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How can I manage driving at the moment?

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How can I manage driving at the moment?

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1071

Hi Cedolya,

Congratulations on your success! Thank you for sharing your positive news.

Shari

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11214

Congrats Cedolya!

Sounds like you did great.

Ashley, Health Educator

Here to help :)

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 4

Hi,

Thanks you for your advises. That's very helpful.

This morning, I felt very calm. I drove through highway and had almost no fear.

To come back from my work, I felt also quite calm but less. I decided to take highway. It was more difficult but I cannot say it was a panic. Focusing on my breeding helped somehow.

Was just in the mood to share :)

Have a nice day

PS: sorry for the mistakes, I'm not native speaker

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 4027

Hi Cedoyla,

With technology's accessiblity from your internet connection, you can use driving games to desenisitze, but hindsight is 20-20

I found out that my fear was the conflict at the end of the work project, more than the road itself, which is static. Leaving early, and having a GPS solves some of the issues.

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1665

Hello Cedoyla and welcome to the site. I too used to have anxiety while driving. I used the distraction techniques many times while driving. For me the distraction was to sing any song i could think of at the time. No one could hear me, I could sing as loudly as I wished. I could make songs up, the sillier, the better. It also made me expand my lungs and take deeper breaths at the same time which was good. Personally, I didn't avoid the major roadways, but sometimes I visualized myself driving there and back successfully. I especially did this when I had to drive somewhere unfamiliar. Good luck. Sounds like you know the program. Sometimes it is good to refresh what we have learned.

Sunny

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 4

Hi Shari and Josie,

Thank you for your messages. It's very good that the panic center exisits!

As I was panic free for many years, I forgot about all these CBT tools.

But, indeed, that's very usefull. I have the feeling that not using main roads or car pooling would be the equivalent of "giving up" but maybe it could be the best strategy to reach my goals.

I"m open to any other suggestion and I'll you know about my evolution.

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 12049

cedolya,

Welcome and thank you for sharing your story and success with us. Do take the time to check out the program and how it may help you progress. The members have offered some great support and advice so take a look and take what you need.

Use the exposure therapy to help guide you

Use breathing techniques to take the edge off

Perhaps carpooling with a co-worker to help you

We are here to support you, so post with us and let us help.

Josie, Health Educator

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1071

Typo: I meant to say Relaxation techniques, not Relation :)

Shari

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1071

Welcome Cedolya,

I used to have severe panic attacks while driving. To the point where I wanted to leap out of my car and abandon it. It would happen at red traffic lights and in traffic jams or with stopped construction work on the roads. I wrote a page of positive truths on paper and when I was stuck at the light, I'd pull it out and read it and by the time I got to the bottom, the light would turn green and I didn't panic and was able to continue. All I could manage, in the beginning, was side roads, but at least I would be able to drive. So, just by my experience and my opinion (others may disagree), I think driving the side roads is fine. You can work on exposure to the main roads later, after you've gone farther in the program and you will have the coping skills you need to be able to handle it. I also did box breathing (Relation Techniques in your Tool Box). Over time, when you replace negative thoughts with positive truthful statements it retrains your brain so you don't panic. You can say to yourself, "This is only temporary, in a few minutes I'll feel fine, nothing terrible is really happening", etc. You can observe your surroundings and try to make up names for the license plates you see. I realize that's distracting yourself, but in the beginning it can be very helpful till you work up to exposure. I'm happy to say that I haven't had a panic attack, at all, for over two years. I was able to drive to Florida and back twice with no panic attacks. I do have anxiety at times and sometimes high anxiety, but it never kicks over into panic. But, with the coping skills I've learned here, I've been able to manage anxiety. The last two hours of my Florida trip, we got lost and had been on the road for 14 hours and should of been home, so I had to cope and manage high anxiety, but I didn't panic. I know you will get better and better over time. You already have a good grasp of what it's about :)

Shari

11 years ago 0 +0 / -0 4

Hello all,

I am new on this website. I will introduce myself briefly. I have been fighting with PD and ago for 15 years.

Fot the fist years, the trouble was manageable with avoidance stragtegies (I guess you know what I am talking about) and around 10 years ago, the probelm went out of control. It was a stressful perios of my life as I travelled a lot for my job and moved to the capital of my country. At that time, I could only go out taking benzodiazepine or alcohol. The rest of the time, I would stay at home. I found useful help. I took a SRRI, which helped, and started a CBT. The CBT was very helpful. It took around one year I think but I could do anything I wanted. Take plane, make sport, go to cinema and restaurant. The most difficult to overcome was driving on highway. It took more time but I finaly could overcome this as well. For many years, I drove and even did not think about PA!

Unfortunatly, one year ago, I expercience a new PA. I was driving on the higway in France and a PA occured. I forgot how terrible it is and I stopped on the side of the road because I really thought I was losing control. Since that time, PA have come back and are more and more frequent on the highway. I have started again avoidance strategies and in particular "micro" or "subtle" avoidances like staying on the right side, looking for exits and emergency lines, ..

Despite I continue driving, it is getting worse, probablly because of these strategies.

So, I have decided to restart from scratch and make progressive exposure therapy. I will go at my own pace and it should work ultimaly as it worked in the past.

However, I was wondering how to manage my driving to go to work. I have to take highway to get to my work for just 10 minutes. Some days, it is OK (usualy in the morning) and on other day it is not OK (I am quite afraid to experience PA). I must admit that it is rare that I experience real PA. It's more about the fear to experience one.

Would you recommand that I continue to go to my work through highway or should I try to find alternative roads?

On the one hand, avoiding highways sounds like a massive avoidance. On the other hand, I am afraid to make things worse as I see that the problem is not getting better despite I continue driving (but I limit driving).

What I am trying to do for a few says, it to get rid of the mico avoidances. I already noticed minor improvement.

Thanks for your adive and nice to meet you :)

Cedolya

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How can I manage driving at the moment?