Hi, boy do I know what you are talking about. I had a few accidents over the years (you can read my whole story in the 'introduce yourself' section from a month or so ago). I have gone from not being able to drive at all for about 5 months, to doing so well that I could drive even the most scary spot that I'd avoided for over 2 yrs. I was so happy I could do it, now it's gotten worse again and the one spot that I have to drive (high cliff on one side) on my 25 mile hwy drive between home and work everyday waits for me every day and I dread it all the time. Now it's turning into a fear of driving at night too, which is bad 'cause I work shift work and every other week I work til 12:30 am. But I keep at it, and I'm determined I'm not going to let this thing win. I've just started my exposure work section and I am going to get to a place where I can drive my worst feared spot again! I kind of wonder about exposure though, because I already expose myself to it 5 days/week. But I guess I don't stay with it til the fear subsides, that must be why. I just rack my brain trying to figure out how come I could do it a while ago then I got worse again - and adding feared situations too. Sometimes I wonder if hormones have anything to do with it - it seems like some times of the month it's way worse...? Anyway, keep working on it and we will beat it, I remember when I was younger I wasn't hardly afraid of anything and could drive anywhere with no thought to it!.......Joanne

I've been having the same problem with driving for several years now. Mostly with traffic lights, left hand turns, roads that you can't pull over on, etc. Deep breathing has helped me just before the full blown panic. Good luck!

Mhmm. I've been avoiding driving for two years because I can't settle down enough to focus on learning the rudiments of the task. I understand where you're coming from and sympathize thoroughly. God bless and may He help you conquer this.

Trish, Although I do not drive I understand where you are coming from in the fact that I used to take the city bus during the week to go do school. It was about a 25 minute ride. By the end of the week I was calm and everything but every monday without fail I would have a panic attack on the bus. I was always able to ride it out and would be fine when I got to school. Until one time it just didn't stop. I had to leave and unfortunately I didn't ever return. The hardest thing to do is to jump back into something again and I give you props for trying. I haven't been on a bus in a year but someday I hope that will change. Sarah, I do not drive but the same thing happens to me while in cars with others. Most of the time I am alright if I drive with my mother but I have stopped driving with friends due to the fact that numerous times I have freaked and had to have them drive me home. It doesn't help that they look at me like I am weird or that they think it is something I can just turn off. I know what it's like to go into a downward spiral cause I am basically at the bottom right now. Other than events I have had to go to (ie grocery shopping,wedding,birthday) I have not left my block in over a year. although this may have not been helpful I just wanted you girls to know that I know exactly what you are feeling. I keep thinking to myself how nice it would be if I could find a friend with the same problems as me but my mom jokes and says what would you guys do together. lol.

Hi Trish-well, it's been exactly 5 weeks since I have driven. I never, ever used to get panic attacks while driving until recently when I had to start driving to a city 35 minutes away twice a week for school. I was really nervous because it's all highway, no hospitals along the way and in some places nowhere you can turn around. If something happened half way there, I'd be stuck and have to drive either back or go on stuck in a mass panic! Just talking about it actually starts to make me feel panicky! I was fine the first few times and then one day, I suddenly had a panic attack on the road. It was awful, I was going all cold and felt like i was going to pass out for sure! My heart raced out of control and I just tried to focus on keeping the car on the road. I wondered if I should call 911 on my cell but I didn't. By the time I got to the hospital ( I was doing my practicum there- I was a nursing student) I thought, ok I'm at the safest place now if anything happens. My attack didn't stop though and I actually ended up going to the ER after having the attack for a couple of hours. Nothing would make it stop. I had to call my mom to pick me up and I left my car there. That attack exhausted me for days. I couldn't eat or sleep and I was terrified. The next week I tried to go back to the hospital for my practicum. As soon as I got to the part where I could not turn around, I got this huge rush of adrenaline, and again my heart was pounding and I had to focus so hard to keep my car ont he road. I turned around anyway and drove home, somehow. I never had a problem driving my city, until a week later when I was driving up a backroad to my parents house-A road I drove at least 5 times a week. It suddenly occured to me that I could not easily turn around on this road, it was so narrow and again I got that awful adrenaline rush and same thing- I turned the car around anyway and had the worst drive ever back to my apartment. When I got stuck at a stoplight, I truly thought I would die there. It was so, so terrifying I swore I would never drive again. And I haven't. From there, I went into a downward spiral of agoraphobia, severe anxiety and depression. I was scared to even be in the car when someone else was driving. Now that I have finally given into taking medi

Im trying to get back into driving, and same thing is happening from before. Back when I was driving to and from work this would get more settled, but after having the weekend off, Mondays I would be back in a very anxious situation of driving again. I find I can do well making progress now for a few days, and then whamo, the feeling comes back. And during the weekend, I could drive to the grocery etc, do errands, so it wasnt like I quit driving totally. But the beginning of the work week was horrible, since it involved long distance driving.