Anxiety/panic when driving on motorway...

[Benjammin69]

Hi guys,

Quick one - since my relapse back in February I have learned a bad habit of not being able to drive on the motorway with out having an anxiety attack... this didn’t happen before my relapse but it was the trigger for my recent relapse I changed medication and it made me dizzy and I couldn’t drive without feeling like I was pulling to one side. I have suffered with jelly legs before when walking and won that battle eventually.

My depression is in check and my anxiety does play up a bit but this motorway driving is debilitating.... I’m on propranolol and quetiapine / mirtazapine. I have been working on exposure therapy and driving on small parts of the motorway like m25 for 2/3 junctions but then my heart rate goes from 59 BPM to 145 BPM and I go dizzy, I swear and I need to pull over... today I didn’t pull over but I had to come off the motorway to smaller roads..

Anyone help with this? I’m a long time anxiety suffererand I know it’s anxiety and I am doing self led exposure therapy but I just don’t know how to fix it!??!! I can’t take diaZepam every time I need to drive!

[nomorepanic]

This is my nemesis - driving when stuck in road works or traffic jams.

I drove to my mum's yesterday and did the A1/A1M fine but I HATE the M25.

I got on at junction 21A and was getting off at 13.

I hit traffic and panicked! I called my mum and spent the next 35 minutes on the phone to her talking me down from panicking so much.

I hit roadworks with a steel barrier blocking the hard shoulder and thought I was going to pass out but mum talked to me to keep me calm.

That was the longest 50+ minutes of my life.

Coming home it was really wet and the spray on the roads were horrid - I got panicky many times but managed not to call mum again.

I felt absolutely rubbish last night and am still recovering today from severe anxiety and feeling drained.

I have coping mechanisms and I was doing well at overcoming the driving issues but it all went out the window yesterday and I failed to cope at all without help.

The only thing that I can suggest is loud music that you can sing along to. I find that I hold my breathe when I get panicky which makes you feel really lightheaded and dizzy so singing along helps with the breathing.

I did get over this once before but it took me a VERY LONG time and I still can't stand the M25 at all.

[KK77]

This is my nemesis - driving when stuck in road works or traffic jams.

I drove to my mum's yesterday and did the A1/A1M fine but I HATE the M25.

I got on at junction 21A and was getting off at 13.

I hit traffic and panicked! I called my mum and spent the next 35 minutes on the phone to her talking me down from panicking so much.

I hit roadworks with a steel barrier blocking the hard shoulder and thought I was going to pass out but mum talked to me to keep me calm.

That was the longest 50+ minutes of my life.

Coming home it was really wet and the spray on the roads were horrid - I got panicky many times but managed not to call mum again.

I felt absolutely rubbish last night and am still recovering today from severe anxiety and feeling drained.

I have coping mechanisms and I was doing well at overcoming the driving issues but it all went out the window yesterday and I failed to cope at all without help.

The only thing that I can suggest is loud music that you can sing along to. I find that I hold my breathe when I get panicky which makes you feel really lightheaded and dizzy so singing along helps with the breathing.

I did get over this once before but it took me a VERY LONG time and I still can't stand the M25 at all.
You still managed to get through it though - with or without "help". I don't get PAs but do get bouts of road rage if I get stuck in traffic :lac:

Hope it won't stop you from driving on motorways again. You are brave to face your fears and you should see this as winning a battle, if not the war :D

To OP - I can only suggest exposure will gradually help, and suggestions made by Nicola.

[anom]

Driving in general is one of my biggest anxiety inducing things

I put off learning for 8 years and was practically vomiting before having my test.

I am only happy to drive somewhere I know Fully so I know what to expect (if its a busy junction I like to know which order each lane gets priority with lights etc) and I hate to be at the front.

I passed 4 years ago but I've only been on a dual carriageway once let alone a motorway, I avoid it at all costs. If I end up somewhere new I can feel my heart wanting to leap out of my chest, if I miss a turning and I need to turn round somewhere down the road to get back, again my hearts at it.

I suppose its all down to gradual exposure, I used to feel uneasy driving to work even though it was only a couple of miles away, now its like ..eh whatever!

[nomorepanic]

Thanks KK - scary stuff and it does put me off visiting the family at times as I know I have to go on the M25. The last time I did it was Christmas and the roads were quiet.

It is an achievement for me doing it but I get angry that I can't cope and do what I learned before.

Ben - have a read of this:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7162

it may help you.

[Benjammin69]

Thanks KK - scary stuff and it does put me off visiting the family at times as I know I have to go on the M25. The last time I did it was Christmas and the roads were quiet.

It is an achievement for me doing it but I get angry that I can't cope and do what I learned before.

Ben - have a read of this:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7162

it may help you.



Thanks guys and thanks for your response, I have driven to Scotland before from London and back. It’s never been a major issue it is only this year it’s horrible. I had a major accident 12 years ago in Greece when I was on a quad and hit by a car leaving me fighting for my life I have scars every where and my face but they have healed https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180331/a13cb53661b0dcbc76045b94237da038.jpg

And I never really thought about it but therapy brought it out this year as something that I haven’t dealt with and since then driving has made me full of deep anxiety and panic - I worry if there is no hard shoulder or If I can’t pull over then I worry I may pass out or loose control :-( it only started this February and I have been driving for over 15 years :-( it will go eventually
Just a pain to deal with right now!


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[BikerMatt]

Ben, Yes it's all about exposure, i had a hard time with it for a while. On my motorbike i was fine because you can filter but if i got stuck in a jam in my car panic would set it in. Some good tunes on and perseverance and i got there. In the end i even drove in central London all day everyday for nearly 4 years. Stick with it Ben!

[Benjammin69]

Ben, Yes it's all about exposure, i had a hard time with it for a while. On my motorbike i was fine because you can filter but if i got stuck in a jam in my car panic would set it in. Some good tunes on and perseverance and i got there. In the end i even drove in central London all day everyday for nearly 4 years. Stick with it Ben!



Cheers mate I have never had this issue before so it’s new and frustrating but I will keep going!


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[cattia]

Wow, I can totally relate to this! I used to have a job where I drove all over the UK. I'd whiz round the M25 any time of the day or night, drive up and down the country, drive through the centre of cities I'd never been to before, none of it bothered me. A couple of years ago I was having an argument with my husband in the car while I was driving. I got really stressed and thought I was going to pass out. I had to pull over. Luckily it was only local roads, but it started an anxiety about driving.

For a year or so after that initial incident it was only an occasional problem, but I had a big anxiety relapse and this fear really took hold. I've had a couple of major panic attacks on the motorway and I became obsessed with feeling faint and dizzy. During my really bad bout of anxiety it got so bad that I was having full blown panic attacks even driving to work. It's a 45 minute commute on A roads, I've done it for fifteen years and all of a sudden I was having to pull over multiple times.

I gradually managed to get a handle on the commute and have now built back up my confidence on A roads but I still can't face the motorway. If I have to travel somewhere that is an hour away on the motorway I will sometimes drive over two hours to go an alternative routw. I really want to crack it as although I don't need to do much motorway driving, I do still find it really limits me if I need to go somewhere for work or if I want to take the kids somewhere. I even tried beta blockers but I was scared they would cause me to faint!