driving

[EcoModernMom]

i have not drove in years. my very first (full blown) panic attack i was driving and out of it as i was i stopped my car in middle of road, jumped out of it not putting it into park, and ran into a strangers home and rumaged through their house freaking out. ya it was bad. several months later i started to recover and get back to normal from that attack. i had another really bad attack down the road that gave me a huge setback..took me over two yrs to get out of that "funk". now my anxiety and attacks are up and down, highs and lows. but i have not drove for years. just riding in a vehical i hyperventilate and can't breath, i can't see well at night, and something about seeing a cars taillights (in the dark) triggers attacks. it's the last thing i remember seeing before another and different attack behind the wheel. so now it is a trigger. anyway, even longer story short, i am really needing to be able to drive again, especially being a single mom. i have no idea how to even start driving again, tips?

[LuvNmyGrl]

i have panic attacks when i drive also.  It took me 5 years to drive again and when i was pregnant i was totally fine to drive i dont know why but i think the hormones had something to do with it, because i drove everywhere.  And now that my baby is almost 8 months my anxiety is back again, it sucks but i know just driving a little bit at a time, like drive around the block then the next time go a little further and so on.  

[EcoModernMom]

 when i was pregnant i felt great too. anxiety wise it was when i was at my best!

[Prisma]

 I can remember my 1st anxiety attack while drving, my back went out completely, my legs froze and I was in the middle of a U-turn and holding up traffic on a major road! That was about 10 years ago...but what I did to get used to driving again was to avoid busy streets and highways; and drive a little below the speed limit. 

BTW; I relasped a few years ago due to surgery, and have not driven since. So now i have to practice all over again. I do not have any more panic attacks (thank God) just anxious and a but nervous.

I truly believe we have to get to the root of what is causing the trigger and slowly work our way through the process;  via deep breathing, changing our thinking pattern; and taking baby steps.

Will check back often with my progress and yours.

All the best.  

 

[OctoberMom79]

I have always hated driving. I didn't get my license until I was 22 and then I wouldn't drive on the highway for another couple years. When I got pregnant I had morning sickness and nose bleeds while driving so I gave it up and didn't drive again until my son was 2 or 3 years old.

The way I started back was to do like LuvNmyGrl suggested and just go short distances. I would go around the block a few times, then next time I'd go to the gas station down the street, etc. It also helped to have someone in the car with me and my anxiety is always less when I am driving on roads that I know. Any time I drive somewhere I've never been before I freak out.

But I went from not driving for years to actually learning to drive a stick shift and drove it from Texas to Arkansas a lot of times so YOU CAN DO IT!