Anxiety is the worst thing that can happen to a driver during intense driving. Even if you have been trained well, you can still get anxious about driving. People who are new to driving are the ones that get most anxious, and if anyone else gets anxious while diving because they might be in stressful situations. Keeping yourself calm in such a situation is something you can learn to do. You can manage this stress, and this would help you drive smoothly. Usually, when people have been in accidents, they get anxious about going out on the road again. You can overcome it all with just a little bit of effort.
Causes of Anxiety
During intense driving, you can get a little bit anxious. This can be because of a lot of different reasons. Even if the surrounding isn’t chaotic, people can still end up with anxiety. Following are some of the reasons why people get anxious while driving.
- Past experiences matter a lot. If you or a close one of yours has been in an accident or witnessed an accident, you might feel scared getting behind the wheel again. Dealing with trauma is very important when you have PTSD. You won’t be able to drive without getting anxious if you don’t deal with it.
- If you have anxiety issues, and it doesn’t have to be specific about driving, you will get anxious while doing it too. Anything that you need to operate in your life or any decisions you have to make, or a role where you need to lead, will end up causing your anxiety. Dealing with anxiety in such cases is also very important as it affects your driving ability and your whole lifestyle.
- Driving in a new place can also end up causing anxiety. Different cities and states have different traffic rakes, and follo9ng can be a bit troublesome at the start. You can end up feeling restless the whole time you are driving. There are different ways to overcome such anxiety, but make sure you overcome that fear, or it will be difficult to be out of your comfort zone.
- Riving long distances can exhaust some people, and this can cause restlessness. Such intense driving is not something everyone a handle, and it can make that person more anxious the next time they have to travel outside of the city; they will be quite anxious already.
Symptoms of driving anxiety
Some people don’t even know if they are having an episode of anxiety, and knowing that, you have to know all the symptoms of anxiety. All these symptoms are associated with intense driving.
- Dizziness
- sweating of palms
- Rapid heartbeat
- Irregular breathing
- Fear
- Panic
- Desire to escape the car
- Shortness of breath
- Disorientation
These are all the common symptoms of anxiety, and you can look for these symptoms if you also feel restless while driving. When you have identified anxiety, then you will be able to move towards overcoming anxiety.
Overcoming anxiety while driving
When you are driving, it is very important to keep yourself calm. You can manage anxiety in many different ways, and the following are some of the ways you can manage driving anxiety
- Practice is the key. If you are anxious about driving in general ten, you need to expose yourself to your fears. You won’t know if you can do it or not unless you give it a try. An even better option would be to do that more often so that when you are finally driving on the road, you don’t have to be anxious anymore. You will be confident in your driving skills with all this practice.
- When driving, make sure that you are well-fed and rested. If you already fear driving and are still doing it without any proper rest or food in your tummy, you will only end up getting more anxious. When not fed properly, your gut will only give your bad feelings about this. So, it’s better to have proper sleep and food before you drive./
- Expose yourself to the things that you get scared of. If you are scared of driving in the dark or in the middle of heavy traffic, you should expose yourself to it. This way, you will be desensitized to such situations, which will help you pass your driving test very easily.
- If your anxiety is not only related to driving, but you get anxious generally over anything, then you need to get professional help for it. It is better to get therapy for your anxiety as it will affect not only your driving skills but also your overall life activities.
- Sharing a ride with someone can also help you deal with anxiety. If you have an anxiety disorder, make sure your friend is sitting with you in your car so they can help you stay calm. Talking to them about anything will also help with your anxiety as you will be distracted.
- Remove any distractions that are within your car. If you cannot pay attention, you might get anxious, and then accidents are bound to happen.
So, these are some things you can do that will help you with anxiety.
What to do when you are having an anxiety attack
While an intense driving session, you can get a severe anxiety attack. To manage an attack, you have to do the following things
Park your car on the side of the road
Focus on breathing well
Roll the window down if you have to or turn on the air conditioner
Try to distract yourself with something else other than your anxiety.
Call someone if it’s still not under control.
If none of the above is helping, you can seek professional help.
Conclusion
with intense driving, anxiety is quite normal. If you know how to manage it, you will become an excellent driver. If you face generalized anxiety disorder, you should see therapy for it, but it’s time to overcome your fears if you only get anxious while driving. When you can control your anxiety, you will also be able to pass the driving test. Most driving schools help you out with driving anxiety as well.