, but I'm having problems with anxiety while driving in my car. It's getting to the point where I'm afraid one day that I won't be able to even get into the thing. My Dr has had me on Prozac and Celexa but I'm now off of both due to the bad side effects I was having. I go back again on the 17th of this month to see what else they'll prescribe. Anyone else have this "phobia"? Thx, Thom.
I had a panic attack this summer on the highway. My first one ever. I have never been afraid to drive so I dont know what brought this on. Now I think 1/2 my problem is when I drive I think about having or not having another one. I get light headed and shaky. Ive tried listening to books on cd and singing with the radio but I cant seem to get the thought out of my head. I avoid the highway as much as I can and use backroads which help somewhat but it takes me twice as long to get somewhere. Any ideas how to get this out of my head so I can drive without that fear??
I'm not going to reiterate everything said here as I suffer from anxiety while driving as well; perhaps it has something to do with my diagnosed PTSD of several years ago, however, I don't believe anyobe can feel as low as I do tonight. I lied to my family as it was my niece's first birthday party and I was aksed to pick up the pizzas, 5 miles from my house, when asked I knew what might happen, and it did. I ran into HEAVY traffic and had to pull over numerous times, needless to say I never made my destination. I pulled into a parking lot and texted my family and told them my car broke down and was waiting for AAA. They understood and asked if I needed help, I told them no. I feel so bad about not only lying to cover up this insideous disease but missing my niece's 1st birthday party, good thing I don't drink. I'm going to an Urgent Care Doctor tomorrow, I've got to beat this, good luck to you all as well.
I used to love driving, in the last 2 months i dont know what happened that whenever i would go to school (15 min away from my home) i would get the feeling that i could lose control any moment, for about 5 seconds, then it'll go away. one time i was a stop light and felt the need to go and had to roll down my windows and started feeling red. thank God it turned green. I don't know if its a phobia or legit anxiety but i hate this feeling cause i like driving. i dont get like that with other people in the car because it helps me out but when im alone i start getting thoughts of pulling over and breathe. i havent though. i dont know what couldve triggered so im seeing a school counselor and see what happens.
I have anxiety attack while driving it's gotten better, what help me I stopped drinking coffee for six months I notice I was not anxious. Then when I was ready to drive I would take the scenic route to get to my destination. I did this for about a year, this has help me. Now I switch to decaf, and I listen to jazz music. If I'm upset about something I don't go anywhere in my car. Also taking a walk to the park, or around your neighborhood helps tremendously.
I'm 26 years old and have been in multiple car accidents as a child. Also been in multiple close calls riding my bike. Got hit like 3 times and avoided getting hurt just in time due to my reflexes. I absolutely hate driving. I'd rather be a passenger but then I worry about how the person drives and the people around us driving lol.
I just recently went back to work and worst of all it is all driving for now :(. Driving 8 hours a day gets very tiring for me. I get very anxious at times especially in tight traffic or those roads where you have people driving close to you on the opposite side of the road. That is the worst for me. Feel like I'm being watched and it makes me very nervous. I can't stand feeling like this.... The medications don't help. Still get anxious and have side effects to boot. I just feel horrible. Tensed up, scarred, angry.
I just recently went back to work and worst of all it is all driving for now :(. Driving 8 hours a day gets very tiring for me. I get very anxious at times especially in tight traffic or those roads where you have people driving close to you on the opposite side of the road. That is the worst for me. Feel like I'm being watched and it makes me very nervous. I can't stand feeling like this.... The medications don't help. Still get anxious and have side effects to boot. I just feel horrible. Tensed up, scarred, angry.
I'm a 57 year old female and I developed driving anxiety about 15 years ago (age 42).
It started at a time I was under an extreme amount of stress. Also, unknown to me, I abruptly discontinued Nortriptyline prescribed to me by a neurologist for neck pain that resulted from a rear end accident. I'd never been on any type of depression med before and didn't know weening was advised. I'd been on it for abut 8 months and was off a handful of days. I experienced strange brain flashes, lightheadedness, and equilibrium problems and had no idea why. I learned they were likely due to the abrupt discontinuance of the Nortriptyline. This occurred randomly and anywhere I happened to be, even while driving.
Because of this, I found myself becoming extremely fearful at times while I was driving. My body would become tense, I would feel anxious and felt like I was going to faint. I would have to pull over and wait until I felt better. This occurred on regular city streets.
Eventually (several months) this lessened, but I found myself unable to drive downhill on curvy mountain roads. I live in the Bay Area of northern California and to get out of this area, you pretty much have to drive on either hilly or mountain roads. I used to drive to and from here to Los Angeles without out a care! I used to be able to drive down the treacherous "grapevine" on highway 5 even under the most dangerous conditions ~ pouring down rain in the dark!
In 2004 (age 48) my son was getting married at the coast. That meant I had to drive over the very curvy mountain freeway to attend his wedding. I sought help from a psychiatrist. I was prescribed Lexapro and Xanax. I was able to drive to the wedding! Also, I was able to fly to Orlando with not a hint of the fear of flying I had prior. Unfortunately, the Lexapro came with unwanted side effects. I discontinued it because curvy mountain road trips were not a necessary in my life, such as for my career. I used them for outings, vacations, and visiting family/friends who lived outside of the Bay Area. My world became much, much smaller.
In recent years, the severity of my driving anxiety has worsened. I can no longer drive on any freeway, flat or curvy. I do take side streets and can do so very confidently MOST of the time. I have been taking a small dose of Xanax almost daily since my son's wedding ~ 0.25 mg. I typically take it in the morning, but find myself having to take more if I've been under stress... which is pretty much how my life is ~ stressful.
I wish I could find a medication that would stabilize my driving anxiety without having to take Xanax, but at least I'm on a low dose. I have accepted that I can no longer drive on freeways, but feel like I've become somewhat of a disabled person in that regard because it takes hours to get places and my driving is restricted to the valley I live in (Silicon Valley/Bay Area).
I have tried distraction techniques such as my daughter repeatedly telling me that it's just my flight/fight response and it will pass, playing loud music and singing along with it. Sometimes they would help to block/reduce my cycling thoughts, but not often enough. I do believe a major contributing factor to me being unable to drive on any freeway was me witnessing a young male jump out from a median directly into three lanes of oncoming traffic. As I sat at the light I saw him be hit by the first car then cartwheel over into the next lane and be struck by a second car. It was a nightmare happening right in front of my eyes. I couldn't leave my neighborhood (where the accident occurred) for several months. Slowly, over about one year, I eased back into being able to drive past that accident site with less anxiety.
TMI, maybe, but this driving anxiety is torture to us all, especially knowing we've driven before!
It started at a time I was under an extreme amount of stress. Also, unknown to me, I abruptly discontinued Nortriptyline prescribed to me by a neurologist for neck pain that resulted from a rear end accident. I'd never been on any type of depression med before and didn't know weening was advised. I'd been on it for abut 8 months and was off a handful of days. I experienced strange brain flashes, lightheadedness, and equilibrium problems and had no idea why. I learned they were likely due to the abrupt discontinuance of the Nortriptyline. This occurred randomly and anywhere I happened to be, even while driving.
Because of this, I found myself becoming extremely fearful at times while I was driving. My body would become tense, I would feel anxious and felt like I was going to faint. I would have to pull over and wait until I felt better. This occurred on regular city streets.
Eventually (several months) this lessened, but I found myself unable to drive downhill on curvy mountain roads. I live in the Bay Area of northern California and to get out of this area, you pretty much have to drive on either hilly or mountain roads. I used to drive to and from here to Los Angeles without out a care! I used to be able to drive down the treacherous "grapevine" on highway 5 even under the most dangerous conditions ~ pouring down rain in the dark!
In 2004 (age 48) my son was getting married at the coast. That meant I had to drive over the very curvy mountain freeway to attend his wedding. I sought help from a psychiatrist. I was prescribed Lexapro and Xanax. I was able to drive to the wedding! Also, I was able to fly to Orlando with not a hint of the fear of flying I had prior. Unfortunately, the Lexapro came with unwanted side effects. I discontinued it because curvy mountain road trips were not a necessary in my life, such as for my career. I used them for outings, vacations, and visiting family/friends who lived outside of the Bay Area. My world became much, much smaller.
In recent years, the severity of my driving anxiety has worsened. I can no longer drive on any freeway, flat or curvy. I do take side streets and can do so very confidently MOST of the time. I have been taking a small dose of Xanax almost daily since my son's wedding ~ 0.25 mg. I typically take it in the morning, but find myself having to take more if I've been under stress... which is pretty much how my life is ~ stressful.
I wish I could find a medication that would stabilize my driving anxiety without having to take Xanax, but at least I'm on a low dose. I have accepted that I can no longer drive on freeways, but feel like I've become somewhat of a disabled person in that regard because it takes hours to get places and my driving is restricted to the valley I live in (Silicon Valley/Bay Area).
I have tried distraction techniques such as my daughter repeatedly telling me that it's just my flight/fight response and it will pass, playing loud music and singing along with it. Sometimes they would help to block/reduce my cycling thoughts, but not often enough. I do believe a major contributing factor to me being unable to drive on any freeway was me witnessing a young male jump out from a median directly into three lanes of oncoming traffic. As I sat at the light I saw him be hit by the first car then cartwheel over into the next lane and be struck by a second car. It was a nightmare happening right in front of my eyes. I couldn't leave my neighborhood (where the accident occurred) for several months. Slowly, over about one year, I eased back into being able to drive past that accident site with less anxiety.
TMI, maybe, but this driving anxiety is torture to us all, especially knowing we've driven before!
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