Hands on the wheel, mind racing, continually scanning the road for danger. Driving anxiety, especially on the highway, can be extremely scary and dangerous.
More than once, I have found myself white-knuckling the steering wheel while counting the rhythm of the box breathing exercise. Trying ever so carefully to avoid a full-blown anxiety attack while driving. And highways are the worst.
As a mental health advocate, driving anxiety is one of the highest reported fears I hear from readers. The level of anxiety ranges from medium anxiety to full-on phobia.
Not only is driving anxiety frustrating, but it can also begin to impact everyday life by limiting our independent freedom of driving as a means of transportation.
In this article, learn how to drive on the highway without fear and minimize the side effects of driving anxiety
What helps for driving anxiety?
If you found your way here, you or somebody you love most likely suffer from driving anxiety, and you want help! Below are some long term recovery plans to help adjust and reduce driving anxiety, especially on the highway.
For short-term, in-the-moment tips for stopping a panic attack while driving – this article is a great place to learn more.
Be sure to talk to your therapist or physician when learning how to implement new therapeutic techniques in regards to driving anxiety.
Exposure Therapy
Exposure therapy is a behavioral therapy used to treat anxiety disorders. The process involves exposing somebody to an anxiety source or its context without the intention to cause actual danger.
Exposure therapy particularly useful for treating phobias.
During a Standford study conducted to understand the effectiveness of exposure therapy to treat driving anxiety, researchers found that subjects were more anxious on the outbound leg of a trip than on the inbound. (3) After three driving sessions, subjects had lower recorded anxiety. (3)
Exposure therapy could look different depending on the level of anxiety severity. Starting with a stair-step process depending on the level of driving anxiety may be beneficial. For instance, starting driving in a neighborhood, then a 2 lane road, then a small highway, and beyond.
For me, using exposure therapy with the help of a loved one or friend was most beneficial. The presence of a friend, who understands their role to be supportive and understanding, helped me ease into the exposure.
Utilizing CBT thought methods and breathing exercises can aid in exposure therapy to give additional resources when being overwhelmed during the exposure.
CBT Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a therapy that is commonly used to treat anxiety. CBT focuses on challenging unhelpful beliefs and thought patterns thus improving behavior and unpleasant emotional experiences.
CBT is often used in combination with exposure therapy to help people identify unhelpful thought patterns that may arise during exposure. Slowly the exposure begins to create less and less anxiety to the once feared situation of driving. (4)
If you are looking for a therapist to help with driving anxiety, this article shows how to find a therapist who specialized in anxiety.
Breathing Techniques
When we begin to experience anxiety, the body starts to take in additional oxygen for the muscles during fight or flight mode. The body often reacts with shallow breathing, possibly leading to hyperventilation.
Slowing down the breath can help interrupt the fight or flight response and reset the nervous system. Research shows deeper and slower breathing creates lower anxiety and increased alertness. (5)
It’s much easier to create a slower, deeper breath when using a proven method. One well-known approach is known as box breathing, square breathing of four-part breathing.
To successfully perform box breathing, do the following:
- Breath in the nose for a count of 4
- Hold for a count of 4
- Breath out the mouth for a count of 4
- Hold for a count of 4
For a more extensive explanation of box breathing, visit this article.
Mindfulness Training
Mindfulness is the act of being more present in everyday life by using non-judgemental awareness. This type of awareness supports becoming unidentified with thoughts and less consumed by unpleasant emotions.
Creating a level of mindfulness can reduce driving anxiety by changing the way we experience and interact with anxiety and intrusive thoughts when they arise.
For example, when driving, I often have an intrusive thought of ramming the car in front of me. This thought used to create a large amount of anxiety and stress before I learned how to use mindfulness.
Mindfulness helped me with driving anxiety by:
- becoming aware of the thought
- identifying it as an intrusive thought
- understanding my relationship and de-identifying with the thought
- returning to sensations and sounds around me
- creating a more positive relationship with driving anxiety
To understand mindfulness in more depth, this article is helpful. If you are interested in creating a daily meditation habit to help cultivate mindfulness, start here.
How does driving anxiety affect driving behavior?
Driving anxiety can develop for several reasons, but often it is associated with a previous accident or negative experience in the car. (2)
Research shows that when a driver is anxious, their behavior is typically effected in one or more ways (1) –
- exaggerated safety or caution behaviors
- anxiety-based performance deficits
- hostile or aggressive driving
Exaggerated safety or cautious behaviors disguise themselves as being reliable but actually put the driver at higher risk. Although this safety behavior may reduce immediate anxiety, eventually, they maintain anxious responses by interrupting the method associated with fear extinction. (1)
Exaggerated safety or cautious behaviors may look like (1):
- driving way below the speed limit
- slowing down excessively through intersections
- staying a far distance behind other drivers
Studies show performance deficits increase in an anxious driver compared to a non-anxious driver. (1) Traffic corrections are often miscalculated or exaggerated.
Drivers with hostile or aggressive behavior report low ratings of perceived driving skills, riskier driving behavior, and high levels of accident involvement. (1)
Hostile or aggressive driving may look like:
- honking
- yelling
- Aggressive gestures
