Huge anxiety after cutting in front of another car

[Rosie1012]

Hi. On tuesday i turned right at a junction and didnt see another car. It blasted its horn at me but my mind went blank. All i remember is having to stop behind a van a very short time later and looking in my left hand mirror and seeing the car behind me but off to the left. Since then ive been having huge anxirty about it all. Questions keep me awake like "why didnt i see it", "did it crash into something", "will i get sued as i then drove on". Its keeping me awake and i dont feel like eating. Any advice on how to stop these thoughts would be hugely appreciated.

[suki300]

It's awful when something like that happens - but it happens to all of us and it's just one of those things. We are human and we make mistakes. No harm was caused, nothing bad actually happened, the driver warned you, the horn did it's job and you can be guaranteed that the other people involved will have forgotten about it.

Even if something did happen (which it probably didn't), the police realise that these things happen and it's not like you were some criminal that was driving off after they knew they had caused an accident.

If you wanted to put your mind at rest you could ring the police (on their non emergency number), report the incident, explain the anxiety it is causing you and see if there is anything that has been reported. That way you'll be certain if any damage was caused. But that is just an idea and if you think it is more linked to your anxiety then I would probably leave it.

[Rosie1012]

I did ring the police the day after and explained the situation to them. They did say that my car had not been reported. But somehow that doesnt seem to have silenced my inner thoughts. I think its more of a 'what if' combined with a huge guilty feeling about it. Sheer terror might be a good way of desribing it. Its raised my anxiety levels to high. Thanks for you words tho.

[Speranza]

It's a mild post traumatic thing and it will pass. Once or twice it has happened to me and I've made myself face each recurrent thought with, "Yes, wasn't I lucky it wasn't an accident! I must really have Good Luck on my side!"

If you think there is any possibility that tiredness or meds may have made you lose concentration, address that with your GP. Otherwise rest assured, it will pass. It was just an adrenaline buzz with nasty after-effects.

[Rosie1012]

Thanks. Its nice to put a descrition to it. I know i hadnt been sleeping well the few night before. Ill try saying your words to myself when it gets bad. I was wandering around the house in the middle of the night doing some cbt on it which helped for a bit.

I know it will pass just got to keep telling myself it.

[Speranza]

Attagirl!

[rb1978]

I often get anxiety about driving. Not anxiety about actually driving but more the kind of thing you describe where I think oh god did I do something bad and bang into something or injure someone. I've even been known to turn round and drive back to check I haven't bumped something :doh:

If you were to touch anything in your car you really would feel it. I know this because I once caught my neighbour's car when trying to parallel park in a tight spot. There wasn't a scratch on it or my car as I was doing about 0.0001 mph at the time lol but I felt it straight away from inside the car. You definitely won't have hit anything.

Your worries really will pass. I've lost count of the number of times I've got home and been worrying I might have done something wrong in the car...

[Rosie1012]

Your not the only one who worries if they have hit something when they were out driving. I do it as well. I quite often check my car over when i get home.

Tho this time im more worried about maybe having caused the other car to have had an accident and maybe hurt someone in the car. That would be worse than my car being bumped.

Im having a chat with my counsellor tomorrow about it so hope that will help to reduce my anxiety.

Thanks to everyone who has replied.