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MVA Motorcycle accident

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Erick

Hi. I am looking for some help. I have had 2 near fatal motorcycle accidents commuting to work and then my dear friend was rear ended by a semi and burned to death. This all happened within 5 years. Now I have panic attacks while driving to work (not riding anymore). The freeway is what triggers me and I can't get to work without going on the freeway. It seems to be getting worse and worse. Anyone have any coping tips that I can do while in the commute. Any help is welcome. Thank you.
 
Anyone have any coping tips that I can do while in the commute.
It's a pretty big ask for our system to cope with that total immersion into a trigger situation. Usually therapists approach situations like that gradually - like just sitting in the car and noticing that "this is okay", then short trips around the block, then just spending short amounts of time at various points along the route without going into a meltdown. That's possibly something you could work on in your free time.

Practically, though, I'm guessing the daily commute is necessary for work? My go to would be as much distraction as possible. I'd be pulling out headphones, visual distraction (a book, a magazine, a pair of really dark glasses etc.), strong mints to immerse my mouth, and I'd be dousing myself in a scent or have one on a piece of fabric to sniff.

All that would be possible on public transport. Which is where I'd probably start. Because as much as I hate crowds, going straight back to driving would be waaaaay too much for me personally if I was dealing with that sort of trigger load.

And of course, definitely having a therapist working on all this with me. Preferably one that could responsibly prescribe me some super light benzos for a very short period to help me through the initial weeks.

Just tossing some ideas around based on dealing with other triggers.
 
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