Nearly everyone who drives an automobile gets nervous at times from various factors such as driving in adverse weather conditions, traffic, or while driving over high bridges. But when the fear of driving becomes a driving phobia is when it can become disruptive and even dangerous.
Driving fear symptoms can include feelings of intense fear and panic, increased heart rate, sweating, dry throat, chest pain, dizziness, and difficulty breathing. These scary symptoms are identical to what anxiety victims experience during a panic attack. In fact, it is common for people with anxiety disorders to have a driving phobia as well.
Technically speaking, the fear of driving is a type of Hodophobia which is basically the fear of travel. Hodophobia is also associated with the fear of flying, fear of trains, or even fear of unfamiliar open places or of interaction with strangers. Hodophobia is categorized under the broad umbrella of various anxiety disorders.
Fear of driving a car can make life very difficult for people who suffer from it and rely on driving as their primary mode of transportation. Similar to anxiety and panic disorders, it can often progress in intensity and become more debilitating over time. People who suffer from Hodophobia or fear of driving often avoid traveling whenever possible. This is obviously difficult if someone has to commute to work each day by car.
There are several reasons why fear of driving can occur. For many, it is caused by generalized or situational anxiety that is triggered by the experience of driving itself. For others, it can be the memories of past car accident or similar event or trauma that can cause fear of driving. Yet others can have a specific driving phobia such as the fear of driving over bridges, the fear of highway driving, or of driving in rain.
Unless you suffer from driving fear, it is difficult to understand just how scary it can be. If left untreated, it can progress to the point where the person will give up driving all together.
In extreme cases, fear of driving can become dangerous if a person experiences a full-blow panic attack while driving. The physical symptoms can become so intense that a person could literally lose control of their car before they know it. There are many documented cases of people crashing their vehicles in such circumstances causing injury or even death.
The good news is that fear of driving is highly treatable. In minor cases, simple steps can be taken to reduce road anxiety. The first method of fear of driving treatment is for the person to learn breathing techniques that can be used in the moment to calm them down during these episodes. This can be combined with listening to mellow, soothing music while driving to help create a state of relaxation and self-control. Another good technique is to simply take a time out by pulling off the roadway, in a safe area, and regaining composure. Sometimes just parking the car for a few minutes and regaining composure can reverse the physical symptoms.
In some cases, more advanced treatment methods are needed such as Hypnotherapy or Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Hypnotherapy helps to reprogram ones conscious thoughts that trigger driving fears. While this sounds technical it really isn’t and is a very effective treatment method for driving fear. 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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