Question:
Does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with panic attacks while driving?? This is where I have most of my problems and I am still avoiding driving as much as possible and then I get pissed off at myself for avoiding things. My psychologist always told me not to beat myself up about it and act like it’s no big deal but it is!!!! Any suggestions?????? Thanks Alot for all your posts, I am pretty new to the group and have found some of the information very helpful. Kellie — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
Response:
::Does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with panic attacks while ::driving?? This is where I have most of my problems and I am still ::avoiding driving as much as possible and then I get pissed off at ::myself for avoiding things. My psychologist always told me not to beat ::myself up about it and act like it’s no big deal but it is!!!! :: ::Any suggestions?????? :: ::Thanks Alot for all your posts, I am pretty new to the group and have ::found some of the information very helpful. Dear Kellie, Suggestions? 
Yes! Tell your psychologist you want proper help in conquering your driving phobia, or get a new psychologist. The best thing you could do for this phobia is to get into cognitive behavioral therapy. You need to slowly desensitize yourself to driving. Start with baby steps…. and lots and lots of practicing. For the first week or two, or at a rate that is comfortable for you, take a short drive, even if it`s around the block. I found it best if I didn`t schedule my practices. I would decide at the last minute and just hop into my car. I was taught to rate my anxiety on a scale of 1 to 10. One being little anxiety and ten being panic. If you reach a number three while desensitizing yourself to driving, it is best to retreat a bit. That may mean heading towards home or pulling over. When the anxiety starts to lower, you can turn around and try again. You want to try and finish a practice on a positive note. Once you are comfortable driving around the block, the next step may be two or three blocks. Then a mile or two, then a five mile trip, so on and so forth.A CBT psychologist would be able to help you set up a desensitization hierarchy for your driving phobia. Some things that helped me and may help you as well……wearing sunglasses, a cell phone, deep breathing exercises, and some items that may offer comfort or a diversion (bottled water, favorite music CD`s, comfort snacks) and the knowledge that you are never trapped and can always turn around and go home when you want. Some people find that using a benzo or beta blocker helps them. That may be something to talk to your doctor about. I also recommend the book, ‘The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook’ by Edmund J. Bourne. Bourne also has a audiotape called ‘Driving Far From Home’. Perhaps you can find it at your library. Don`t hesitate to lean on this group. Knowing people are behind you is comforting. Good luck and wishing you many happy driving miles! Jackie ~*~The past is our definition. We may strive, with good reason, to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it, but we will escape it only by adding something better to it~*~ ~~ Wendell Berry — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
Response:
Does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with panic attacks while driving?? This is where I have most of my problems and I am still avoiding driving as much as possible and then I get pissed off at myself for avoiding things. My psychologist always told me not to beat myself up about it and act like it’s no big deal but it is!!!! Any suggestions?????? Thanks Alot for all your posts, I am pretty new to the group and have found some of the information very helpful. Kellie
Kellie. Yeah. Don’t drive. ) Not. I am driving on the highway for the first time since 1989 – this crippled me because I allowed that to happen – and because I didn’t know what kind of help there was available.. Jackie is right. CBT will help with this. It helped me, and my phobia was a long term one. I’m not 100% comfortable driving all the time, every time, but I no longer practice avoidance – and sometimes I do it just to make sure I STAY used to doing it.. it’s a process, but the good news is – you know where to get help and what kind.. I didn’t know in 1989 how to handle it other than avoid driving on the highway.. Nip it in the bud, I think. The quicker, the better. I have read soooo many posts from people here who have PA’s while driving. It’s quite common. You can learn to cope with this. Take care, Sally — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
Response:
Hi, Kellie, Sorry to read about your driving problems. I also have a deep phobia of highway and interstate driving. I’ve had it since 2001 AND my suggestion to you is to nip it in the bud. I always wish I had just made myself get back on the highway. I feel so trapped at times that I can’t go places alone. Fight back as much as you can with the driving…best wishes!!! smiles, Elise
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with panic attacks while driving?? This is where I have most of my problems and I am still avoiding driving as much as possible and then I get pissed off at myself for avoiding things. My psychologist always told me not to beat myself up about it and act like it’s no big deal but it is!!!! Any suggestions?????? Thanks Alot for all your posts, I am pretty new to the group and have found some of the information very helpful. Kellie — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
– The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
Response:
Does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with panic attacks while driving?? – Kellie
Hi Kellie: I’m soooo sorry to hear that you are having problems in this area. I didn’t drive for over 30 years because of my panic disorder. I DO NOT suggest you wait that long. In fact, I think the best thing to do is as others here have suggested — take baby steps but do it. I started driving again just recently because my mom who is 83 is losing her ability to drive, so it was either I drive or we can’t get groceries (especially since my honey was out of town). I asked myself so what is the worst that can happen, well I could have a panic attack and get into a wreck? No, that’s not the true because you can feel a panic attack coming on and you can pull off the road, in most places. Sit out the attack and get back on the road. I am driving without a problem now — don’t even think about a panic attack hitting me because I know I can just let it happen and then carry on. I do suggest you start right away so the anticipatory anxiety is not another issue you have to deal with. I started again by moving the car from in front of the house to the parking area in the back. Like a round robin type thang. It worked. I thot that after all these years, I would have forgotten how to drive — no way. Driving is like riding a bicycle — once you know how you really do not forget. If I can do it after all those years, I know you can too. Just do it and Good luck! -frizz — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
Response:
Does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with panic attacks while driving?? This is where I have most of my problems and I am still avoiding driving as much as possible and then I get pissed off at myself for avoiding things. My psychologist always told me not to beat myself up about it and act like it’s no big deal but it is!!!! Any suggestions?????? Thanks Alot for all your posts, I am pretty new to the group and have found some of the information very helpful. Kellie
I’ve found that constant anxiety is very difficult to deal with, but panic attacks are not. As soon as you realize that a panic attack will not kill you, just let it wash over you. Don’t try to stop it. Just let it happen. If you are driving simply pull over, let it pass, and keep going. As a matter of fact, if panic attacks were all that dangerous you’d be better out on the road than stuck in the house. More people, and more opportunities for help, which you won’t need. — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
If you like this post and would like to receive updates from this blog, please subscribe our feed.