I am so aggravated...

It goes like this. I had got my nerve up to drive to the store about 6 blocks away, and I felt a panic attack come upon me, as i was leaving the store. I really wanted to do that , without experiencing one. I want to drive again, but it really scared me, and my desire to drive by myself is so great right now.
It depresses me, because it is affecting me like this. I am a free lance photographer, and it is really affecting me. It is causing me to have a limitation. I dont mean to sound like a broken record, but the program says to check in here, on a daily basis. Everyone says, your supposed to keep on driving, and facing it, but its hard to sike myself out. Am I supposed to put the panic attacks on pause , while I drive to a short distance. If so, that seems like I am not facing it, and it feels like the panic attack is building up, while it is on pause,,does that make sense?? Please tell me your input....

Fustrated and aggravated in Arkansas,

Joseph

Joseph-you are trying to do too much at one time-praise yourself that you were even able to drive as far as you did-I know you want to get to that point where you will not feel the painc and still be able to drive-and you will take baby steps-us with anxiety WANT IT ALL AND WANT IT NOW. and we just can't have that all at once-but we will get there-tell yourself that you will congrats on driving as far as you did

Joseph,
This may souund odd...but it is good for you to get frustrated. The reason I say that is that is you need to keep getting mad at the anxiety and keep trying. I had a Walgreens not far from my house...I would go in and feel the whole store spin...I would walkout and feel like a failure. You just keep fighting back at it. You can do this...It is frustrating like heck and it takes time...Keep doin what your doin'

Well, I want my life back!!!...I have got to be back to driving by myself...its making me so mad..

quote:

Originally posted by GE:
Joseph-you are trying to do too much at one time-praise yourself that you were even able to drive as far as you did-I know you want to get to that point where you will not feel the painc and still be able to drive-and you will take baby steps-us with anxiety WANT IT ALL AND WANT IT NOW. and we just can't have that all at once-but we will get there-tell yourself that you will congrats on driving as far as you did

see, Im not sure if your supposed to get mad..I mean..what good would that do??? To me, it just makes it worse.....

quote:

Originally posted by StevenFarrisOhio:
Joseph,
This may souund odd...but it is good for you to get frustrated. The reason I say that is that is you need to keep getting mad at the anxiety and keep trying. I had a Walgreens not far from my house...I would go in and feel the whole store spin...I would walkout and feel like a failure. You just keep fighting back at it. You can do this...It is frustrating like heck and it takes time...Keep doin what your doin'

Joseph,
During that time the worst thing was for me to be passive and give into it. I only got worse! Don't get mad at yourself, get mad at the anxiety. I wasn't fixed overnight. It was a lengthy and painful process! All I am trying to get across is don't give up!

Take care my friend...

Joseph, I go through the driving thig every day. It is frustrating.....but it is what it is. Is is only panic. It goes away, it always does. Do the breathing before you leave your parking spot. Then just say to yourself....I can do this. Then do it. If you feel totally out of control, pull over, it is OK to do that. No one is going to make you keep driving. You have to be the one to do that.
Again, I just MAKE myself do it. I do the same thing in stores. I am finding that if I praise myself for even being there and trying to make it that I feel better. Positive thoughts, positive happy thoughts.......good luck!

Joseph, I hit the same problem and the same way of thinking that you are in right now. 3 yrs ago I could drive across the USA w/o a problem then one day it all stopped. I joined this program a little over a year ago and within 8 weeks I was starting to drive again, not across the US but block by block, mile by mile.

Start out slow, if nothing else do the 6 blocks to the store everyday, then next week increase that out to 12 blocks and double it every week after that. It's going to take a little longer than you (or I) want but it does work. I'm able now to drive anytime or anywhere I want now but it did take from 4 to 8 months to get to this point.

Do it everyday, no excuses, everyday drive somewhere even if it's just up and down your block/road for a few minutes. You can overcome this panicky/anxiety feeling but it takes work.

Btw, your waterfall pictures from the heart of Arkansas are fantastic! You have a special talent, so don't let the driving problem get in the way, beat that and go back to photographing the world, anywhere, anytime you want.

David

OH dont get me wrong....Im not upset with you...im just confused on how to look at this panic limitation...If I could only get to where I was comfortable by myself driving, etc... I would have my life back...

david, thank you for the compliment...see, I do the thing of setting myself up for a panic attack, before I even start driving....I really do need a new system or way of looking at this...

quote:

Originally posted by David**:
Joseph, I hit the same problem and the same way of thinking that you are in right now. 3 yrs ago I could drive across the USA w/o a problem then one day it all stopped. I joined this program a little over a year ago and within 8 weeks I was starting to drive again, not across the US but block by block, mile by mile.

Start out slow, if nothing else do the 6 blocks to the store everyday, then next week increase that out to 12 blocks and double it every week after that. It's going to take a little longer than you (or I) want but it does work. I'm able now to drive anytime or anywhere I want now but it did take from 4 to 8 months to get to this point.

Do it everyday, no excuses, everyday drive somewhere even if it's just up and down your block/road for a few minutes. You can overcome this panicky/anxiety feeling but it takes work.

Btw, your waterfall pictures from the heart of Arkansas are fantastic! You have a special talent, so don't let the driving problem get in the way, beat that and go back to photographing the world, anywhere, anytime you want.

David

Ok, try this, grab your keys, walk out the door, get in the car and drive off and think 'only' about what you need to do, go for, or whatever. Never think about it before hand that you have to take the car to do it. See what I'm saying?

yes i see ....ok....try this.....dont think about pink elephants.........................................
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ill bet you thought of em...see what i mean?

Hi Joseph,

The advice above is good stuff.Take time with yourself.Hey,I'm into photography too,ever go to Flickr website.To help get me out I go out and shot nature.Maybe you could try also to think of your destination not so much as the effort of walking out to the car and starting the engine.


Sincerely,Sit

Hi Joseph,

Sorry you are suffering with this driving anxiety. I can relate. I've often felt I have to pull off the road because I feel as if I'm going to pass out from panic. One of the main reasons I ordered Lucinda's program was to get over this. These days I'm really paying attention to my automatic thoughts when I get into my car. One thing I honed in on was the realization that driving, for me, represents a HUGE responsibility, I have to be in total control of my actions behind the wheel and out there in the world. For someone who suffers from anxiety, the fear of losing control is not uncommon; And, I have avoided responsibility most of my life because of my fear of being judged stupid or incompetent. Then all the "what if's" jump into my head: What if I cause an accident? What if I judge a turn wrong? What if someone hits me? What if my car dies? What if I get lost? What if I reach my destination and run into someone I don't want to talk to? What if I embarrass myself? etc.,etc.,etc. I'm exhausted before I even get the engine turned on. The only way out of this (for myself) is to stop the negative "what iffing." As you know this is a lot easier said than done. I'm not sure what you are telling yourself but you have to focus on that, write it down and counter- attack! I've also learned I have to be resilient and steadfast in the belief I will conquer this and not buy into the hopeless mode my brain wants to embrace.
Go through the 6 steps from session 2 until they feel natural. I still feel anxiety but I have to put a cap on it before it spirals. I have to remind myself to breathe, even before I get in the car I focus on relaxing. I find distraction helps too, count all the red cars you see, listen to talk radio, chew bubble gum, whatever works for you. The point is to get out of focusing on the fear and onto something else. And, always have your positive thoughts ready to fire away. Be kind to yourself for whatever steps you take, don't overwhelm yourself with too much too soon. I have to be sure I'm not adding anxiety on top of anxiety by driving somewhere I really don't want to go. I also have been exercising and limiting caffeine which have helped with my anxiety in general. I used to have a redbull, a diet coke or coffee with me all the time when driving, not anymore. That's been a hard habit to break.


I don't know how long this has been a problem for you, for me it's been many years. I had to get my car smogged the other day and the technician asked if I had the original miles on my car,1995 Mustang and just hit 30,000 miles, I said yes but that it was my second car and hardly used. I lied because I was embarrassed of the low mileage. He said he usually only sees this low mileage with the elderly ladies who come in his shop. That made me feel awful. One of my future goals is to drive to Oregon and visit my sister and mother. That will certainly put some miles on my car

Don't know if any of this helped, but good luck to you and hope you conquer this,

Sandra