Anxiety really does rob u from ur life

 hi Im new i've had anxiety sunce my youngest daughter was 3 wks old anxiety is a very scary feeling when u first get it and don't know what it is i've been on effexor now Im on paxil it works well but I do know those feelings are very uncomfortable has anyone had a feeling for the need run? I get that when i,m driving on the highway any advice on how to control my anxiety while driving/

Hi Sandie

 

Welcome to HW we happy you have found us here. You will find pleanty of members going thru the same things you are and it won't take you long to be calling everyone your HW family.

 

I usually try to have the radio on a station I love. I read on on here a while back that one lady has a big teddy bear she has seatbelted in her front seat and she talks to it when she is driving alone and said it makes her drives seem much shorter and she don't feel like she is alone in the car. You may try this even if you feel odd at first it might just be the thing to work. Good luck hun.

I keep the car just a little bit on the cool side.  I don't know but a little chill seems to help my anxiety.  Never thought about the teddy bear thing but going to give that a try to.  Most important thing for me is to go ahead and get out there.  I find it really easy to fall into a pattern of agoraphobia (sp).

I agree with libby here... usually I drive with the window rolled down no matter what the temperature.. I don't know why but the cold seems to ease my panic...

I used to feel like I just wanted to run from my car and leave it where it was... distracting yourself with singing and humming can help.. just turn up the radio and roll down the window (if the young one isn't in the car... she/he don't need a cold ;) and just try to distract yourself from the anxious thoughts)

It took me a long time to master the art of distracting myself while driving..but now I do pretty good ...

if I'm stuck in dead stop traffic... I will keep a couple scratch offs with me in the car and start scratching those if I'm stuck...

I also bring a stuffed animal with me in the car. DON'T LAUGH AT ME!!! LOLOLOL It's a white fluffy dog I got at Walgreens and her name is Sila. Whenever I'm feeling panicky about driving I just hold her in the crook of my arm and talk to her about random stuff...

Gives me a sense of security I guess?

Twiggygal~

I too keep the temp in car slightly lower than noremal people were less im on a cold streak and feel like im freezing...I do whichever will "regulate" my body temp feeling...I too have driven with stuffies but for non anxiety reasons...They should always be buckled in by the way...You wouldnt want that cute lil stuffed head contacting the dashboard lol(yes I do buckle in any stuffies! I also crank up the music (even if its light music) and either howl along with it or just let it into my mind to drown out everything else...By the way also welcome to HW!