Panic Attack While Driving

The problem here is that there is not one specific thing that causes panic attacks when driving. Each person will have a different experience with the causes, symptoms and even the treatments for it.

However one common thread that people keep mentioning over and over again is the memory of an accident that happened sometimes in the past. This is a very strong trigger of driving panic attacks.

Other people start exhibiting these symptoms after some major traumatic events in their lives. These could range from a nasty divorce, the death of a spouse or somebody in the family, a career change, a move to a new location, etc.

And finally, something that I personally experienced - stress. Stress is a major cause of getting a panic attack when driving. The ongoing stress causes the body to give lots of hormones including adrenalin and cortisol. These in turn make the person see the situation more serious than it really is. Sometimes a rather bening situation is seen as a grave and dangerous one, without any positive outlook.

Here is what a person who experienced their first panic attack while driving had to say:

"I was driving on the highway and my heart started beating fast and I began to sweat and the cars in front of me seemed to be coming at me. I was also shaking and felt an urgent need to pull over.

This went on for about an 30 minutes and I just kept pulling over and finally I took 1/2 a Zanax and with in 30 minutes it had passed and I was ok.On the way home I took a pill and hour before I left and had no issues at all.I went last week to the N.Georgia mountains which is about 1 1/2 hours with about 25 miles of expressway and even after taking a pill before I also experienced another attack again .

I am now terrified to drive on the freeway or even mountainous roads. I am terrified of driving over a bridge don't even go there."
(source: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Panic-Disorders-Attacks-1659/2008/6/Panic-attack-driving.htm)

Does this sound familiar to you?
And what can you do about it?

Obviously you don't want to stop driving a car for the rest of your life, to limit living your life to its fullest, so what can you do to help yourself before, or when a panic attack grips you while driving?

Here are some tips to help avoiding panic attacks while diving, and some tips on what to do when you're actually driving that car. Panic while driving doesn't have to be a constant in your life!

I get asked by people who know that I used to suffer from panic attacks while driving whether driving panic attacks and driving phobias are the same, or they're something else entirely.

The two terms are not quite the same. Generally panic attacks are sudden and quite unexpected fears and feelings of impeding doom, danger and some big trouble ahead. Phobias are fears of things that usually shouldn't cause anxiety in people (e.g. fears of elevators, fears of spiders, fears of being in a large crowd, etc).

However when it comes to driving, in both cases the same symptoms occur. The main difference is about how the fear comes to be.

With panic and anxiety attacks, there is nothing in the history of the drivers to point towards such a fear when at the wheel.

On the other hand, a fear, a phobia of driving can occur due to some repressed memories. For example, I have a friend who as a small child was in a car accident. Luckily nothing happened to the family on the road, however ever since, he is trying to cure his phobia of driving, and even of being in a car at all.

Knowing where the fear stems from (irrational fear as in the case of a panic attack / anxiety when driving, or stemming from a real (or perceived as real) situation as in the case of a phobia), will help greatly in knowing what is the best cure, treatment for it.

For example phobias can easily be treated with NLP (I've cured my own nail biting habit and my fear of elevators with NLP on my own as an NLP practitioner), whereas anxiety panic attacks can be kept at bay and even cured with different methods, some of which I actually describe in this article.

# Listen to music you enjoy to help ease the stress of driving, and take your mind away from the possible stress. Also it is important because you are falling back to known ground, to what you are familiar with, and this is important when having driving panic attacks on the highway.

# Have some fruit or light snack around to give your body something to do besides release adrenaline into your body.

# Don't think about the action of driving the car. This is very important. Don't focus on it!
Look out the window at the scenery; look over the car directly in front of you.

# If you have a car radio, search for some interesting music channels, or put on a CD, or an audio book, to take your mind away from the thought that you're driving a car.

# Have always a cell/mobile phone with you, it will give you a sense of security and safety. It's amazing how much we got to rely on the cellphone these days. Put this to your advantage!

So you feel the first signs of a panic attacks while driving coming. Ok, don't panic! (pun intended). Just do the following, and you should be alright:.

# First thing, pull over. You will know the first signs of a panic attack, as they usually are accelerated breathing and heart beat. Get out of the car and walk around a bit, take a deep and slow breath, one at a time, slowly, until you have calmed down.
If you can't get out of the car (not optimal conditions on the road), then recline your seat, close your eyes and focus on calming yourself down.

# Have a bottle of water with you in your car. Although I am usually against it, in this case, if you feel a panic attack coming on while you are driving, you can either take some anti-anxiety medication or just drink a bit water, to calm down those rapid heart beats.

# Have soothing music in your radio, or have a CD handy with reiki, healing, soothing music, and make sure it's turned on when you feel a panic attack is on its way. Try to listen intently to the music, focus on it and just breathe deeply and slowly.

# Have a brown paper bag in your car in case you hyperventilate (for emergency breathing help)

# Don't try to fight it! Be aware that you are experiencing a panic attack, and know that it will pass.

# Take deep slow breaths. Imagine yourself going in slow motion. If you are going in slow motion (even if in your mind), you won't be hyperventilating, which just fuels your anxiety.

# Use the following affirmations:

"I am a competent driver and always arrive at my destination safely."

"I am calm, alert and in full control while driving."

There are some cases when panic attacks come over the person only while driving. They never experience them anywhere else. An attack over an expressway, attack over a bridge, fear of traffic, these are all very real fears in the eyes of the person experiencing them.

The first step here is always to identify the fear. This way you are a step closer to overcome it.
You could go for help to a therapist who is experienced in coaching people with panic attack while driving. But this exercise would turn out to be very costly to you.

The much cheaper alternative, where you can take finally ownership of your own life, is the Easy Calm solution, a full coaching program, which will take you by your hand step by step until you completely erased from your system any fear of driving. This is another natural panic attack cure that is relatively low cost and is quite efficient.

Learn how you can completely cure panic attacks while driving!