Cyrus
08-08-18, 19:09
Hi, I'm a 19 year old male with a history of health related and general anxiety. Nothing else is wrong with me health wise.
Lately I've developed this irrational fear of suddenly passing out while I'm driving. I say irrational because I've literally never passed out a single time in my life, even during my worst panic attacks.
This all started about a month ago when I had a panic attack while driving to class (I had to give a big speech that day, and was worrying about it), where I felt shaky, an uncomfortable tingling feeling in my arms and jaw, and slight dizziness at a red light. I was overwhelmed with an urge to "escape", and was hugely worried I was going to lose control of the car or just straight up faint - neither of which happened, I finished the last 4-5 minutes of the drive to class fine despite feeling terrible. Ever since this event though, I've struggled with feelings of anxiousness when driving. Sometimes it goes away after a while (usually when I try to keep my thoughts positive), while other times it just sticks with me the whole drive. It's especially bad at areas where I feel like I can't "escape", like a red light or in traffic.
Any thoughts or advice? I know this is a ridiculous fear, as I'm a safe driver and have no reason to suspect I would randomly faint, but it's really bothering me regardless and I just want to get back to being able to drive without worrying about this. Thanks so much.
Lately I've developed this irrational fear of suddenly passing out while I'm driving. I say irrational because I've literally never passed out a single time in my life, even during my worst panic attacks.
This all started about a month ago when I had a panic attack while driving to class (I had to give a big speech that day, and was worrying about it), where I felt shaky, an uncomfortable tingling feeling in my arms and jaw, and slight dizziness at a red light. I was overwhelmed with an urge to "escape", and was hugely worried I was going to lose control of the car or just straight up faint - neither of which happened, I finished the last 4-5 minutes of the drive to class fine despite feeling terrible. Ever since this event though, I've struggled with feelings of anxiousness when driving. Sometimes it goes away after a while (usually when I try to keep my thoughts positive), while other times it just sticks with me the whole drive. It's especially bad at areas where I feel like I can't "escape", like a red light or in traffic.
Any thoughts or advice? I know this is a ridiculous fear, as I'm a safe driver and have no reason to suspect I would randomly faint, but it's really bothering me regardless and I just want to get back to being able to drive without worrying about this. Thanks so much.