Driving anxiety is a common issue that often doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Getting behind the wheel is necessary to complete many daily tasks in our car-dependent culture, but it comes at a serious psychological cost for many drivers.
If you have driving anxiety, that doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong or that your concerns are completely unfounded. After all, feeling anxious about any activity with such high stakes is understandable. Driving can be particularly anxiety-inducing in big cities where heavy, chaotic traffic patterns are the norm, compared to the emptier roads of rural areas. However, these feelings don’t have to control your life. The right tools and resources can be key to how to get over driving anxiety.
What Is Driving Anxiety?
Driving anxiety is a mental health condition involving extreme feelings of nervousness, fear, or panic around driving. Drivers of all backgrounds and experience levels can suffer from driving anxiety.
Car accident reports make it clear that driving can be a particularly dangerous activity, and it’s good for all drivers to have a certain degree of caution on the road. However, driving anxiety may cause people to focus too much on the risks. This can inhibit their ability to operate a car confidently or even stop them from driving entirely.
Each individual may experience driving anxiety in different ways. For example, one person with driving anxiety may be comfortable driving on residential streets but feel anxious driving on highways. Another person may be unable to get into a car altogether. Many people with driving anxiety avoid driving whenever possible or experience distressing symptoms behind the wheel.
Driving anxiety can significantly affect a person’s quality of life. They may have trouble holding a job, attending social gatherings, getting to appointments on time, or fulfilling family responsibilities.
What Are the Symptoms of Driving Anxiety?
The symptoms of driving anxiety resemble those of other forms of anxiety. People may experience any combination of the following symptoms before, during, or immediately after a drive:
- Overwhelming feelings of fear
- Sweating
- Racing heart
- Trembling
- Nausea or vomiting
- Rapid breathing, or hyperventilation
- Trouble sleeping
- Feeling weak
- Trouble concentrating
- Avoidance of driving or getting into a vehicle
These symptoms can worsen over time, especially with avoidance. When someone avoids driving due to anxiety, their avoidance reinforces the fear and makes it more challenging to overcome.
Why Do People Feel Anxious When Driving?
Driving anxiety often has one or more underlying causes. Understanding the root cause of your driving anxiety is the key to overcoming it.
Experiencing or Witnessing a Car Accident
Driving anxiety is sometimes a manifestation of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event, such as a car accident, can lead to PTSD and subsequent driving anxiety. Physical trauma and its impacts, such as needing surgery after a car accident, can leave accident victims with lasting effects.
People with PTSD may have intense feelings of fear just from thinking about driving, which triggers avoidance. In some people, getting behind the wheel can trigger flashbacks to the accident and cause a panic attack, exacerbating the condition.
Having a Pre-Existing Anxiety Disorder
The majority of people with anxiety disorders have more than one type. In that sense, having a pre-existing anxiety disorder can make you more susceptible to developing driving anxiety.
Driving anxiety may also be an extension of preexisting anxiety. For example, generalized anxiety disorder may cause someone to worry excessively about day-to-day activities, including driving.
Lack of Confidence in One’s Driving Ability
Having low self-esteem can make it difficult to trust oneself on the road. If someone doesn’t think they are a good driver, their lack of confidence can trigger driving anxiety. Such a self-perception often isn’t a realistic reflection of the individual’s driving skills, and both new and established drivers can feel this way.
Driving in Unfamiliar Places
People who experience anxiety around new experiences may struggle with driving in unfamiliar places. The anxiety may stem from a fear of unexpected situations, getting lost, or not knowing how to navigate unfamiliar roads.
Driving in Poor Weather Conditions
Some people with driving anxiety fear driving in certain weather conditions, such as heavy rain, ice, snow, or fog. People who have experienced traumatic weather events may be particularly susceptible to this type of driving anxiety.
Driving in Bridges, Tunnels, and Heavy Traffic
Stressful driving situations, such as crossing bridges, driving through tunnels, and navigating heavy traffic, are understandably difficult for many drivers. This is especially true for people who fear confined spaces or heights. The fear of encountering these situations may result in a driving phobia.
Issues With Vision
Driving anxiety can result from vision problems, such as binocular vision dysfunction, or BVD. This condition is a misalignment of the eyes that can cause blurred or double vision. If you have BVD but don’t know it, your vision issues may make driving unreasonably difficult. This can contribute to a rational fear of driving.
Which Common Driving Maneuvers Cause Anxiety for Drivers?
Some driving actions are particularly likely to trigger driving anxiety, including:
- Merging onto the Highway: Merging into traffic on a busy highway requires quick decision-making and coordination at high speeds. This can be overwhelming for some drivers.
- Backing Up: Reversing out of driveways or parking spaces can be tricky, particularly given the uncertainty about who might be approaching out of sight. Less confident drivers may experience anxiety in these situations.
- Switching Lanes and Passing Vehicles: When changing lanes on highways or city streets, drivers must carefully scan their surroundings and weave their way through unpredictable traffic. Drivers may fear missing a critical blind spot or face anxiety when other drivers don’t make space for them to switch lanes.
- U-turns: Making U-turns requires good timing and confidence in the vehicle’s maneuverability. For some drivers, this maneuver causes them to fear miscalculating an oncoming vehicle’s speed or not moving quickly enough and getting into a car accident.
- Unprotected Left Turns: Making a left turn through an intersection without a green arrow can trigger anxiety in many drivers. The driver must gauge the timing of approaching vehicles and move decisively when traffic clears. The pressure of holding up a line of cars behind them can add to the anxiety.
How To Get Over Driving Anxiety
There is hope if you struggle with driving anxiety. While no simple fix instantly resolves most cases of anxiety, there are effective ways to manage it. The right strategies can stop these feelings from controlling your life and open new opportunities.
Understanding the Root of Your Anxiety
Take some time for self-reflection. Consider whether you have a history of anxiety in other situations or if something specific triggered your driving anxiety. Maybe you witnessed a car accident as a child or are struggling with confidence on the road. Identifying the root cause of your driving anxiety can help you create an effective action plan for managing it.
Seeking Professional Help
Therapy may be helpful if your driving anxiety is affecting your quality of life. Your therapist can help you determine what may be causing your anxiety and equip you with healthy coping strategies.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is common to treat driving anxiety. It aims to change the negative thought patterns and behaviors that often fuel anxiety.
You may benefit from medication in addition to therapy if your driving anxiety is severe. Your doctor can prescribe anti-anxiety medication to help you manage your symptoms.
Taking a Driving Course
Consider taking a professional driving course if low confidence is causing your anxiety. The instructors can teach you how to safely handle a variety of challenging driving scenarios, such as dealing with aggressive drivers. They can also point out any risky driving habits they observe so you can eliminate them. Even if you’re an experienced driver, this can boost your confidence by refreshing your memory and positively reinforcing your abilities.
Driving Outside of Your Comfort Zone
Because avoiding scary situations can worsen driving anxiety, it’s essential to face your fears. Try to gradually expose yourself to the situations you’re anxious about. Set small goals and reward yourself for achieving them, then slowly increase the difficulty level.
Visualizing the Road Before Driving
Fear of the unknown fuels a lot of driving anxiety. Simply visualizing your route before driving can help you feel more prepared and in control. Use Google Street View to familiarize yourself with the roads you’ll be driving on and the maneuvers you might have to make.
What Can You Do To Feel Calmer When Driving?
Increasing feelings of calmness behind the wheel is an important part of coping with driving anxiety. Consider practicing these strategies to further chip away at your driving fears.
Challenge Negative Self-Talk
Negative messages that you tell yourself can contribute to driving anxiety. If you find yourself thinking things like “I’m a terrible driver” or “I always make mistakes on the road,” challenge these thoughts by asking yourself for evidence. Are they based on facts, or are they just pessimistic assumptions? Remind yourself that you are a capable driver and have previously navigated difficult situations successfully.
If you do have a history of making mistakes while driving, frame them as learning experiences. Instead of dwelling on your past errors, focus on what you can do differently in the future to avoid making them again.
Negative self-talk may also involve other drivers on the road. For instance, if you find yourself thinking, “I can’t trust anyone on the road” or “Drowsy drivers are everywhere,” replace these thoughts with more realistic and actionable statements. For example, “I can only control my own driving, so I’ll focus on being a safe and defensive driver.”
Try Relaxation Techniques
Aim to release the tension in your body while driving. You can try deep breathing exercises, listening to calming music, or stretching your shoulders and neck while at a stoplight.
Focus on One Step at a Time
Add mindfulness techniques to your routine by focusing on your senses. For instance, you can notice the feeling of your hands on the steering wheel, the sound of the engine, or the feeling of the wind on your face. This can help you stay present rather than get lost in anxious thoughts about potential future scenarios.
