Later, much later, I found out that Joe Barry had developed a program that can take you away from your panic attacks just as fast as I did it...only you might not have to wait SIX YEARS! You get your life back! For more information on how I dealt with panic attacks and anxiety, and how you can too, go to the Panic Attack And Anxiety Cures blog. Don't miss the "Famous People Who Suffered Panic Attacks" page.
Panic attacks while driving are a frightening thought, and fear drives anxiety.
While I had severe panic attacks for six years, I don't want to even think about having a panic attack while driving. Anything but that!
Fortunately, my driving time was unencumbered by the danger caused by having a panic attack right in the middle of a big traffic snarl or even while just cruising along.
It just didn't happen to me, but I can see how the whole driving thing could really turn into a phobic nightmare.
See, that right there is one of the causes of panic attacks...the fear of having another one. So I can see how, if you'd had attacks in the past while driving, the thought (fear) of getting into the car to go somewhere would trigger a big anxiety rush at the least, and at the worst trigger a full scale "sweat and shake".
This is more common than you'd think.
While researching this topic, "Driving Under The Influence Of A Possible Panic Attack" I ran across some facts that put anxious drivers into the correct perspective.
The two main fear scenarios that are played out in the heads of anxiety ridden drivers are the thought of "losing control' and being "trapped".
They have visions of causing a ten car pile up because they suddenly "freaked out" on the freeway and they have the fear of being trapped in the vehicle like when there's a crash up ahead or even just at a stoplight.
In my research I found that most phobic drivers in fact have clean driving records and have never even been in a minor road incident.
Apparently, anxious drivers are a LOT more alert than, say someone who is not anxious at all and may even be sleepy, or worse!
So, it's like so many things in your life that are affected, and often ruined, by the fear that you are going to move your anxiety level up to level 10 and start a complete panic meltdown.
I've been there. It's darn near impossible to have a rational thought while in a full blown panic but here's one thing that worked for me.
I like movies and I had noticed that I NEVER had a panic attack while watching a movie. I wasn't even anxious..I was calm! I was in the flow.
Further I noticed that picking out a movie and going to see it was a space where I NEVER had attacks. I was on task.
Later, sure enough, I transferred the calming effects of the movie scene to other areas of my life.
When I was having a business meeting, one of my most feared situations, I would walk into the meeting thinking about a movie I had seen, and often brought it up in conversation. If we talked about the movie for a minute or two I could see the panic attack sort of get locked out of the room. Worked for me.
If you are one of the folks who get into a sweat over getting into your car maybe you can transfer the "calming effects" that something in your life gives you.
Maybe you should just try remembering the scenes in your favorite movie.
Here's a thought. Why don't you see how a good "book on tape" works for you?
There are lot's of little things you can do to get your life back. Still it took me six years! Because I had to tough it out and go it alone. Bad choice.
When I finally quit fearing panic attacks and literally "chose" to banish them from my life it happened one afternoon at a stop light! Even though I didn't have panic problems directly related to driving it was while driving that I got rid of them.
My suggestion? Get your life back now! Don't do what I did. Don't waste six years.
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