Things That Helped Me to Overcome Driving Anxiety

If somebody were to ask me, “Shannon, what are the top 3 things that you struggled with through your journey with anxiety, panic disorder, and agoraphobia?” Driving anxiety would definitely be on the list!

I used to experience lots of anxiety and panic while driving in cars, while riding as the passenger (especially as the passenger actually), driving far distances from my house or from a “safe” place, driving in traffic, driving on rural roads, driving on city roads, driving on roads that didn’t have a bathroom accessible, driving on roads that I had experience panic before, and the list goes on! And it wasn’t just cars, it was really anything that moved. It was trains, planes, buses, boats, you name it! Oftentimes these things led to even more anxiety because I’d convince myself that I had even less control while on these things.

And for me, driving was never the actual issue or fear. Instead, it was…

• The fear of having a panic attack and not being able to handle it.

• The fear of not being able to escape if I needed to. I was always convincing myself that I was trapped or on the verge of losing all control.

• The fear that something bad would happen to me and I’d be too far from a safe place.