ANXIETY, FEARS, AND PHOBIAS ABOUT DRIVING

We create our own fears and anxieties, and we can control them with some help.

Your fears and anxieties might relate to a bad experience in the past - like being involved in a crash - or they might not seem to have any cause at all. 

They will be very real, though, and will be making your day to day life much harder than it should be.  Some people give up driving altogether. Some only drive short distances and feel very bad when they do.  Some people feel like they are a burden to their friends and family because they just cannot bring themselves to drive.

Fears, anxieties, and phobias are psychological problems that need a psychological solution.  Having a few professional driving lessons will not make the anxiety go away - you need some help to work out where the anxiety is coming from and how to get back in control.

This doesn't have to mean weeks and weeks of therapy.  Psychological approaches to anxiety and phobias are efficient and effective. They aim to put you in control as quickly as possible so you can get on with doing the things you want to do.

Cognitive behaviour therapy is the treatment of choice for fears, anxieties, and most phobias. When you talk to your medical practitioner about a referral to a Psychologist for assistance, make sure you let him or her know that this approach is the one that you would prefer.