Safe in Your Protective Capsule

Did you know that depression or anxiety accounted for an estimated 11.4 million lost working days in Britain in 2008⁄09? According to a Labour Force Survey, an estimated 415,000 individuals in Britain, working over the same period, believed that they were experiencing work–related stress at a level that was making them ill.

How do you define stress?

Many people, we find, do not understand what is meant by the word stress. The common perception is that stress happens to incompetent or weak people, and in any case, it is something that always happens to someone else.

By definition, stress is a feeling of being under pressure induced by experiencing a difficult situation and⁄or being within an intense environment. In other words it is being in any situation or place that makes you feel uncomfortable.

Stress can either occur at the time or after a short–lived incident. This can be something as simple as your car not starting at a time when you really need to get somewhere. Stress can also occur as a result of an ongoing situation that spans a significant time period. A stressful job, for example, is one such ongoing situation, or you putting pressure upon yourself to perform to what really is an unrealistically high level for a human being.

The single incidents that irritate and annoy us don’t really pose a threat in isolation. It is the ongoing situations that we need to be careful of, or many individual incidents that occur within close time–proximity. Contiually pushing your personal performance is a classic cause of driving phobia.

The most confident and able drivers are most vulnerable

Driving phobia is a symptom of stress and it is interesting how the majority of those who develop driving phobia used to be very confident of drivers. When we chose to investigate this topic some years ago it threw up some fascinating information about how people regard their car.

These days the car isn’t just a form of transport. It is that must have item, as to not have a car is not to be complete. A symptom of our car obsessed culture we regard this vehicle as a fashion accessory; an important possession that maybe reflects a perceived status as a human being.

If ever you wish to test the theory of the car being a reflection of status, take two people working within the same company and issue each a brand new company car. Give one the GL model and the other a GXL, and then observe the reactionary behaviour.

The car has become a protective capsule

However, in our overstressed and burdened society the car has become something else. It has become a protective capsule into which we escape for periods of recuperation. This theory is best summed up by John, who has offered valuable confirmation of this theory.

John used to work for corporate giant that produces and distributes IT equipment all over the world. John’s position was that of sales manager and he found that his performance as an employee was constantly pushed to the limit.

"I would have to drive ridiculous distances and keep within unrealistic time frames during my working day," he said. "Everyone was squeezed for every last drop they could give in order to meet with sales and distribution targets, and that was hard."

When asked about his time on the road in the car he had this to say.

"The car allowed me to escape. I loved driving and I loved cars – still do. But whatever stress and aggravation I had to deal with in the office, at the client’s business, or any other work environment, when I got into the car I felt more relaxed. As if all that nonsense was out there and I was away from it in here.

Thinking about it now it was as if the car was a shell into which I could withdraw to get away from everything that was bothering me outside. I hadn’t looked at it that way before now, but it is true.

Between destinations I would re–charge my batteries and arrive feeling ready for action, knowing that afterwards my car would be waiting there for me and take me away from it all. It was definitely a place I could withdraw to and escape life’s pressures."

Most driving phobia cases were once very confident drivers

At Ride Drive we often are told by people, now dealing with driving phobia, how they were once super–confident drivers. Accounts of how the car was a place of sanctuary are common.

People describe their car as something which gave them ‘me time’ and where they could escape to. Listening to their favourite music it always felt safe and a place where they could be at one with themselves.

However, once the driving phobia strikes, it is as if the protective capsule has been punctured. Now, there is no escape; no protection from all the pressures that life is pushing forward and a great sense of vulnerability through exposure follows.

Driving phobia commonly begins on a motorway

It starts with the Imprint Vulnerability, a moment that commonly happens on a motorway, or at least a big dual carriageway. This is not the fault of the road as such, but that of how little regard people have for driving.

Motorways, for example, don’t actually mentally occupy the majority of drivers. To put this into context, when the traffic on a motorway is freely flowing it is all too easy to lapse into an autopilot mode. This allows the mind to wander off to other topics.

If there is some stressful situation going on in life away from the car, driving on a motorway on autopilot mode can be the time in which much thought is given to the situation. People can become consumed by their worries at this point and it can get pretty intense.

Chemicals begin to flow preparing to fight or flight

In a highly charged emotional state chemicals begin to be released into the blood flow system. Cortisol and adrenaline production are the basic biological responses to intense pressure as the body builds itself up for the fight or flight programme.

It is in this state that a minor incident or occurrence can trigger that fight or flight response. When this happens it is the vulnerability imprint moment where driving phobia is formed.

Beforehand, and for many, the car had become a symbol of dependency. You want to get somewhere and your car will get you there. It is a machine that is always expected to perform its function with complete reliability.

Often passing the blame for inadequacy onto the car

To back this up is it interesting to listen to people’s first accounts of their involvement of a road collision. Statements such as, "The car just left the road," and "The car just wouldn’t stop in time," are common. Seldom is there a mention of how they as a driver failed to keep control of the car or leave sufficient braking distance ahead.

People have been known to attack their own car at the scene of a road collision, banging their fists and pouring scorn upon it for daring to act in such as manner as to become involved in this situation.

Driving phobia can create a state of mind that in some way the car has been a letdown. It has committed an act of betrayal and therefore all previously built trust is gone. When driving phobia strikes it is common for the subject to change their car, thinking the driving phobia will be sold off with the old model and therefore be gone. Of course this doesn’t work, because the issue is not with the vehicle.

Protect yourself by recognising the ingredients

So, for those not currently affected by driving phobia, be aware of your personal stress level and don’t regard stress in a trivial manner. Seek help to manage stress; there is no shame. When driving on motorways and other big roads, remain mentally engaged. Focus on the act of driving, the traffic and the attitude of the car. Get complacent, and give the phobia chance to bite, and you could be fighting to get out of it for years.

Please understand this article may not match your situation, as driving phobia as a condition takes on many forms and affect different people in different ways. However, the story told above is a very common one.

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This page was last updated
Monday, 10-May-2010

Overcome The Fear of Driving a Car – Driving Phobia