driving and anxiety

[learning to cope]

Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with anxiety and driving? I haven't driven in a while due to car troubles and not really having a need to drive anywhere but now I plan to start again. I wasn't experiencing anxiety when I was driving before but since anxiety is now a major issue in my life, I am afraid that it will be a problem since I know many people have attacks triggered by driving. Does anyone have any advice on how to relax while I drive?

[lilgina]

Hi learning to cope!  I saw you post this morning and couldn't wait to see replys since I suffer from driving anxiety I was looking forward to any advice but no one has answered yet.  Hope someone sees this and offers some suggestions.

[tigerpaw]

Radio is a great distraction, and take small trips to local places at first, the move out to further places that are more unfamiliar.

[dragonslayer428]

Try 'distraction' therapy.  Such as; reading license plates, bumper stickers, road signs.  While doing this, reading everything letter by letter, number by number (doing all this while keeping an eye on the road, of course!).

Also, I like the radio to distract me from my driving anxiety.  I prefer talk radio, but most would probably prefer music they like.

Hope this helps!