subject: Do You Have Driving Anxiety? [print this page] Do You Have Driving Anxiety? Do You Have Driving Anxiety?
Are you curious to find out whether you have driving anxiety? Although each person's experience isn't exactly the same, there are some symptoms that you can be on the lookout for that is typically associated with this condition.
Obviously, anxiety is the major symptom to be aware of. In general, this emotion involves feeling a heightened sense of worry, nervousness, agitation and panic. When operating a vehicle during an anxiety attack, your sense of space may seem suddenly confined, which could lead to a case of claustrophobia. This can make being inside of your car unbearable. Your thoughts may also tend to swirl around your sense of anxiety. From thoughts of feeling overwhelmed to having a strange sense that you are about to be in an accident or may even die, your mental capacity will be altered to a point where it is hard to stay alert and focused on what is going on around you. Because of your nervousness you may feel your palms start to sweat. Additionally, your heart might begin to beat very rapidly and you could even begin to feel a tightness and pain in your chest. When the driving anxiety gets bad enough you'll start to suffer from other physical symptoms as well, such as numbness in your extremities, nausea and abdominal pain.
Another way to tell if you might be dealing with driving anxiety is if you only experience the symptoms mentioned above each time you get behind the wheel. However, if you find that you're having anxiety attacks at other times when you are not operating a vehicle, you could be dealing with a different type of anxiety disorder that has nothing to do with you being on the road as a driver.
