Help with driving phobia

[Axlcat]

Does anyone have any experience of getting over a driving phobia and if so how they have done it please? Issue is mainly with motorways / dual carriageways and I’m desperate to get over it.

i used to be a very confident driver and would travel all over the country up to 1000 miles a week and now I’m completely paralysed by fear at the thought of it and therefore avoid.

Just getting on with it and doing it is not an option - it’s completely irrational and not something I can just push through on my own. If anyone has any recommendations I’d be really grateful (particularly if anyone has personal experience of this and can refer me to specific organisations/individuals that have helped!)

Has anything happened that you became so fearful, like near miss etc.?

Can you drive if you know no motorways/dual carriageways are involved?

What happened to make you fearful of driving? Was it car related or something else in your life? I've worked with a couple of people with driving phobias and both now happily back behind the wheel.

It used to just be motorways but now seems to be getting to be more than that and is extending to me driving anywhere that is unfamiliar. It started with me having a panic attack out of nowhere 20 odd years ago but I continued to drive (on motorways as was a sales rep) after that although at certain times felt very anxious.

I’ve spent 15 years without a car as lived in a city and now moved and need a car and it’s made me realise how bad this fear is now.

it’s really debilitating and just want to get back to how I used to be all those years ago!

Hypnotherapy - I know someone who used this to get over driving nervousness. Worked brilliantly

Can you get someone to drive your car to a relatively quiet location / time of the day, slap some L plates on your car and start from scratch as if you’re learning? That way you can build up your confidence slowly and the other person can take over if you feel overwhelmed. Good luck 🤞🏼

@Eyesopenwideawake not sure - I think when I had the initial incident I was working really hard, burning the candle at both ends and in a difficult relationship so could be that was the trigger.

@FatherJoseFernandez I feel ok driving it’s just this irrational phobia of larger roads/motorways and I think I need summer kings of hypnosis/NLP to unpick it probably combined with driving but I’m not sure.

@Axlcat - yes, that might be it. Sometimes when the mind is under intense stress it will grab hold of something (the panic attack) and erroneously associate it to whatever you were doing at the time, in your case driving. In order to avoid suffering from those horrible feelings again it will activate feeling of anxiety and fear when you try to do the thing it's associated with the panic attack. Remedial hypnosis would allow you to communicate directly with that part of your subconscious and tell it (nicely!) that it made a mistake and it can stop producing that reaction. It would normally take no more than 3 sessions.

No help here, but just to say that I empathise. For me, I’m actually happy driving in my big busy city because there are so many 20mph zones and I know that an accident at that speed won’t cause much damage. Whereas on the motorway, going at 70mph and one bad decision could have huge consequences - I find it terrifying and can’t drive outside of the city

@Eyesopenwideawake this makes sense to me. When it first happened I was on my way to a client a 5 hour drive away and it was crazy early in the morning and I remember dreading the drive but didn’t feel particularly anxious. It then came out of nowhere and I ended up shaking and sobbing on the hard shoulder.

I used to then get it when I had to drive to see my boyfriend at the time who lived an hour away on the motorway but at lower levels of anxiety, and I look back now and think it must have been my brain telling me I didn’t want to go as it wasn’t a good relationship. Now it just feels irrational.

Do you have any tips on finding a hypnotherapist I can trust? I think it’s largely unregulated so would want to make sure I get someone who is qualified and able to support me.

Thanks!

@Axlcat If you find a solution please let me know. Same thing happened to me in 2014. After an intensive period of stress (unexpected bereavement followed immediately by serious illness of 2 close family members) I had a panic attack on a motorway. 30+ years unblemished driving record and suddenly I couldn't even look at the car without feeling like I was having a stroke or heart attack. Absolutely no logic to it at all. I had CBT and managed to drive on a 2 lane motorway and dual carriageway again until one day I had another panic attack on a dual carriageway 40 miles from home. Fortunately DH was with me so took over the driving.
I'm now fine with local driving or known routes of up to 30 miles from home - as long as there's no dual carriageway or motorway - which is largely fine as I live in a rural county but it has it's limitations - and I live in fear of road closures/diversions!
I'm a perfectly safe and confident driver on single carriage roads but would love to find a 'cure'.

I also have this and can't drive on motorways. If I need to go somewhere further than 10 miles away it takes me ages using the back roads.

Mine started after having a panic attack on a dual carriageway. Don't know what triggered it but I still can't drive in them.

I'll be following this to get some ideas.

@Axlcat Happy to DM you my details if you'd like, or any of my CONTROL practitioner colleagues would be able to help you - all are experienced in this type of work and we all offer a free initial consultation.

@Eyesopenwideawake yes please that would be great. I’m in West Yorkshire if that makes any difference!

Done!

Reviving this thread. Did anything work for anyone here?