I am anxious when driving on the freeway. What do I do?

I am anxious when driving on the freeway. What do I do? 4 Posted in Anxiety by Julie Cohen on Jun 05, 2010
"As soon as the speedometer hits 45 I begin to experience anxiety and cannot make it up to 65mph while driving on the freeway. Please let me know what I have and ways to get help?"

Road anxiety or anxiety while driving is very common. Many people feel that something about the driving experience whether it’s someone else driving or hitting a particular speed or certain curvy parts of a highway makes them feel out of control.

I would ask yourself a couple things off the bat. Are you anxious about other things besides driving? And, what are you beliefs about driving over 45 mph? Anxiety typically does not reside in a vacuum. In other words, most people worry about more than one thing. So you could worry about driving over 45 and also worry about potential medical problems. Those are two totally different fears but the same anxiety. Anxiety is like a fungus; unless it’s treated it tends to spread to other areas!

Anxiety is fueled by avoidance. Unfortunately, most anxiety and panic drives us to hide from the fear. The key to dealing with your anxiety is to face it head on. I know everyone who can relate to this article just had the hairs on the back of their necks stand up! But, to extinguish the anxiety you must walk into it rather than away from it.

I highly recommend cognitive behavioral therapy for dealing with anxiety. “Cog-B” helps to identify irrational and extinguish irrational thoughts. It also focuses of creating new rational thoughts which are the tools that will help bring a new perspective and reduce your anxiety so you can conquer your fears.

- Julie

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http://www.dailystrength.org/experts/julie-cohen/article/i-am-anxious-when-driving-on-the-freeway