Travel fear

[lizard514]

I had my first really bad panic attack while driving to a college visit, I just remember thinking that I couldn't do it, started feeling like I couldn't breathe and turned that car around and drove 45 mins back home. I got there and was vomiting shaking tight chested and sweaty. I thought I was dying. Found out later it was a panic attack.. I was in this state of panic for a full month before deciding to take a medication.. I'm on Lexapro now and managing. I don't get as bad and know how to sort of handle my feelings of anxiety and panic. What I cant get myself to do is travel. I wont drive more than 45 mins out because of what happened before and I'm terrified of being trapped in a car or airplane for longer than that.. I would love to go to the beach or drive somewhere for a weekend, but the fear of being anxious is keeping me from doing it. I am also studying to be an environmental scientist, with only about 1&1/2 years left, I know I will need to travel for this job.. I need to work on this now before it holds me back.. any one have any tips?

[Wish111]

Dear lizard514,
Traveling can be very intimidating and especially so if you have panic disorder. Having gone through and still dealing with panic disorder myself I found that the only thing to do is to push your anxiety-made limits and prove yourself wrong that traveling isn´t dangerous and that you´ll survive it, panic attacks and all. I´ve been reading a travel blog I found written by a woman named Lauren Juliff who writes about traveling with anxiety. I found that this helped me put things into perspective and aided me in taking the first steps in making travel plans. Of course, everyone is different and I urge you to search the web for other people´s stories and find something that you can relate to and read about tips that you may find helpful.

Although medication can help in the short term, I also urge you to seek professional help from a psychologist who can assist you through a systematic desensitization or exposure therapy in slowly working through your travel and or general anxiety. Cognitive Behavior Therapy has also proven more helpful in the long term in dealing with anxiety compared to medication.

I hope this helps you a least a little bit in starting your road to recovery. I know it can be done for I have done it myself, and I know you can too Some determination, action and will is all it takes!