Car Anxiety – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Do you struggle with car anxiety? Anxiety, fear and panic around being in a car, whether driving or as a passenger, can become limiting and exhausting.

You may try to avoid getting in a car as often as possible. When a passenger, certain drivers, those you consider to be unsafe, can lead to panic. You can be on high alert for dangers, constantly raising the possible hazards to the driver throughout the journey. Or perhaps you cover you eyes or try to use your phone to distract you until you can get out of the car and relax.

If you have to drive (or even if you are still learning and having lessons), sometimes the very thought of it can dominate your mind in the lead up. You feel tense, anxious and on edge. Your car anxiety limits where you will go and there may be certain roads that are just too much for you.

I’ve helped people with car anxiety who struggle on the smaller roads. On these roads, there are more parked cars, obstacles and hazards to be aware of and be ready to react to. For others, it is the dual carriageways and motorways that cause their anxiety to spike. On these roads you are moving faster and there is the risk of being hit by another fast moving car or a lorry. The possible resulting damage when travelling at that speed causes you to catastrophise and think the worst.

Then there are other road users, road works, possible diversions and unfamiliar roads, new places, night driving, finding parking and the many other anxieties about what might happen that race through your mind. You minimise your time in the car and avoid it as much as you can.

Despite the thousands and thousands of cars that take to the road safely each day, car anxiety is one of the most common fears that I help people to deal with. Hypnotherapy can help you to calm your anxiety and take back control over your thoughts and feelings. You can start driving calmly and confidently on different roads and in different conditions.

Anxiety In The Car

As with other anxiety, anxiety in the car can lead to sweating, a racing heart, dizziness, nausea and a shortness of breath. You dread getting in the car, struggle to focus on anything else and try to avoid it as much as you can. When in the car, your anxious thoughts and symptoms sky rocket. You may have panic attacks and worry about being a danger to yourself and others. You may have had times when you needed to pull over to try and calm yourself, or where you had to call someone to come and help you. After a negative car experience you may dwell on what happened, feel helpless to ever get over it and chastise yourself for your failure.

You get caught in the anxious cycle of thinking the worse, feeling anxious and then avoidance or intense discomfort. Even when you aren’t in the car you feel anxious just thinking about it. It can all feel too much to have to face the same exhausting battle each and every time you are in the car.

You may know when, where and why your car anxiety started. If you’ve experienced an accident, near miss or other frightening situations in the car then this can lead to your fear of being in a vehicle, whether as a passenger or a driver. For others, fears and phobias such as claustrophobia or a fear of losing control become exacerbated and exaggerated when in the car. If you struggle with general anxiety and worry then this can spread into car situations and heighten your habitual anxious thoughts and feelings in uncomfortable ways. And for others, a build up of stress in life from other things seems to hit them when they are sitting in car and your mind attaches your panic to car related situations from that point onwards.

However your car anxiety began, it has now become an ongoing, repetitive pattern of fear, dread, worry and stress. Hypnotherapy helps you to work out how your car anxiety is keeping itself going now, even though you obviously don’t want to be experiencing those unpleasant thoughts and uncomfortable feelings that limit and dominate your life. You want to feel calm, confident and in control when in the car so that you have the freedom to calmly go places and do the things you want to do.

Whether as a passenger, driver or both, car anxiety can be frustrating, uncomfortable and debilitating. Your intense fear, anxious thoughts and physical symptoms get triggered by driving situations. It can be general car related situations or specific situations such as motorways, bridges, tunnels, new/unfamiliar roads, night driving or heavy traffic.

As with all anxiety, there are your thoughts and feelings when just thinking about and imagining being there. When a car journey gets closer, your dread, worry and fear increases and the panic spikes when you are actually in the car and on the road. However, hypnotherapy can help you to alleviate your car anxiety symptoms and it has a strong scientific evidence base for its effectiveness as a treatment for anxiety.

However bad it feels right now, like so many of my other clients, you can take back control over your thoughts and feelings. And you very much can learn how to feel calm , confident and in control when driving on different roads and in different conditions. You can get your freedom and start enjoying going places in the car and doing the things that you would rather be doing.

To your health and happiness, 

Dan Regan

Award Winning Hypnotherapy for Anxiety Ely & Newmarket

Struggling with car anxiety, stress, worry and fear? Need some help to overcome it? Find out how I can help with a Complimentary Hypnotherapy Strategy Session. Learn more here: Appointments

Find out what dozens of other people have said after their car anxiety/anxiety hypnotherapy sessions with Dan: Hypnotherapy Testimonials

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