Fear Of Driving
Bill Burniece
June 18, 2009
Driving a car can often be a stressful and harrowing experience. In fact, almost everyone who drives an automobile experiences anxiousness at times especially when driving in heavy traffic, bad weather, or on any road perceived as dangerous. But for some people, the fear of driving can become so intense that itīs debilitating and outright dangerous.
When driving fear occurs the symptoms can include feelings of intense fear and panic, increased heart rate, excessive sweating, dry mouth and throat, dizziness, and lack of oxygen. These distressing symptoms are similar to the symptoms experienced by anxiety sufferers during a panic attack. In fact, it's quite common for anxiety sufferers to have a fear of driving too.
The technical term for the fear of driving is 'Hodophobia' which is broadly defined as the fear of travel. Hodophobia is also associated with the fear of flying, fear of trains, or even fear of strange, unfamiliar, or open places. Hodophobia is categorized under the amazingly broad spectrum of anxiety disorders.
The fear of driving a car can make life very difficult for people who rely on driving to get around. Just like anxiety and panic disorders, driving fear is often a progressive condition that can get worse over time. People who suffer from the fear of driving can become conditioned to the point of avoiding travel whenever possible. They will come up ith every excuse imaginable and do nearly anything to avoid this fear.
There are many different reasons why fear of driving can occur. For many, it's linked to an already existing anxiety disorder that is triggered by the stress of driving itself. For others, bad memories of a traumatic event such as an automobile accident or past anxiety attack while driving can trigger the fear of driving. Still others can have a driving phobia to a specific event such as the fear of driving over bridges, highway driving, or driving in rain or snow.
Driving fear is a real illness that can make life very difficult if left untreated. It can progress to the point where a person will eventually give up driving all together. In extreme cases, fear of driving can even become dangerous when a person experiences a full-blow panic attack while driving. The physical symptoms can become so overwhelming that a person could literally become distracted enough to lose control of their car. There are many documented cases of people crashing their vehicles in such circumstances causing injury or even death.
The good news is the fear of driving is highly treatable. In minor cases simple techniques can be used to avoid driving anxiety. For example using deep breathing techniques that can be used in the moment of driving distress to calm nerves or listening to soothing music while driving can help promote a state of relaxation and self-control. Another good technique is simply taking a ītime outī by pulling off the roadway, in a safe area, and calming down. Sometimes just parking the car for a few minutes and regaining composure can quickly reverse the physical symptoms of driving fear.
If these simple methods don't work there are more advanced treatment methods like Hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Hypnotherapy helps to reprogram ones conscious thoughts that trigger driving fears. While this sounds technical it really isnīt and itīs a very effective treatment method for driving phobia. NLP is basically a study and practice of increasing the positive habits and reducing the negative ones that affect behavior.
The most important thing for people who suffer from fear of driving to do is to take action and seek out treatment now, before things get worse.
When driving fear occurs the symptoms can include feelings of intense fear and panic, increased heart rate, excessive sweating, dry mouth and throat, dizziness, and lack of oxygen. These distressing symptoms are similar to the symptoms experienced by anxiety sufferers during a panic attack. In fact, it's quite common for anxiety sufferers to have a fear of driving too.
The technical term for the fear of driving is 'Hodophobia' which is broadly defined as the fear of travel. Hodophobia is also associated with the fear of flying, fear of trains, or even fear of strange, unfamiliar, or open places. Hodophobia is categorized under the amazingly broad spectrum of anxiety disorders.
The fear of driving a car can make life very difficult for people who rely on driving to get around. Just like anxiety and panic disorders, driving fear is often a progressive condition that can get worse over time. People who suffer from the fear of driving can become conditioned to the point of avoiding travel whenever possible. They will come up ith every excuse imaginable and do nearly anything to avoid this fear.
There are many different reasons why fear of driving can occur. For many, it's linked to an already existing anxiety disorder that is triggered by the stress of driving itself. For others, bad memories of a traumatic event such as an automobile accident or past anxiety attack while driving can trigger the fear of driving. Still others can have a driving phobia to a specific event such as the fear of driving over bridges, highway driving, or driving in rain or snow.
Driving fear is a real illness that can make life very difficult if left untreated. It can progress to the point where a person will eventually give up driving all together. In extreme cases, fear of driving can even become dangerous when a person experiences a full-blow panic attack while driving. The physical symptoms can become so overwhelming that a person could literally become distracted enough to lose control of their car. There are many documented cases of people crashing their vehicles in such circumstances causing injury or even death.
The good news is the fear of driving is highly treatable. In minor cases simple techniques can be used to avoid driving anxiety. For example using deep breathing techniques that can be used in the moment of driving distress to calm nerves or listening to soothing music while driving can help promote a state of relaxation and self-control. Another good technique is simply taking a ītime outī by pulling off the roadway, in a safe area, and calming down. Sometimes just parking the car for a few minutes and regaining composure can quickly reverse the physical symptoms of driving fear.
If these simple methods don't work there are more advanced treatment methods like Hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Hypnotherapy helps to reprogram ones conscious thoughts that trigger driving fears. While this sounds technical it really isnīt and itīs a very effective treatment method for driving phobia. NLP is basically a study and practice of increasing the positive habits and reducing the negative ones that affect behavior.
The most important thing for people who suffer from fear of driving to do is to take action and seek out treatment now, before things get worse.
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