Fear of DrivingTo suddenly find you can no longer perform what always used to be a simple task, and which you could always do with ease, is at best bewildering. At worst, it is terrifying.
If a fear of driving comes about as result of a sudden episode, e.g. anxiety attack when driving, this is what we call a one-shot learning experience. The motorway panic attack, for example, will teach you to be scared of motorways. Thereafter, every time you try and drive on a motorway, again you have a motorway panic attack. This is what the first anxiety attack when driving on that type of road has taught you.
Motorway AnxietyTo be scared of driving on motorways is the most common form of driving anxiety disorder we see. The fact these roads are big and wide is not insignificant, as it is the open space that is part of the equation. There are animal instincts at work in us all and if we are feeling slightly vulnerable, which how a lot of people can feel driving on a motorway, we will not want o be in an open space. We will want to be near the cover of trees or buildings, for example.
There is also the issue with this type of road that you cannot get off it without reaching an exit first. And everything on there just seems so fast!
Motorway panic attacks are a symptom of the inability to cope with a situation at that time it happens. It represents a moment of despair. It is the sense of not being in control and of more than just the car. It is to feel like you are about to fall off a cliff to your doom and frantically then try to stop that from happening. We hear from many who tell of how they had to dive for the hard shoulder, swerving across three lanes to get there in blind terror. This is the will to survive at its most intense.
No Confidence or Scared of Driving on Motorways?Motorway anxiety is something that many drivers are dealing with on a regular basis, but this may never become as severe as panic attacks when driving. A survey conducted in 2009 revealed that only just over half of women drivers questioned said they were confidant driving on motorways. Motorway anxiety, it could almost be said, is normal, but anything more severe, such as panic attacks when driving, is something to take more seriously.
This forum has a large number of members who are now scared of driving on motorways, usually due to suffering motorway panic attacks. To learn you are not alone in your fear of driving, whatever the type of road, can be a comfort.
Why not join our
driving phobia forum now and make this your first step to overcoming anxiety attacks when driving.
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