How to Overcome Fear of Driving
The fear of driving can have many causes. It may be because the person was previously involved in an accident or had a nerve wracking experience whilst learning to drive. In order to overcome fear of driving they will need to get over their belief that has damaged their confidence. Drivers can get lost, cars can crash, they can break down, and they can get stuck in traffic jams leaving the driver with no apparent means of escape. Some people even have a fear of driving over bridges.
Once a person has had a bad experience driving that has affected their confidence and caused anxiety it can become a conditioned response. The very act of getting behind the wheel of a car can become associated with those earlier fears. Maybe the anxiety will only occur in certain situations such as in heavy or fast moving traffic or when more than a certain distance from home. The person does not even have to remember the initial experience that caused them to become fearful of driving. The forgotten experience is still recalled on a subconscious level and carries an emotional charge that can be triggered under certain similar driving conditions.
Click Here to Overcome Your Fear of Driving
The fear of driving is called hodophobia. You don't have to be the one driving the car to suffer from a driving phobia. Passengers can suffer from it too. This will normally be because they feel that they aren't in control. This is a similar situation to people who suffer from agoraphobia.
Fight or Flight
All forms of anxiety and panic are simply the inappropriate activation of the body’s fight/flight response. This is the natural survival instinct that is triggered when faced with danger. The experience of driving is perceived to be dangerous which triggers this fight/flight response. If you continue to experience anxiety whilst driving you continue to reinforce this mistaken idea that you are in danger when you are driving. You can end up conditioning yourself to experience more and more anxiety whilst driving. Continued anxiety can lead to panic attacks.
Symptoms of Anxiety and Panic
Experiencing panic or anxiety whilst driving can cause many physical and mental symptoms. These may include sweating, trembling, dizziness, difficulty breathing, palpitations, feelings of unreality, fear of dying or losing control. These aren't the sign of a physical illness they are symptoms of the fight/flight response.
Anxiety is NOT an Illness
Anxiety and panic attacks are behavioural problems. They are not an illness. As behavioural problems they were learned. You did not get to be this way because there is something wrong with you. You can unlearn this unwanted behaviour. In order to unlearn anxious beliefs you have to replace these beliefs with new beliefs that give you confidence. Becoming a confident driver will eliminate your anxiety and panic whilst driving.
How to Get Help
There are many great self help programs available online for helping people overcoming panic attacks and anxiety. Once of these products is called Driving Fear which has been created specifically for people who need help to overcome fear of driving.