Do You Have A Driving Phobia?

You basically go through a mild to severe panic attack! This panic feeling you get is not good on your health.
Here are some fears that people with a driving phobia experience...

A fear of loosing control and causing an accident

A fear of overpopulated roads

A fear so great that causes you to become disoriented and make the wrong decision

A fear of driving in bad weather conditions

A fear that causes you to be tense about approaching junctions, roundabouts and multiple lanes

A fear driving over bridges

A fear of making the wrong decision while driving and people yelling/honking at you

Basically, a driving phobia causes you to have scary/anxious thoughts while driving. These thoughts are so overpowering that you just can not drive safely and calmly. Most people with this phobia make excuses about not driving. They stay in their homes unless it is absolutely necessary to go out.

Your physical/emotional signs under this distress includes...

Pains in your chest

Feeling sick and dizzy

Sweating profusely

Throat becomes dry

Leg/hands shake

Heart pounds

Not seeing and hearing properly

Irregular breathing

Driving phobia is also know as hodophobia. Even though this all sounds pretty extreme (and it is), this fear of driving is a learned behavior and CAN be helped through the right treatment.

Based upon one or a handful of experiences, your brain has learned to associate driving with danger. This is now embedded in your brain in "neural pathways" that fill your body with fear when it comes to driving.

Your "fight or flight" response is then triggered. This all happens in milliseconds in your body and you begin to feel anxious and stressed.

The hormones that are released (adrenalin and cortisol) cause the fast beating of the heart and sweating.

The overall problem is that you are now "programmed" to react in this way to driving. No matter how often you tell yourself to calm down, it will inevitably happen. I always thought that I was just over thinking the whole thing. Never did I realize that my driving phobia was actually as serious as this.

The solution is to "RE-program" your brain to associate driving with fun and calmness. I know, I know, easier said than done!!

I have been there done that, so I understand. I didn't get my license until just last year because of my driving phobia. I am now 26!

I used this Driving Phobia program to cure my fear.
I wish I would have done more when I first realized I hated driving. I wasted many years of my life because of this fear.

This whole process of "re-training" the brain will take some time. Using these techniques, it will seem to get better each time.

1)Start out taking short trips around the block. Drive in places you feel most familiar with and take back roads when you can. You are looking for successful and short drives to help your brain realize that there is no need to feel panicked.

2)Listen to soothing music as you drive. The right kind of music will help keep your anxiety to a minimum. If it's silent, you will hear those scary thoughts and nothing else. The music will keep you from concentrating too hard on the fear.

3)Get someone you feel most comfortable with to go for a drive with you. If that person makes you feel better in other aspects of your life, they will more than likely help calm you while driving.

4)Take deep breaths! Yes, it does help. Breathing deep and slow breaths steady the heart rate and help relax you.