Driving anxiety

[Determination]

Hi

This is my first time on No More Panic. I am hoping to share ideas and get tips from other suffers like me. Most of my adult life I have suffered from driving anxiety to the point where it becomes a chore rather than something enjoyable. I am so afraid of being lost and do not like unfamiliar routes and always end up going places using routes which are familiar to me. This is not always possible and when I am in unfamiliar routes, I panic and makes mistakes. Does anyone else have this problem and can give me some tips.

Thanks in advance.

[Elen]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your post was moved from its original place to a sub-forum that is more relevant to your problem.

This is nothing personal - it just enables us to keep posts about the same problems in the relevant forums so other members with any experience with the issues can find them more easily.

Regards

Elen Admin

ps moved to GAD

[Catherine S]

It's similar for me, but it's motorway driving I absolutely avoid. I also try to avoid it even as a passenger. Like you I prefer to use familiar routes but I think that can be said about alot of people, driving can be stressful even for the calmest person. I'm a good driver though so it doesn't take that away from me, it's just the thought of being caught up in a situation on a route Ive never driven before, so wouldn't know how busy it gets etc. Saying that though, I have found myself in that situation and coped with it. I think with us anxies we think too far ahead to what might happen, when it usually works out ok.

ISB

[Determination]

Thanks I will keep trying.

[PunkyFish]

Hi

This is my first time on No More Panic. I am hoping to share ideas and get tips from other suffers like me. Most of my adult life I have suffered from driving anxiety to the point where it becomes a chore rather than something enjoyable. I am so afraid of being lost and do not like unfamiliar routes and always end up going places using routes which are familiar to me. This is not always possible and when I am in unfamiliar routes, I panic and makes mistakes. Does anyone else have this problem and can give me some tips.

Thanks in advance.

I'm sort of the same. When I first got my car it took me three weeks for me to even sit in it because I was so scared of driving let alone actually drive it anywhere. Now I drive everywhere. If I drive around where I live I'm fine with driving. However as soon as I have to drive to places which I'm unfamiliar with my driving becomes not so good and sometimes I can panic. I find that looking up a route using Google Street and moving along the roads really helped me on some unfamiliar routes and most of the time when driving there are always places you can pull over and try to calm yourself down which I also find helps me cope with it.

[Determination]

Thanks so much, this is encouraging.

[Sam Winter]

Fun fact,
when i was first taking my driving test i panicked so much about getting lost that i missed my turn point and ended up taking me and my poor teacher much further than we planned after that i tried my best to stay calm and didn't have another issue, it's like riding a bike or a horse, if you stay calm and confident it will work out just fine, i still have accidents sometimes(i was meant to go somewhere to go camping and got lost for an hour and got low and gas but i had google maps and a satnav so it was okay) and failing that you can ask someone for directions, but getting lost isn't a dangerous thing you can easily get out of it, just try and go into it with a calm and confident attitude and it'll be alright x

[Determination]

Thanks for your kind message, very reassuring.