Learning to Drive with GAD!?!

[CrazyC]

I was just wondering has anybody learnt to drive whilst suffering with GAD.

Im 25 years old and have finally decided to bite the bullet. The first few lessons were ok. Scary! but ok. However it feels surreal like its not really me doing it. I doubt myself and say "i cant do it" even when i am doing it.

The lessons have got a little harder as further from home and more traffic which means much more thinking and im VERY easily distracted and sometimes feel away with the fairies. Driving i dont have time to panic or think to much about anything but driving but sometimes i dont feel safe.

As if im not totally with it this scares me :huh: and has put me off abit i cancelled todays as lately ive been over tired and unable to concentrate on anything. I was just wondering if anybody did manage to do it or should i give up... :whistles:

p.s I suffer seasonal depression so this time of year i begin to feel sluggish and down anyway so part of me is wanting to cancel driving until spring.

[eva82]

I haven't had to learn to drive with GAD as mine developed way after I learned, but I congratulate you on not letting your anxiety get in the way of such a big milestone in your life. It is very admirable and courageous and if you keep a positive attitude about, you'll be driving independently in no time! Best of luck to you!! Xx

[Joellie]

Looking back i had mild anxiety through learning to drive, Constantly burst into tears when i felt like i was useless at whatever i was doing. I had a horrific driving instructor and he felt annoyed when i got upset.

Its important that your instructor knows you suffer with this and explain to them how it makes you feel etc.

I managed to pass first time though, luckily i had a clear road, right time of the day and a nice instructor testing me!

Its worth taking some rescue remedy before lessons. I used to have knots in my stomach, constantly thinking about cancelling sessions. I didnt though. My anxiety wasnt too bad i just used to get upset when things went wrong and this is what caused me to be anxious about lessons etc.

Stick at it. I would give it at least another 5-10 sessions before you think about whether you want to postphone till spring. And make sure you explain this with the instructor, if they dont get it or dont understand, get a new one! Though my horrible one was a good incentive to do my test lol my plan was: do the test and fail, say i dont want to do lessons for a while and then cut contact and get a new instructor, turns out, i didnt worry in the test because i knew that i was just gonna use it to get a new instructor, and everything was fine lol

[Helen1985]

Im really intrested in this post due to wanting to learn to drive myself and having gad. Do u tell the instructer what u have and how it makes u feel? i really need to drive with two kids public transprt can be a nightmare sometimes!!! Welldone you hun, i say keep with it! xxx

[expecto patronum]

I have GAD and I finally passed my driving test last November after taking lessons for over a year. I had quite a few points when I really didn't think I would get there as I felt there were too many things to be paying attention to, I thought I would never get the hang of it. I also worried about the inattention thing, I questioned whether I would be safe to drive. But in fact most people drive on autopilot while thinking about other things, and while this isn't ideal, it is normal so you shouldn't deprive yourself of driving just because you have GAD. If I feel my attention isn't sufficiently on my driving now I do 'commentary driving', which is saying what you are doing (in your head or out loud) eg 'and now I'm checking my left wing mirror'. Apparently this is a really good way to improve when you're learning too; maybe ask your driving instructor about it. When I was learning I too got so so down on myself when I got things wrong, I would think 'I really need to learn to do this, I'm rubbish if I can't do it, what a waste of money and time if I never pass' etc. In the end what helped was rather than putting all that horrible pressure on myself to do well in each lesson, I invented a way of motivating myself that wasn't about failure: I used to imagine I was driving with a baby in the back of the car, so I rather than thinking 'I need to drive well because if I don't I'm a useless failure' I would think 'I need to drive to the best of my ability because there is a baby in the back who I need to get safely from A to B'.-Hope this doesn't sound too mad!! What I'm getting at is that if you had to get in a car right now with a baby and drive somewhere, I bet you would drive the best you ever have, because there wouldn't be any room for being anything but cool headed and only paying attention to things like hazards on the road.
I also wanted to say that I had three instructors before I found one that was right for me, the first one was a creepo, the second one just wouldn't stop rabbitting and let me concentrate, and the third I told about my anxiety but then I felt like though she was not unkind about it she lost faith in my abilities and I wished I hadn't told her! The forth guy was more of a chilled-out type and that really helped me.
It will be worth it when you get there; I love driving now, I actually find it relaxing, and I NEVER thought I would be able to say that!

[Rhys1879SAFC]

Hi CrazyC

I have suffered with anxiety since last December and started learning to drive last December! So yeah its been difficult, but I am delighted to say that I passed my test on 7th September, it took 9 months of work but it is definitely worth it. I love driving now! It is very difficult at first, I kept having horrible thoughts about crashing etc... but if you take your time, think each situation through and use your breathing to keep calm I'm sure you will be fine.

I also understand what you mean about feeling surreal, this happened to me too, its just down to nerves really, once you gain more confidence you will be fine.

Good luck, Rhys.

[brambles]

I passed my test in December 2009 but only started driving recently due to the cost of insurance (£22,000 a year from one insurer!)

For the first few days of driving I had Final Destination-style premonitions of horrific crashes at every junction and traffic light but now I'm relaxed and comfortable.

Don't give up! The freedom to go anywhere you want, whenever you want is worth it!

[panictomuch]

S. I have just passed my test (first time) and I did feel abit like your describing.

I would feel like I would just. Like you said be away with the fairies. Sometimes the road and everythuin would look distorted and I had ro cancle a feew time because I felt too dizz and tired. I found myself going into stares at traffic lights too. And I am very easily distracted. If he's talking then I wouldn't listen to him and just drive. Forgettin wher he said to go etc.

I passed first time after about 8 month of lessons and I didn't do too bad either. If you feel too distorted then cancle for a while. You still have those few lessons you have done which you won't forget.

I was very nervous about not passong because I was too dangerous but when it comes down to it then you just do it!

All the best withthem. You'll be fine.