Panic Attacks While Driving

By Dr. Stephen Antony, MD (Psychiatry)

Driving in traffic can be stressful, especially for people who get nervous easily. The fear of driving badly or meeting with an accident can make them fearful and anxious. Such fears are present in everybody and these fears usually tend to go away as the driving skills improve, but in some people this fear never goes away, instead it gets amplified and turns into a panic attack.

Many negative thoughts may cloud the driver’s mind and get them into a frenzy, the driver may consistently think “Oh my God, what if I run into another vehicle”, “What if I get caught in traffic jam and can’t get out and I faint inside my car!”. Such kind of fears may appear illogical to the layman, but for a person suffering from panic attacks while driving, these fears are real and terrifying.

But the good news is that many people have overcome such panic attacks and this condition is curable.

Relaxation skills are the key to overcoming panic attacks, there are many programs that combine visual imagery and relaxation techniques to cure panic attacks, but you need to first be aware of the relaxation techniques… These techniques can be mastered easily and tend to get better with practice.

Relaxation steps to reduce panic attacks while driving:-

Step 1: Relax your shoulders, your neck, eyes and jaws. These regions tend to hold a lot of tension and you will feel much more relaxed if you practice relaxing these muscles every now and then.

Step 2: Now tilt your head side to side a few times. Next move to your shoulders and roll them forward in a circular motion (do this few times), relax, then roll your shoulders backwards (repeat a few times). Roll your shoulders clockwise and anticlockwise. Take a deep breath and push your shoulders blades backwards until they press against each other, hold for a few seconds then relax and breathe out. Repeat this a few times. You can do this before you start driving and during your stops at traffic signals etc;

Step 3: Clench all the muscles of your body from toe to head as tightly as you can and hold them for as long as you can, then let go.

Step 4: When you get into your car, hold the driving wheel and squeeze it as tightly as you can with both your hands and then relax your hands. Do this for a few times. This will reduce the tension in your hands while driving.

Practice the above mentioned relaxation routine periodically to get reduce your panic attacks while driving. You can also practice the various other non medicated treatment techniques which will help you to get recovered completely from panic attacks while driving. With more practice, it will become natural for you identify the tension points in your body and relax them

If you find this article useful, do “like” us and give your valuable feedback. Your comments are a pat on our back.m