Common Road Anxiety Disorder (Driving Phobia)

When someone develops an anxiety disorder to the point of driving phobia they will often begin looking for a cause associated with involvement in a road traffic collision. Certainly a significant driving incident, whether that be a recent or a distant event, will be thought of as being the cause.

However, this line of enquiry is often very much a case of barking up the wrong tree. Whilst there may be some driving incident involved at the time driving phobia is formed, that driving incident will more often be a trigger rather than a cause. Driving phobia, by the way, is not a recognised technical terms, but one we tend to use to describe a condition of acute road anxiety.

You don’t have to go through a
life–threatening event to develop driving phobia

Most commonly, driving anxiety disorder will develop from a set of personal circumstances experienced by the anxious driver that involve acute emotional stress. This may stem from something in their past, which has never been dealt with, or some situation that is current and still quite raw. The force behind the driving phobia is nearly always nothing to do with driving.

A typical scenario that helps to initiate a state of driving phobia is that of an individual under a great deal of pressure, consistently harried by some high–stress situation ongoing in their life. Something they think about first thing in the morning, all though the day, up until they fall asleep at night.

Stress will be an underlying factor in causing driving anxiety disorder

It can be some work related situation, a critical illness in the family, particularly if this involves numerous hospital visits that involve travelling and critical time juggling. A bereavement involving someone significantly close is another one. The driving anxiety disorder may not reveal itself at the time, but strike after the event at a time when suppressed emotions are free to rise to the surface.

Other examples can be acute financial worries, victim to emotional or physical abuse, failing⁄failed personal relationship, acrimonious divorce or any other acutely upsetting and stressful circumstance. However, in our experience, two of the most common underlying ingredients, during or after which a person may develop driving anxiety disorder, is caring for someone close who is in decline during a terminal illness, or after the birth of a child – especially if it is a first child.

When Driving Phobia is Triggered

Whist the anxious driver is in a highly charged emotional state a relatively minor driving incident will occur. If viewed in isolation this incident will be insignificant, but the timing is enough to tip the anxious driver over the edge. This is when the panic attack whilst driving occurs. Examples to date are, the car suddenly being drenched in water from a lorry driving the other way in the rain, another driver sounding their horn, clashing mirrors in a narrow street or reversing into a shopping trolley in a supermarket car park.

It takes just one panic attack whilst driving
for the driving anxiety disorder to become formed

The time it takes for driving phobia to become established will probably be less 2–seconds, and the anxious driver, unless their situation is resolved quickly, may go on to live with the road fear for the rest of their life. Whatever the driving incident, this is the point where the anxious driver has now lost the ability to cope. This will be the point where driving phobia is triggered.

Driving Phobia and the Sense of Failure

Once the driving anxiety disorder has formed the self–esteem of the anxious driver will go into rapid decline. The inability to drive on motorways, dual carriageways, driving over bridges and elevated sections of road, will create a sense of failure. This further fuels the growing self–perception of inadequacy and the resulting lack in self–worth.

The silent fury of watching others drive without a care

The negativity of the situation is further exacerbated by the silent fury the anxious driver will experience towards themselves for being so apparently useless. Observing others quite happily jumping into vehicles at any time and seemingly able to drive anywhere they like doesn’t do anything to help either.

Driving phobia really is very damaging, as feeding from self–perpetuated negativity and ensuing despair, this only helps to make the symptoms of the driving anxiety disorder even stronger.

Driving on The Motorway Becomes Impossible

Typically, the first change brought about as a result of having a panic attack whilst driving is how it affects driving on the motorway. This type of road will often be crossed off the list of available routes upon which to drive.

This is the start of a behaviour pattern, and as it begins to form, the anxious driver will begin to seek out alternative routes so as to avoid driving on the motorway. Known as workarounds, this avoidance behaviour becomes very elaborate, as the available road types to the anxious driver become fewer and fewer. Driving over bridges is another activity which commonly becomes very difficult at this stage.

Once the behaviour pattern is formed it becomes habit

Once the habit is formed, the anxious driver becomes trapped into a cycle of self–doubt and fear within a shrinking world. The emotional degradation and a sense their own life is no longer under their own control is very destructive. As driving a vehicle is all about control, and to a very high level, it perhaps makes some sense that driving will be so affected.

Who Will Develop Common Road Anxiety?

Absolutely anyone can develop a form of road anxiety disorder, in much the same way that anyone can contract an infection or disease. Road anxiety disorder is a symptom of a period that occurred in a person’s life, during which there was the inability to cope with the ongoing circumstances at the time. Similar circumstances may be experienced by anyone, making the natural selection process seemingly indiscriminate.

It is a symptom of distress; unreconciled distress. In fact, statistically speaking, if you are successful, bright and intelligent, ambitious and highly motivated, you are far more likely to develop driving anxiety disorder than people who are less driven. However, no one is immune. It is not necessarily about the person, but more about the person’s life events that makes the difference.

Panic Attacks Whilst Driving on The Motorway

It is highly likely that your first panic attack occurred either driving over bridges or on a motorway, or at least on a road that is of a similar appearance to driving on a motorway. You were probably travelling to somewhere important and with a lot on your mind. You may have started to feel strange, even dizzy perhaps, fearing you would faint and at the same time very vulnerable.

The car feels as if it is steering
to the left, or that it is tipping over

Of course the car will be acting all weird, feeling as though it is steering to the left, or even tipping over. You may have experienced an urge to swerve into the path of oncoming traffic and wondered if one day you might not prevent yourself from doing it.

Has is it ever got too much for you to bear, so you have pulled over to the hard shoulder to stop. Have you had to call someone to come and ‘rescue’ you, or even been driven off the motorway by a police patrol?

Perhaps not all the ingredients above will match your own particular experience, but whether you became an anxious driver when driving on the motorway or not, it will be very likely your ability to drive that type of road will be affected.

Difficulty exceeding 40mph

You may experience the beginnings of a panic attack whilst driving just at the sight of the blue motorway direction sign boards, even before you reached the entry slip road.

If you are able to face getting driving on the motorway at all, you will probably have difficulty exceeding 40mph and want to stay in lane–1 (the inside lane). If you thought you could get away with it, you would perhaps love to drive along the hard shoulder.

You will not want to overtake
anything driving on the motorway

Your anxiety will increase as you pass the slip road leading off the main carriageway and shoots through the roof as you pass the bottom of the slip road that is bringing traffic on. If your are driving on the motorway, and there is another merging with yours from the left — holy–moley, now you’re in big trouble.

Your hands will feel sweaty, your knuckles will be white as you clench the steering wheel so hard you fear you will never be able to let it go. You will be short of breath and it may feel as though all the oxygen in the air has run out. You will experience tightness on your chest, get very hot, and oh that urge to just stamp on the brake pedal, or at least to periodically dab the brakes.

So why are you like this, and another thing, why are you now frightened of heights too? You never used to be. Why does driving on the motorway bring on a panic attack? What’s going on? Actually, there is an explanation for all of this, and if you speak to us we can explain everything, and without obligation.

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This page was last updated
Thursday, 20-May-2010

Panic Attack Driving Over Bridges