Driving Anxiety

[PunkyFish]

Hello

I have anxiety and one of my biggest causes of anxiety is driving. I've been doing driver refresher lessons for the past few weeks and have been not to bad. I bought a car today and now I'm freaking out already about driving. It's getting to the point where I'm even hating the car! I work full time and have to get the bus and walk a good ten minutes to work which is becoming a pain! My drivings generally ok (although my parking is terrible!) but my nerves are crippling me and stopping me from doing things in my car! I'm finding it hard to even get in the car now! :(

Any advice :)

[Rennie1989]

My husband has recently bought a car and is experiencing some anxiety from it.

The advice I can give is to try driving when the roads are quiet, get a feel for the routes you would take to and from work. Learn the junctions, roundabouts, traffic lights, when to change lanes and any difficult spots. The more you drive the easier driving will get. My husband bought a TomTom sat nav which tells him which lanes to take, gives instructions two steps in advance, gives the speed limit and more. That might be worth getting.

[PanchoGoz]

I bought a car this week - driving it home I followed my friend in her car in front so I just did what she did. Made me feel more comfortable as I got a feel for it.
You just go from being the driver to being part of the car before you know it. Your limbs just do it naturally the more you do it, practise practise practise.

[AnxietyDJ]

For things like parking etc. you can always go to a supermarket car park late at night to practice :) I think everyone is always nervous when first getting a car and driving it, so you're definitely not alone there.

As Rennie said, maybe go out late in the evening / early in the morning when there is no traffic around and get yourself familiar with the route you'll be taking to work, so you don't have to worry about directions and can focus on your driving and staying calm.

Good luck, hope it goes well! :)

[PanchoGoz]

Oh yeah - on parking - I can feel your anguish there. My car doesn't have power steering and has a longer nose than the one I learnt in so I keep missing my point of turn slightly when parking, so I have to go back then forwards again. 80% of other drivers are happy to wait patiently while you manouver so don't let them intimidate you. They had to learn once too!