Driving Anxiety

Driving Anxiety Survey ResultsMany people are pleasantly surprised to find that they are not unusual with their driving anxiety. In a recent survey, 82% of those asked said that they had felt some degree of anxiety in connection with driving at some point since they first got their licence. (I suspect that would be even higher if you included those with provisional licenses!)

Talking to people about our fears and concerns is a proven strategy that helps us to process and resolve our difficulties. As a result, simply finding that they are not unusual in their concerns is a big help in itself for many.

If we dig further into driving anxiety we get a better understanding of how this works, and understanding how a problem works is often the first step in finding solutions.  The reason I am able to help so many of my clients with this is that we are able to identify exactly what it is that they are struggling with and hone in on that area.

Types of driving anxiety

I’ve seen many clients with some form of driving anxiety, and it usually involves one or more of three main areas :

  1. Manoeuvres: Most commonly, driving anxiety is about manoeuvring at low speeds. This might be reversing around a corner, navigating tricky junctions or the dreaded parallel parking, all of which usually involve some concern about being observed or judged for how well you’re doing it.
  2. Motorways: Next most common is a fear of motorways. This includes getting on or off the motorway, being next to much larger vehicles at high speed and navigating or missing junctions.
  3. Traffic: The third thing I hear over and over is about busy town traffic. Jams, lane merges, temporary lights, obstructions all come into play to make some drivers feel overwhelmed and possibly even developing into a complete panic attack
  4. Driving test nerves: the other thing I help a lot of people with is driving test nerves. This deserves its own page and you can find that here.

The increased inconvenience and cost, both to the nervous driver and to their loved ones who have to also cope with the nerves, cannot be overstated, but this is not a situation you have to live with forever. In fact, we often see significant improvements very quickly with this kind of thing.

Talk to a driving anxiety expert

A significant portion of my work is helping clients that have some kind of anxiety around driving, and I would love to help you too. Get in touch and we can have a chat about what the options are and how we can move forward.

Call me on 07967 473691  or send a message.

Testimonial from Carly Ashdown

A recent post I have just seen has reminded me, in all the excitement I totally forgot to leave my review/recommendations for Sudbury Hypnosis by Benjamin Ryan.

I was having driving lessons last year with the lovely Tarah From Aquarius Driving School, I was at the last hurdle-driving test fast approaching, and I was just falling apart with nerves, I just couldn’t get my thoughts off the upcoming dreaded “Test Day”.

Tarah suggested booking an appointment with Benjamin, as she had recently had another lady having the exact same experience, hypnosis with Benjamin had worked wonders for her.

Now I was a little sceptical having never had hypnosis before, but having worked myself into such a state I was willing to try anything that helped with the test now less than 2 days away.

I called Sudbury Hypnosis, and Benjamin so kindly dropped his weekend plans to make me an appointment for the very next morning, he instantly put me at ease, and worked through various techniques with me to find something that my mind/body would relate to for me to not only use on the day, but anytime I feel myself experiencing that same fear.

The proof was in the pudding as with the help of Benjamin and Tarah, I passed my driving test the next day!!

I would highly recommend this service and glad to hear Sudbury Hypnosis & Aquarius Driving School are teaming up-welldone guys.

TESTIMONIAL FROM HOLLIE

“I had been experiencing anxiety about driving from the moment I started to learn how to do it. After finally passing my driving test about a year ago, the anxieties continued and increased despite being qualified and able. I would make excuses not to go out and if I did it would only be to certain places on a specific route, even if it was the long way round! Reasons I would have for not driving would usually be centered around clutch control and the gears, worrying that I would constantly stall the car and generally be an inconvenience to other drivers.

I realised that I really needed to address the issue as it was holding me back in life, and so decided to try hypnotherapy with Ben. I needed to catch two buses to get to the appointment as it was 20 miles away. After one very interesting and relaxing hypnotherapy session, my driving anxieties had decreased significantly, so much so that I was able to drive to a follow up appointment a week later. After two sessions, I feel confident enough to get out there in the car without having a multitude of thoughts racing through my head about what might happen on the journey.

It is a tremendous weight off my shoulders so thank you very much for all of your help, Ben!”

Hollie

Testimonial from Jenny Hay

“I went to Ben to seek help with my driving anxieties. I was panicking over the simple thought of driving, even if was a trip to the supermarket. I had tried counselling a year earlier but it didn’t manage to help any of my worries.

Ben put me at ease and assured me that he could help. We chatted at length about my worries & anxieties before the session.Since I have found that my anxieties have reduced dramatically and I no longer worry or panic over simple journeys that I have made many times before. I have also managed to make longer journeys to new places & have happily driven at night also.

Thank you Ben.”

Jenny