dianes
26-03-08, 17:48
Hi everyone :D I have always been an anxious passenger travelling by car. 23 yrs ago my hubby, two kids and I travelled over from Germany by car (he was in the Army) we arrived here on the friday and after a couple of hours kip he decided to make the drive from London to Wigan that night. The rain was lashing down and we were in the outside lane overtaking a lorry when the panic hit. I am ashamed to admit...I tried to open my door to get out...Madness I know, the kids screamed in the back while my hubby lent over to keep me in my seat. When we stopped at the services, my hubby went ballistic!! I still suffer with nightmares about what could've happend to all of us that night.
I gave up travelling on motorways and dual-carriageways a couple of years ago after another bad journey on the motorway where we were stuck in traffic and I battled again not to get out of the car. Since I have been suffering with anxiety/panic/claustrophobia for the past 3 years I now find I am having trouble on normal roads :ohmy: I have stopped grabbing the door handle when we go out. But find it hell stopping at traffic lights, crossings, roundabouts etc. etc. I find I am literally terrifed looking down a long road, overtaking or stopping, I get an overwhelming urge to just get out of the car. I am terrified if I do get out I won't be able to get back in again to either reach the end of my journey or even worse, get back home!! I have support worker who calls out to see me once a month and I have told her how terrified I am of jumping out of a moving car and causing an accident if I can't control my panic but she just smiles and tells me to concentrate on how far I have come as I couldn't even go outside my front door over a year ago!!:weep: This really doesn't help with my problem at all. I don't want to take any medication as I was addicted to diazepam and it took me 2 years to get off it. Can anyone suggest anything?? I need to be able to travel in the car so I can visit my daughter, grandkids, shopping, etc. etc.
PLEASE, PLEASE, HELP ME.
Diane
'Your imagination is always much worse than the reality'
I gave up travelling on motorways and dual-carriageways a couple of years ago after another bad journey on the motorway where we were stuck in traffic and I battled again not to get out of the car. Since I have been suffering with anxiety/panic/claustrophobia for the past 3 years I now find I am having trouble on normal roads :ohmy: I have stopped grabbing the door handle when we go out. But find it hell stopping at traffic lights, crossings, roundabouts etc. etc. I find I am literally terrifed looking down a long road, overtaking or stopping, I get an overwhelming urge to just get out of the car. I am terrified if I do get out I won't be able to get back in again to either reach the end of my journey or even worse, get back home!! I have support worker who calls out to see me once a month and I have told her how terrified I am of jumping out of a moving car and causing an accident if I can't control my panic but she just smiles and tells me to concentrate on how far I have come as I couldn't even go outside my front door over a year ago!!:weep: This really doesn't help with my problem at all. I don't want to take any medication as I was addicted to diazepam and it took me 2 years to get off it. Can anyone suggest anything?? I need to be able to travel in the car so I can visit my daughter, grandkids, shopping, etc. etc.
PLEASE, PLEASE, HELP ME.
Diane
'Your imagination is always much worse than the reality'