Driving Anxiety

Money Geek explains what driving anxiety is, why it happens, and asks me for advice on what you can do to reduce driving anxiety.

Read the full article here or my contributions below:

Expert Insight on Driving Anxiety

Indigo Stray Conger, LMFT, AASECT CST

What are your recommendations for drivers with driving anxiety?

Driving anxiety can manifest in a few different ways - dreading getting into the car, irritability or anger when on the road, or brain fog/spaciness/dissociation while driving. These various forms of anxiety are a result of the nervous system being primed for driving to cause stress. To address this issue, you need to retrain your body and mind to not predict driving will be stressful and to not interpret dangers and stressors on the road as anxiety-inducing. Driving anxiety increases the actual danger we face by decreasing reaction time and increasing impulsive and erratic behavior, such as road rage.

Because we are stuck behind the wheel while driving, the situation reduces our capability to discharge stress naturally through the movement of the body. The best intervention is to decrease the chance of a stress response before getting on the road. The next few times you drive, ensure you are well rested, well fed and have exercised (even briefly) shortly before getting into your car. Ten jumping jacks will do the trick if you don't have much time. This optimizes our ability to address stressors through the executive function in our brain instead of going into fight, flight or freeze mode while on the road.

What tools or programs do you recommend for drivers with anxiety to move past it?

You should know how to utilize your breathing to calm yourself down when you start to get stressed. Breathing is the single intervention you can use to calm your nervous system that will prove effective regardless of whether you believe it will or whether you are able to focus mentally on calming down. This is because your breathing patterns send direct signals to the autonomic nervous system telling your body whether you are safe or not. It's important to practice breathing consistently in non-stressful situations first so that you can apply breathing techniques adequately when your nervous system is activated.

One common mistake people make when using the breath to calm themselves down is focusing on deep inhales. If your nervous system is already activated, your diaphragm will be restricted and attempting to take deep breaths will actually heighten anxiety and increase stress hormone release. Instead, focus first on your exhale. Make sure all the air gently drains out of your lungs, relaxing your belly fully at the end of each breath. Let your inhales occur naturally. Your breath will deepen on its own without stress.