HI Jonny25 and everyone.
I have panic when I am driving. I listen to lucinda's relaxation cd all the time while I am driving. the parts on the cd when she says positive things... like, "I am calm now" makes such a difference in my driving life. you are not alone. I have found my early childhood reasons for my panic, my father used to drive like a maniac and almost killed me and my family when we were kids b/c he would drag race with people when he was drunk. my mom did not drive. anyway, I have alot of car anxiety, as a driver and as a passenger and most of my current anxiety stems from my earlier childhood trama. THat said, I also have anxiety that I cannot trace back to anything, it seems to come out of the blue. all this to say to you, is you are not alone. you are in my thoughts.
Warm wishes,
Mary
Driving fears
I get anxious when I drive too specially when I'm on the expressway I can't wait to get off from it and stop at a light or a stop sign, I fear that I'm gonna loose consciousness and I start slowing down when I start getting anxious, my tension headaches don't help either. It's a struggle every day. I really hope this program helps me. It does make me feel a little better to see that I'm not alone on this one and that people seemed to have overcome their anxiety.
I also get very nervous driving, especially on long trips on the highway or even more if someone ELSE is driving! I try a couple of different things: the breathing technique described on the Relaxation CD, rolling the windows up or down, turning the radio on, listening to quiet music, calling someone (using the hands free voice dial) and having a brief lighthearted conversation. Anything that distracts the mind momentarily can take the edge off. Oh, and there is also xanax, which I've been prescribed for panic attacks, but it can make you sleepy and dangerous for driving and should only be used under a doctor's advice. Good luck!
I did Lucinda's program in conjunction with the program at <A HREF="http://www.DrivingFear.com" TARGET=_blank>www.DrivingFear.com</A> and had great success, I'm not limited by anything anymore. Driving was a big obstacle to me and the two programs are wonderful but approach it from different directions that I think is valuable.