Panic While Driving

[Grace under pressure]

Hi there.

Has anyone had success overcoming panic attacks/anxiety while driving? I can drive anywhere as long as it is a regular city street or a highway with an occasional stop light. Certainly NO bridges of any kind. I have made significant progress overcoming other triggers, but driving on a freeway is absolutely terrifying. It's an issue of having to drive really fast and fearing losing control of the vehicle or myself. This all became a problem about 4 years ago and my therapist and I are working on it. Just wondering if anyone has advice.

 

[Kailani]

Pretty stressful for me too; especially with tailgaters and erratic drivers. I try to avoid the most stressful places i hate driving by finding a calmer route if possible, soothing, nice music i love, grounding with a rock in my hand, deep breathing, leaving plenty of space between me and other cars. Leaving ahead of time, praying when i drive, sometimes hard core music to have fun when driving.

 

[KwanYingirl]

I have struggled with this at various times over the years. I couldn't drive at all for about six months. High bridges on freeways are difficult. Or I should say, were. I have overcome my driving phobia finally. I never drink coffee before a long ride as the caffeine jacks me up. I drive early in the morning if headed to a large city. I drive in the middle lane to avoid merging traffic. Most importantly, I have learned to NOT hyperventilate because that is what creates a panic attack. It's not my thoughts, it's my breathing in anticipation of previous panic attacks. So I breathe very consciously and take deep cleansing breaths to even out my oxygen level. This took a. lot of practice, but it works. I still avoid thunderstorms and snowstorms and three years ago I bought a Subaru because it has the best scores on safety. That baby hugs the road, it is solid and I feel very safe driving it. The breathing exercises can be taught by a therapist. To get over bridges, I switch to the left lane and just focus on the road ahead of me. Now I can drive pretty fast on bridges. They don't scare me anymore.
I started having driving anxiety after I was strangled. I know, they're not related in any way. It started out that I was really terrified if I was the passenger and the driver would leave the car going while running into a store for something. Then it just got worse and worse. I felt suffocated.
Then my breathing would get shallow and rapid, robbing my brain of oxygen and getting too much carbon dioxide. And I always remind myself that I can get off the highway anytime I want. You can overcome this but be patient and practice mindful breathing even when you're just sitting around watching TV. It will become automatic.

 

[Saint Nik]

I have made significant progress overcoming other triggers

Just keep doing this and you will overcome the others. That's all you can do is keep exposing yourself to these triggers, how else will the brain be re-wired?
Well done on all your progress though and please don't feel absolute pressure in having to expose yourself to driving at fast speeds.
I can be a nervy driver. What I did to overcome my fear and nervousness of driving was going out late at night, because I couldn't sleep anyway. So I thought, the roads were either less busy or had no cars on the road. It felt like the roads belonged to me and felt safe to drive and go for this graded exposure my clinician spoke of. Sometimes I took a companion with me, or if by myself, I listened to calming music and they seemed to help me. . . then the challenge was to drive in daylight and with busy traffic.
It all comes to having patience with yourself and not pushing yourself too hard!
You are already doing it. You are making progress. . . so my advice, keep doing what you are doing, it's working! :tup:

 

[Gadgie]

The last time I went out driving in the middle of the night, when one of my daughters was teething, the motion of the car used to make her sleep. Mind you, that was a life time ago?

But I used to drive very early on Minday mornings, after I had spent the weekend at home. I used to drive the 185 miles back down to the site where I worked.

The road went through and over the mountains of Scotland, it was teaming with wild life, stags, sheep and deer, which made the journey interesting to say the least.

Yet driving back up on the Friday afternoon, was totally different, hardly believe it was the same road.

 

[MrsBeasley86]

Whenever I'm dealing with anxiety, driving is the first thing to go. I'm not sure why. I guess I have a fear of panicking while I'm driving. I've went months without driving. But after I get my anxiety under control, I can drive just fine. Right now, I'm not driving. Which is really bothering me because my daughter just started 1st grade and I have to get my mother in law to take her to school :(

 

[Truthful_Whispers]

One time, when I was driving several years ago, a big barn rat came out and ran across my dash. Without thinking, I grabbed a pack of chrome lug nuts that I had just bought, threw it at the rat, and busted my windshield out. Boy, that sucked..

 

[Faithworx]

It's a horrible thing , but I'm sure glad I'm not alone. I was driving professionally for nearly 30 years. In the last 4 years I began having severe panic attacks while on the road , especially when going over bridges and occasionally tunnels as well. It was very confusing at first , because I never had anything like that happen before. I first thought I was having a mini heart attack or stroke. I got checked out and all was fine. But I found that it was happening more and more. If I was on a highway I could at least pull over until it passed. On bridges and tunnels , I found that I would accelerate and go as fast as I possibly could for fear that I would pass out before making it across. The last episode was on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge which I have driven over hundreds of times before. This bridge is over 4 miles long. The panic started as soon as I hit the beginning of the bridge. I just kept thinking - "I'm not going to make it". Generally , I do not talk on the phone while driving , but this was an emergency , so , for one of the rare occasions that I do , I called my daughter , told her what was going on and told her to talk to me until I got over. I made it and pulled to the side , but my hands were shaking and my fingers were locked on the steering wheel. I was close to a full blown asthma attack , I was sweating and my vision was blurry. I have never been so scared.
Long story short , I no longer drive for a living. I can't. Once this starts , it's forever in the back of your mind that this could happen again. I refuse take that kind of risk with lives of innocent people. I should have quit long before , but at least I came to that truth.
I did , however , figure out what the cause was after quite a bit of research and reading what others were saying and back tracking to when it started. I do have asthma. My inhaler med never has given me problems. I had been trying several different cortosteroids to use as a daily regimen. I was allergic to many of them and was put on prednisone occasionally to clear my lungs up til we found something else. Prednisone made me very "up" , kind of jittery. On top of that , as most drivers do I drank a lot of coffee. Thinking back , that is when the problems began. So, if you are having these attacks , check your meds and interactions. You know your body better than anyone. Think back to when it started as close as you can and track it from there. My guess is you'll find an answer.

 

[Freedomfighter]

Hi there.

Has anyone had success overcoming panic attacks/anxiety while driving? I can drive anywhere as...

I used to have that problem a couple of years ago, it pretty much evaporated when I had to drive a lot more to get to different workplaces. I think that is how exposure therapy works too, after performing the same actions that cause anxiety, the patient gets more used to them, never comfortable with them, just more used to them.

 

[Gs172003]

One time, when I was driving several years ago, a big barn rat came out and ran across my dash....

:eek:

 

[Lou J]

Have been having driving-panic-attacks since the moment I learned to drive - I guess it was inevitable, having an anxiety disorder. Have had to pull over and call people many times after attacks of dissociation/derealisation/fear of having some sort of stroke or heart attack for no logical reason. On the highway, the knowledge that I can't just stop the car and chill out seems to exacerbate the problem.

The only thing that works for me is focusing on the feel of different things - the aircon, the air coming in the window, any stomach discomfort I might be having, posture - anything that's real. If I can pinpoint exactly how my body is feeling it seems to bring me back to earth.