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wow, there are other people who are like me?? Crazy, i thought i was the only one who had driving fears, i didnt get my license till i was 22 almost 23.(last year!)
I just was very scared of getting in an accident, I am comfortable driving on roads now, i have had my license for a year now.
But the overwhelming fear of highways is still there, Even when im in other peoples car and they are driving i have an overwhelming sense of anxiety and adrenaline. I can picture how accidents will happen, i see visions in my head as were driving. my heart races and people think im a weirdo, so i try to keep it to my self.
I have never driven on a highway and dont want to or plan to, yet. i know i have to eventually. but i dont know how i am gonna do it. Especially when you get on a highway and you have to merge with traffic!! Are you kidding me, i can NOT do it, its to scary, cars are zooming past me and im supposed to just slide on in with them??? I dont like even driving past 45, seriously all i picture is cars slamming into me and my car flipping out of control.
I dont know why im here typing all of this, its just odd to see other people who have similar fears. i thought i was just crazy and something was wrong with me.
Maybe it has to do with my mom being a crazy driver? maybe.
I think she scarred me for life.
Have any of you overcome your fears of highways and MERGING?
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i was in a really bad accident about 8 years ago. i was not hurt but my car was totaled. a 18 wheeler struck me and i spun a couple times and hit other cars. i was just learning to drive and had gotten my license not too long before then. I was ok for a couple of months after. i drove on highways and everything. no fear. then all of a sudden Wham. One day i was driving on a highway to a job interview and i had immediate need to pull over..i thought i was going to die. i got to the interview, but later on my anxiety got worse and worse and worse. i avoid all highways now..i have trouble driving on two or more lane roads. i can only drive on one lane roads comfortably. well most of the time. i hate who i have become.
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Don\'t be ashamed, drfrmeout! We\'ll find solutions.
Ironically, the hwy is the only place I don\'t mind driving so much. Merging is easy because 99 percent of the time, someone will make room for you and let you right in. one can always trust that there\'s going to be a spot for you. And the rules are simple. Don\'t pass on the right. Ok. Go with the flow of traffic. ok. Don\'t stop or back up. no problem.
I didn\'t do a lot of hwy driving until my bf and I drove my car across the country when I moved. at first I was terrified but after a while I saw that highway driving was really the easiest part. I still am clutching the wheel with white knuckles anyway, but the anxiety is less with hwy.
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So glad there\'s a forum for this–it\'s easy to feel like you\'re the only one (in the USA anyway) with this fear. I am 32, I got my licence when I was "supposed to" as a teenager…but I was always uncomfortable. And over time I rarely drove and lived in cities with good mass transit. Every year it loomed larger and larger…it\'s not just the driving, it\'s everything that goes along with it too: the gridlock, the pollution, the responsibility for a big confusing machine, the bad impact on communities, all the hideous shopping centers…but I can\'t honestly complain about that stuff until I stop being scared.
I just got a job that I have to drive to, so I\'m practicing practicing practicing. If you\'re like me where you HAVE driven before, but then avoided it for so long that it\'s become a "thing" I can say one good thing for starting again: it is much easier to drive than it is to think (aka "worry") about driving. Yes, I\'m a shaky mess and I am pouring sweat, but it is better to do this in a car than to be at home shaking and sweating just thinking about it.
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I also felt like I was the only one out there. My friends never worry about it and just do it.
I recently got my license and I was happy until I started driving to places with my sister/friend. I almost killed my friend and sister by turning on a street with oncoming cars. I couldn\'t drive after that.
I have anxiety attacks when my sister (twin) drives to school and back home. The parking lot gets so crowded and I feel like our car is going to hit someone elses. Actually, on the first day of school, my sister hit a parked car when she was trying to park. All these onlooker were there and they just had to be those snobby carefree people too. Of course, we got into trouble with the driver…..I felt so bad for her.
There are days where I cry from the thought of driving. It\'s such a big fear for me and I know I have to drive eventually due to college and just life….
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I\'m the only person I know with a fear of driving. I\'m still not sure what to do about it. I\'ve done everything one is supposed to do to "desensitize" onself so the anxiety isn\'t so bad, but it hasn\'t worked. If anything it\'s gotten worse over the years and I\'m also tired of hearing how irrational the fear is. There\'s a big difference between being afraid of driving vs fear of clowns or small spaces. I\'ve never seen a clown (in reality) or a small space kill someone. Our fears of driving are fairly understable, in my opinion.
I don\'t mean to sound negative. I haven\'t had the best history with cars. I had been in at least ten accidents before I even got my license (bad drivers in my city). My sister-in-law and unborn nephew were killed in a car wreck and then I had a bad wreck a mere 2 months later. The junker we drove almost flipped itself one time when the central axle, which unknown to us had rusted through, literally fell from the bottom of the car and caught the street underneath us….on a -major highway-. Now I live in DWI central (NM) where no one signals, everyone tailgates and speed limits are mere suggestions, not laws. It\'s as though life -wants- me to be as terrified of driving as possible.
My philosophy is thus: I haven\'t gotten rid of my phobia, but I have chosen to own it. Nothing has worked to get rid of my anxiety, but instead of being afraid, I\'ve gotten mad. I force myself to drive everyday in the face of the fear. I\'ve returned to college this year which has forced me to go outside my safety parameter by a considerable amount. I\'m terrified but I\'m doing it because I have to and because I don\'t want fear to control me or my life. I\'m more afraid of being a trembling mess locked in my home than a trembling mess behind the wheel at least attempting to be "normal" and have a life. Not saying this would work for everyone here, but it\'s working for me in that I can get things done, at least. Sometimes there\'s no cure for something but to live with it.
I\'m glad this forum is here. I get tired of being laughed at for my fears. I know that won\'t happen here.
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Nice to see the new posts! I agree sgilliga, the thing to do is own it and get mad. Think how many bad drivers there are out there who keep at it like it\'s no big thing. Funny you mention NM too-I lived there a few years back and you\'re right about the DWI situation…drive-in window at the liquor store?? Please.
Remember postalnori, you and your sister are better drivers than plenty of people out there…being scared means you are paying attention.
I am still pretty scared, but I can get to work without a problem. Now I have to start driving 1-3 hours to places I\'ve never been before to do my job…I\'m not going to lie–I am scared!
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Well, I am 30 years old and this fear has crept up on me the past year. I don\'t have any incident that triggered it, but I feel like I\'m gonna lose control of my arms or my head and they will just go limp and I won\'t be able to control the car.
I do suffer from a fainting syndrome, but I have been on medication for 4 years now and since starting it I have not passed out at all, but I am afraid I may while driving.
I wonder if there is therapy or meds that can help. I have 2 kids and a job. I have to be able to drive.
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When I saw this forum and read through it, I actually started tearing up. Other people out there with similar symptoms.
For the past 5 months now I have had this fear of driving come over me.
It\'s like I get behind the wheel and either feel extremely nausious or like I can\'t breathe and I roll down the window to let the air in.
It\'s not all the time – I have great days and then I have days where I have to pull over multiple times with extreme gas and/or dry heaves.
Once I am out of the car, and, of course, get some of the gas up, I\'m OK again and get back in to continue on where I need to go.
The only catalyst I can see is this: I used to live in the country and driving long distances was the norm. A few years ago, we had to move into the city (house was not ours and was sold). Once into the city, I lived literally 5 minutes away from work (driving time).
My company moved out a ways about a year ago and, since then, all this has crept over me.
I understand the symptoms and when it happened, but I can\'t understand the reasoning behind it and how to make it stop. It\'s like a splinter in my mind wherever I go with the car.
Anyway, without me going on about myself, I would like to say I am all for self-help and working together as well.
Nice to meet you all!
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