Driving You Crazy: Driving Phobia And Its
Treatment
Author: Guy Baglow

It's a surprise to most people – including those that suffer
from it – that driving phobia is one of the most common
phobias.

This is because it's a hidden phobia: sufferers are embarrassed
by it so they go to great lengths to accommodate and conceal
their fear. And they think they are alone. But they are not.
Their condition is well understood by phobia specialists and
their symptoms, avoidance patterns and responses are very
similar to those of other silent sufferers.

WHAT IS DRIVING PHOBIA?

Driving phobia is an irrational fear of driving, of being or
feeling out of control whilst driving, causing dread, panic and
avoidance. It is rarely skills related - most people with a
driving phobia are good, competent drivers. They are usually
normal, well-balanced people who once drove happily but are now
anxious and panicky when driving or else don't drive at all.

WHO IT AFFECTS

A driving phobia is like getting a puncture: it happens to lots
of people, it can happen to anyone and it makes driving very
difficult or impossible.

And it's very frustrating for sufferers because a part of them
- the conscious, rational, thinking part - knows that they are
good drivers and these situations are non-threatening. But they
nevertheless find that when they are on certain roads or in
particular driving situations, another part of them (the
irrational unconscious part) drives out rational thought and
fear floods in.

Experience shows that it is the more imaginative, creative or
artistic people who are more prone to developing driving
phobias. This is because phobias have a lot to do with the
misuse of the imagination. So it can affect all kinds of
people, irrespective of their driving skill.

THE CAUSE

Driving phobia can be caused by a traumatic or unsettling event
(such as an accident) but is usually caused by something much
milder (like overtaking on a freeway, being stuck in a jam or
going over a high bridge) which normally would be okay but at
the time the individual was perhaps a lot more stressed that
normal (background stress levels raised by other things like
tiredness or financial, work or relationship problems) and this
tipped them into a mild panic attack. The irrational mind (which
is also responsible for survival and instincts) creates a
pattern of this event and matches this to future times and
places, triggering the same kind of panic response again and
again. This builds into a phobia.

So driving phobia is linked to different things for different
people - to driving on wide open roads like freeways (most
common), to expressways, small roads, hills, high roads,
bridges, flyovers, particular routes, junctions, to maneuvers
(especially overtaking), to being boxed in by heavy traffic, to
being close to particular vehicles (usually large or high-sided
ones) or to being limited to a particular speed. It often
starts on freeways and spreads to smaller highways or
expressways, then to smaller roads, restricting the routes,
speed and distances that can be traveled.

SAFETY BEHAVIOURS & AVOIDANCE

Sufferers use numerous safety and avoidance strategies to
accommodate and control their embarrassment and panic.

As more and more routes or situations are avoided, the
sufferer's world starts to close in. Energy and time are used
in planning and driving alternative routes. They may have to
drive at times when the roads are clear. Partners and friends
may have to drive instead or have to take over en route.
Excuses are made to avoid giving people lifts or traveling with
friends and colleagues. Jobs and invitations may be turned down.
People and situations are manipulated. Freedom and independence
are diminished.

Over time such "solutions" interfere so much in life that they
actually become part of the problem. At this point – and it can
take years for someone with a driving phobia to get to this
point – the sufferer acknowledges that they can't change this
themselves, and seeks professional help.

TREATMENT FOR DRIVING PHOBIA

There are now effective, pain-free, scare-free and drug-free
treatments available for driving phobia, indeed, for any
phobia.

The most remarkable of these is the Fast Phobia Cure which
rapidly, reliably and comfortably de-conditions the patterns
that drive the phobia. Using the Fast Phobia Cure most phobias
– even extreme and long-standing phobias - can be eliminated in
a matter of minutes.

Other common phobia treatments include the Emotional Freedom
Technique (EFT) which can provide effective and fast relief,
and Cognitive Therapy – designed to change the way you think
about driving - is also useful but often involves exposure
therapy and is more long-term.

About The Author: Guy Baglow is a leading phobia specialist and
founder of the mindspa phobia clinic
(http://www.phobiaclinic.co.uk), the UK's leading specialist
private phobia clinic in Harley Street - a world centre of
healthcare excellence in London - where driving phobics of all
kinds (including rally drivers and police drivers) have
overcome their fear in as little as a single session. An online
clinic (http://www.phobiaclinic.net) has downloadable treatments
including the Fast Phobia Cure and The Driving Phobia Cure
(http://www.phobiaclinc.net/driving.html).