driving anxiety

Cp731

So sorry too hear all of your sad stories! Wow.. Therapy and medication should aid in helping with these fears. Hope you find what your looking for. Some communities offer free counciling.<--sp

strawberrytoast

I'm 31 and don't have my licence. Have been taking lessons for 1 1/2 years, failed my test once back in November. I think I'm the most nervous person ever. Had camomile tea and 2 bananas for breakfast to calm down before test, many drops of rescue remedy and chewed the gum all the way thru. Haven't had the guts to go back and try again yet

hi there,

i hope you will pass your test soon. about how many hours lessons have you done in that year and a half. i started my lessons in may 2012 so it is now 10 months since i have been doing lessons. because of my busy work schedule i am only doing lessons once a week i.e. on sundays. from may to about october last year i did 2 hour lessons each sunday but then changed to 1 hour lessons a week as i found the 2 hour lessons too long and stressful. i have missed a few weeks lessons here and there due to holidays, other plans clashing etc. i think so far i have done about 50 hours. the intention is to book my test for end may 2013.

I feel quite pathetic lol! I started off with two a week for a few months, I think when I got to about 50 hours I stopped counting. I must confess I think I've only been out twice since dec due to life issues. I'm starting to wish I did The intensive course...many lessons over a few weeks then go for the test instead of dragging it out. I think I can drive pretty well, just not in test conditions. Gt it booked now so you can't change your mind!

pwnderosa

Some good advice here. I have hardly driven for the past 2 years since I was in an accident. It happened during a time of extreme stress for other reasons and I blamed myself/my stress level for the accident. I have hardly been behind the wheel since and while it is not too much of a cramp in my lifestyle right NOW there are a lot of things I would like to do that I won't because I don't have someone to drive me, so...I really do want to work on this. Hopefully since I"m a little more sane now (thanks MFP for getting me to work out a lot) I can pick it up again starting with some low traffic/country drives.

I get horrible anxiety even riding in the car in traffic now, enough that it drives my poor husband and the friend I carpool with batty sometimes! I usually keep my head down a read a magazine in the car, so I don't know...

rockangel8907

I have horrible driving anxiety, and more so anxiety over car troubles.

silvergurl518

i got my license at 22...i've even had panic attacks while driving (which are super scary, btw--i have generalized anxiety disorder and OCD) but i work through them with the help of a therapist. i love driving though and my car opens up a whole new world of getting places--lots of independence. try working with a therapist and seeing if you need to go on a low dosage of mood stabilizers (SSRIs, etc).

SoViLicious

i got my license at 22...i've even had panic attacks while driving (which are super scary, btw--i have generalized anxiety disorder and OCD) but i work through them with the help of a therapist. i love driving though and my car opens up a whole new world of getting places--lots of independence. try working with a therapist and seeing if you need to go on a low dosage of mood stabilizers (SSRIs, etc).

I got mine at the same age. I still dont like highways or bridges.

Ocarina

Wow everyone!!! I hope you all can drive eventually. It's so liberating to go out places on your own without others taking you anywhere.

I forced myself to reactivate my license after not having a car for a couple years at 20 and did just fine getting back on the road. I even learned stick shift to top it off! I passed the driving test the first time. I was very anxious the whole time... Delivery driving for Pizza Hut when I was driving for 6 months at 18 really helped out.... even years later.

I'm currently facing the fear of flying over the ocean in a couple months. I booked this trip a few months ago and was SO ANXIOUS for like a month... then somehow I swallowed it. If you do not face your fears you will miss out on so much in life. We cannot stop people from wrecking into us whether we are great drivers or not. It's not just on the highway either.... I lost my grandfather in his own PRIVATE DRIVE WAY from a dumb teenager who got pulled over earlier that day for reckless driving!!!! It will and can happen to anyone.

Life is too short! Get out there and experience things.

Now about my fear of water........ :grumble:

WaltSeher

Look in his eyes when he's driving??? That sounds kinda perverted! Makes no sense! No way around it you just have to practice. You got the right idea about keeping your eyes moving tho. Take a deep breath and try not to over think things. One thing I've learned over the years, If you take your time to do it right in the begining it eventually becomes second nature. But if you rush it you get sloppy and bad habits are hard to break. You sound like a very smart kid and I'm sure you'll be a great driver it just takes time. Good luck and keep us posted k?

JusticeGirl25

I didn't suffer too much anxiety when I learned how to drive. I was fortunate when I took the drivers test through AAA that I wasn't tested for learning how to parallel park. I've been driving for almost 10 years now and REFUSE to parallel park.