Driving anxiety , Help :)

[mummysworried]

i suffer with depression and bad bouts of anxiety and panic attacks . i am awaiting referal for further assesment. Last week when driving i didnt spot an ambulance behind me quickly and was slow to move over, this angered another driver who at the lights wound his window down and told me what he thought. This put me in a massive panic and floods of tears to the point i had to sell the car as i got in such a state . I bought a different car and today managed to get lost using tomtom in my own area , sat nav sent me onto the motorway and by the time i realised i was stuck and couldnt get back off. At this stage i was already in a panic as i was going the wrong way home and onto the motorway which i fear. I couldnt process all this quickly and pulled off the slip road on to the motor way and couldnt accelerate fast enough so the car behind had to slow down and i know i pulled out in the wrong manner. Now i have got home after a panic filled car journey and im convinced the driver behind was very cross even though he didnt beep or do anything at all. Ever since the first incident im terrified to drive and think every car is following me or cross with me and i get myself worked up and convince myself they are taking photos of my driving or videos or worse. This may sound silly but to me its a real issue . I have to drive as my daughter is statemented and i have to take her 7 miles to school and i work 7 miles away as well . Can anyone advise or help please, Distraught lady driver :(

[.Poppy.]

As tough as it is to hear, you just need to get back out there.

I grew up in the country but last year had to go to the city to take a test. I drove in that city for driver's ed, but not since and of course I was alone. I had to take the interstate, and I got there fine but when I was leaving it was rush hour and a car broke down in the lane in front of me. I had to merge lanes (I'm really bad at this anyway - where I'm from, 4 lane highways are fairly rare and are usually pretty sparsely populated so merging is no big deal!). Well, I cut a car off and they started honking and yelling and I was about to lose it.

Ultimately, I cranked my radio so I couldn't hear them and did a lot of deep breathing. I even started to talk myself through the situation. The nice thing is, I made it through, so I ended up pretty proud of myself, all things considering.

I think if you can drive a bit in a less populated area, with less traffic, you should try that. You don't have to do it for long, but if you can go on a couple of trips where you drive and have no negative incidents, it may help you out quite a bit. After that, try to ease yourself up to higher-traffic areas.

Another thing you can do is just go out for a drive by yourself. Look at it as bonding time...self bonding time :). Maybe bring along some of your favorite music or play your favorite radio station and drive to both familiar places and new places, or at least places you're less familiar with. Just remember - there are rarely situations where you are trapped when driving. There's always a new turn you can take, or if all else fails you can turn around. I've found even when merging lanes in a busy situation (which makes me feel most trapped) I can either slow down until someone lets me in, or, if there isn't something blocking my path, I'll just keep going and try a different - slightly - longer route (going around a block, for example).

Driving really can be a lot of fun, but you need to take it at your own pace, keep it positive, and work on some breathing exercises for when you feel panicked. I LOVE driving, especially by myself, because I plug in my iPod and listen to all my favorite songs (and sing along too:) ).

Good luck!

[Josh21]

As Poppy said I think you have to just go back out there. I have driving anxiety myself and even passing my test I still scared to drive. But after practicing and driving more often when it was quieter it made me more confident overall.
As for the other drivers, try and remember that no one is a perfect driver, usually the drivers who are most vocal and critical are bad drivers themselves and expect people to drive like they do not how they SHOULD do i.e drive fast.