Driving

[honeybee3939]

Hi

I have been struggling with driving for a long time, and thought i would share with others that have the same problem what i think is working best for me. I have had Hypnotherpy for my driving problems ( i panic at traffic lights and road works) which didnt really help. So i decided to book myself a few refresher driving lessons.
I have had 4 lessons so far and i am feeling alot more confident. It makes it alot easier when im at traffic lights and road works with a instructor knowing he as dual control if i start to panic( so far i havent). I am tackling more traffic lights each week and it is getting easier.
If anyone as the same problem as me i would highly recommend booking a few confidence building lessons, i feel its money well worth spent.

Love

Andrea
xxxx

[Piglet]

I haven't driven for some years now - a combination of anxiety and lack of funds really but when both improve then what you're doing Andy is exactly what I intend to do too!!

Good on ya mate :D

Piglet :flowers:

[domino]

Hi andrea, the thought of driving on moterways scares the shit [sorry] out of me , just hate them, but like i have mentioned in a recent poll, [things that make you anxious] it never used to bother me, weather it,s the volume of traffic ,[possibly] these maniac,s that are on our roads, i do,nt know ,but no way will you get me on the motorway. My husband is very good and will go out of his way to avoid them for me . not good i know when your look at my signature:wacko: I just do,nt think i could ever do it, the way i feel about them, even if there was a million pound cheque at the end of it , i honestly would not do it.I,m pleased for you of course, and happy motoring.:D

[Granny Primark]

Andrea I have exactly the same problem as you.
Traffic lights and traffic jams are a nightmare for me.
Im ok if ive got someone in the car who can drive, cus then I know if i panic too badly they can take over.
However recently after taking my hubby to work I got stuck in a traffic jam, Id forgotton to take my handbag with me that has my mobile phone in and rescue remedy.
I was lliteraly shaking like a leaf. What the hell could i do?i just wanted get out of the car and run home quickly.
I then remembered that someone in chat last year told me that if I started to panic whilst stuck in traffic to put a cd on and sing along with it.
Good job i hadnt got my windows open!!! lol
It worked, thank goodness. It made me focus my mind on something else other than the overwhelming panic fears I was having.
My goodness I was so pleased to get home.
Its learnt me a lesson tho, I will never now go anywhere without my rescue spray and my mobile. They are my safety blanket.
It may sound stupid to some people. But these 2 things help me so much.

Take care
LYNN xx

[fed up with it]

Hi, god this is me all over, i was a calm driver before a panic type? attack as i was approaching a set of traffic lights while i was pregnant, i began feeling really weak and just wanted to get home and the lights turned red, i had someone in the car with me who could'nt drive and my 9 month old baby in the seat in the back and was pregnant again so probably really run down. I feel so bad, my muscle where burning i felt dizzy all sorts, eventually i felt a bit better to drive another 5 minutes home. The next day we went to go out again and as i approached the same set of traffic lights i began to feel bad again so i did'nt know what was going on, so i avoided that by going the back way, well as you can imagine i ended up only going with someone with me and only short distances, that was 5 years ago i am still the same, it must be the trapped feeling like my post at the check out? so you are not alone, its worse when you are first at the light too then there is no escape until they change??? thought i was the only one with this problem....

[honeybee3939]

Thanks for the replies folks.
Piglet, thanks for the reply hun, you have been doing great lately and im sure it wont be long before you get behind a wheel again.

Rickards, i still have a long way to go with the driving, and like you i still cant ever imagine driving on a motorway.But if i am able to drive to my local town to shop i feel it will give me a better quality of life.

Lyn.
Im pleased the Rescue Remedy works for you, i take it also, and my mobile is a godsend!
Im sure the more we tackle such sittuations the easier (hopefully) it will become.

Hugs

Andrea
xxxxx

[nomorepanic]

I think a lot of you are aware of my driving issues and you may have read my CBT thread about it and what helped me.

Also check out the coping website page as it has some tips on there of things I used to do.

I am far better than I was a year ago but still get the odd blip when I see a sign saying road-works ahead and never know what sort it will be.

The turning point for me was basically telling myself that if I really had to stop then I could pull in between the cones and just sit there and pretend I didn't feel well or lie and say all the lights came on in the car and I thought I had better stop in case the car was about to break down.

My CBT therpaist said to me - what do you think if you see someone broken down in road-works? Do you think "oh they must be panicking so they have stopped" or do you think "oh the poor bugger has broken down in roadworks".

So now I know that I CAN stop if I want to but I have never needed to.

Distraction is the other key thing - singing (the only way I got over the Severn Bridge was to sing the whole way across it), adding up number plates or making amusing phrases from the letters, calling someone (hands free of course) just for a voice to distract you.

It has taken me many many years to get over my fears and the only way I did it was to keep driving up and down through the roadworks on the M1 until it lost the power that it had over me. There were blips along the way but the more I did it the more it reinforced the knowledge that I wasn't dying, I didn't panic and it was just a road with cones or steel barriers on it.

Friday - I had a weird one cos we were going to the pub at lunch time and I had to drive myself as I can't go in the car with anyone driving (except Alex). I pulled on to the A14 and thought nothing of it then after about a mile I remembered how much I hated that road and the panic I had felt before on there.

I looked at the TomTom and it said I had 9 miles before turning off and I was very close to pulling off at the next exit and going the long way round to get there. I knew that was a bad idea though as it reinforced the feeling that something bad would happen to me if I carried on. So I started doing my breathing exercises and carried on. I knew I could call Alex at any time just to talk to him but I kept thinking I would leave it another mile before doing that and then of course it was a mile closer to getting off so I stuck at it.

I was a bit wobbly at the end of that but I did it and coming back down the A14 was fine cos I knew that I could do it so had no issues that time.

It certainly is weird how our minds work and what thoughts we come up with though isn't it?

Well done Andrea on your progress and if it works for you then stick at it cos in time you will be able to do it alone with no second thoughts.

[honeybee3939]

Nic

Thanks for the reply, you have done so well, and like you say the key is to keep doing it again and again until it becomes second nature!
Well done for coping so well on friday too, i think its amazing how well you have overcome this fear, and it gives us all so much encouragement.
The first time i went out with the instructor i was a nervous wreck, i had to shut my eyes everytime i came to a set of traffic lights. But the second lesson was a little easier. My Instructor as been brilliant, he even tells me Knock knock jokes as where sat at the red traffic lights, he trys to distract me.
Im sure i will get there just like you !
Well Done:yesyes: :yesyes: :yesyes:

Love

Andrea
xxxx

[happyone]

Hi

a few years ago when I was last bothered by anx, I used to have terrible panic attacks in the car. Not about driving I have to say. it was because I was alone and it gave me time to think (it was about my dad being ill and dying)
I bought some audio books for the car. They need a certain amount of concentration, but not too much to distract the driving. they stopped me from 'thinking' too much and thus stopped the driving panic attacks.

happyone
xx

[breeeezie322]

hi i suffer from panic attacks and bad anxiety while driving too. It have had panic for a while but last year was the first time they were scary enough to actually stop driving totally for months. Then i spent the next 8 months or so driving but only very locally but enough to get the kids around and to the shops etc. Then about a month agao it all started again and i stopped driving again for about 2 weeks and have now made myself get back in the car and boy its hard but slowly i am doing it. (only local again but its something). i have been thinking about going to a hypnotherapist and have spoken to about 4 or so on the phone who all say they can help. Has anybody every done this or do they know of someone who has had hypnotherapy for a phobia even if its not driving and whether it has worked for them? I got a new car last year and would love to drive it and actually enjoy it again. i have actually been driving for 17 years. thanks for listening. desi

[domino]

Ihave tried hypnotheripy for fear of flying and driving on motorways, it was very good, but the down side was after about3/4days i was back where i started, £30 for an hour, mind you only went the once, should have had a few session, give it a go , it might help.:shrug: