Anxiety about long drive

[MikeL1993]

In a few weeks I will be driving from the North West down to Wembley Stadium and back again in a day and for some reason I've developed really bad anxiety. I am a good driver, I've had my licence for 15 years almost after passing whilst in college and I've done other long drives to places such as Newcastle and the Harry Potter studios.

I won't be doing this journey on my own, my friend will be with me in the car but for some reason I'm feeling quite anxious. Not so much the journey there but making the journey back. I keep thinking to myself "If I leave at around 7pm I should be back for 10:30" to try and reassure myself.

Any help?

The cure for anxiety is to do the thing you are anxious about.

When I get like this I give myself a good talking too!

1. I am a good driver
2. my friend is with me and it will be great to catch up.
3. I am the boss of the car if I get tried we can stop have a break, cat nap, coffee.
4. I am alive and well enough to do this.
5. Road trip fun here I come.

you will look back after this and say why did I worry

That's not that long a journey really. Three and a half hours will pass in a jiffy with your friend in the car. You'll be fine, you're perfectly capable. Don't let your anxiety about the journey home cloud the whole day.

Does your friend drive & are they insured for your car?

I have suddenly developed awful anxiety driving over the last year! I have no idea where is has come from, I was always a really confident driver

Can you identify what it is that makes you anxious ?
eg driving in the dark ? unknown roads?, car break down anxiety ? Being tired ?
the actual event at destination?

trying to work out what the specific anxiety is means you can break it down into chunks.

Long journey = planning short breaks
Driving in the dark= Share the driving with your friend or book a hotel and come back the next day
Car troubles= Take the car for a Health check at the garage

Try and specify it It might help

Oh bless you. I suffer from driving anxiety too and it really holds me back.
Something that helped was pinpointing what I was scared of. I used to always say I’m scared of driving or I’m not confident. But when I broke it down with a therapist, she asked “if there was no one else on the road would you still feel anxious” and the answer was no. So I wasn’t scared of driving at all, I was fine driving, it was other cars and drivers I was scared of. That helped as a starting point although I’m still not “cured”