Anxiety in cars

[Bodey294]

Hi there BB community forum,

just checking in to see if anyone relates to vehicular driving anxiety.

I will tell you about my experience with vehicles. Since I was probably about 6 years old I have had random fluctuations of panic when driving in a vehicle. My heart will race and I will start to feel extremely dizzy. I cannot bare it. It happens when I feel trapped and have no other possible way out. My thoughts for example might be like this when traveling on the free way in mums car: "there's a car behind us, that means we have to keep going no matter what, what if I wanted to stop, I couldn't if I wanted to, we have to remain at this speed or accelerate, that our ONLY option at this point in time" then I will feel very dizzy and try to hold onto something. This dizziness will last for a few seconds but the anxiety might last for a few minutes. It is worse when sitting in the front seat so sometimes I will hop into the back seat to avoid it. Another example happened a few months ago where I was on the center bit of the tram with a full carriage. As it was moving my thoughts of entrapment had started and my heart rate increased so I got off and walked the rest of the way (2 blocks from my destination) rather than to endure a panic.

If anyone has had a similar experience or feels this way too please tell me your experience and how do you try to deal with it? Thank you

[romantic_thi3f]

Hey Bodey294,

Thanks for your post.

I don't have experience with what you're talking about but I do have lots of experience with anxiety so I thought I'd reply 🙂

It sounds like it's that feeling of being 'trapped' that causes you anxiety; whether it's in a car or in a tram. Does this only happen in vehicles? Can it happen if you're in a lift, on the bike or in public? and does this always happen?

One of the reasons I'm writing is because regardless of what causes the anxiety, our response is still much of a muchness - whether or not it's public speaking, being in a car or seeing a bear. Even though it can look a little different in everyone.

There are a couple of different ways to try and manage it - but due to the word count I'll try and keep it short and sweet!

The first way is through trying to settle those thoughts and fears. If there was a car behind you for example and you/your mum did have to break or speed up, then yes - there could be an accident. Exploring that is exploring your absolute worst case scenario. But it's also about realising everything else - that there is no need for anyone to unnecessarily break/speed-up, that everything is safe, that your mum is a responsible driver and that with all this evidence there's no reason why you shouldn't be safe today.

The second thing is about keeping our body as calm as possible. For the majority of us, this means focusing on our breath. The moment our heart starts to race our breathing is already a bit haywire - so slow it down, have big deep breaths and stay grounded with those thoughts of why things are safe right now. This is why things like meditation and mindfulness have become so popular - because they're really encouraging us to be (and stay!) in the current moment.

I hope that this helps a bit! Anxiety is pretty complicated so sometimes a therapist can be the best bet- but maybe this can give you something to work from 🙂

[Vermillion]

Hey mate, when I had bad anxiety I too would feel the way you describe in situations where I wasnt 'in control'. If I was driving or leading the way I was fine, but as a passenger I was terrible and always worried about the 'what ifs' you are describing above. Now, everyone is different, so i'll speak for myself and you can take as much or as little as you want from my comments. My first thing is to recognise the situation, you've obviously missed the trigger for that anxiety and werent able to nail it down before it got to the point you felt 'symptoms', but that's totally OK, it happens all the time. So OK, you're experiencing some stuff (I dont like to give anxiety the privilege of naming it usually), you missed the trigger, it happens, it'll pass, it's not going to kill you. You might feel dizzy or have a racing heart but you arent going to pass out and you arent going to have a heart attack, so forget about that. Next, so what? I often say 'so what' when anxiety asks me questions. For me, that makes it go away. The chances of something bad happening are extremely remote, and for the most part if something bad was going to happen there's nothing you would be able to do to stop it anyway, so dont waste your time and energy worrying about it. That's how I calm myself, along with moving my thoughts to something else, and if it comes back then repeating the process, over time your mind will learn and it'll get better.

It's important to also look for the trigger that gets you going and address that. Obviously not while you're experiencing panic or anxiety, but afterwards, and next time work on hitting that trigger down so that it doesnt get air time and can grow. It might take a while, but eventually you'll get there and it'll be like, what issue with being in a car? Hope this helps mate cheers.

[Sam_W]

Hi Bodey,

Whilst i cant relate to the anxiety in cars, i do have anxiety in other situations such as heights. I try and focus my mind on my body and don't listen to the thoughts going through my head. I see if i'm tight anywhere (particularly around my neck) and focus on loosening that. I focus on how my stomach feels, what my breathing is doing and this grounds me to the present moment. I find anxiety is getting caught up in "what ifs" so grounding myself to the present moment helps. I also practice this through meditation so I am able to do it in stressful situations. It's not a quick fix but over time my experience is that it has got better.

I wish you all the best!

[MissTeacher]

I have experienced this feeling before. One thing that I find helps is chewing gum when in the car. It takes my mind off what is happening and the minty taste also eases the nausea/dizziness associated with the anxiety and motion sickness. As a passenger, I also try and focus on a fixed point in the distance or scanning the scenery as opposed to constantly checking the mirrors or the road ahead as this causes me to anticipate and stress about what is going to happen. Sometimes as a passenger I will also close my eyes and lean my head back on the seat and not focus on what is going on.

I hope this helps!

[AlteregoJess]

Hi Bodey294,

I have experience with anxiety in cars. I used to love just being in a car, I would always go with someone when they went for a drive I loved it. But one day I randomly had a small anxiety attack while in the car and since then I have always been nervous and anxious about being in a car, especially with my sister, she's not the best driver. I have had 2 large anxiety attacks since then where I actually had to walk the rest of the way to my destination, one took me 45 mins. I learned a trick that seems to work for me if I feel a full on attack coming on, I look at other cars license plates and for each letter on them I try to think of a name that starts with that letter, e.g. A- Allison B- Brooke and so on and I try not to repeat names so that gets me thinking which takes my mind off of the anxiety and driving, it is especially hard when it comes to the letter X. Doing this has saved me from having a couple of anxiety attacks.

Maybe give this a try and see how it goes.

I also have this anxiety/stress spray that I use, it seems to work a bit, though it tastes like alcohol.