Driving anxiety or driving phobia

Following a motor vehicle accident, many people experience anxiety whilst driving. The anxiety can take the form of avoidance of driving due to various fears and a sense of feeling threatened whilst driving or being driven. Sometimes post-accident people can develop fears of certain types of roads (e.g. the Westgate Bridge or the Tunnel) or certain types of vehicles nearby e.g. trucks even though these were not features of the original accident.

Feeling hypervigilant, negative thinking about possible accidents and the behavour of other drivers, slowing down and speeding up due to panic symptoms such as shallow breathing, light-headedness, sweating and a feeling of wanting to escape are all common to driving anxiety.

We have a unique package of interventions here at Psychology on Parade. We work with you in our clinic to systematically understand your driving fears through CBT and we also go out in the car with you to help you practice in real life the strategies we have rehearsed together.

We also offer virtual reality therapy to assist in tackling anxiety through deep relaxation and hypnotherapy.

We have had many successes with clients who thought that they would have to put up with driving anxiety for life. Give our office a call to arrange an appointment with one of our psychologists who specialise in driving anxiety treatment.