Studies of phobias have led researchers to believe that phobias and anxiety attacks stem from the way the amygdala, a brain section, processes fear as emotion. While there are many types of phobias, this article focuses on the fear of driving, scientifically known as motorphobia, amaxophobia, hamaxophobia and ochophobia, the various types of intense fear experienced by individuals even just by riding a vehicle.
Statistic show that 12.5% of Americans experience a particular phobia like amaxophobia, which is the persistent and intense fear felt by individuals when riding a vehicle. Amaxophobia, is said to be the closest connection to the fear of driving mainly because their brain are unable to shake off the possibility that something bad will happen while driving. According to Brian Wind, PhD, a clinical psychologist at JourneyPure, phobia in any form must be addressed because it can lead to long term health conditions that can interfere with daily routines.
Manhattan Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy’s director Paul Greene described the driving phobia as the fear-driven efforts to avoid driving and the feeling of distress at the mere thought of driving. Others however, have specific driving phobia in relation to particular situations like driving through a tunnel, during the night, at high speed, passing over a bridge, when merging, or changing lanes.
Tips to Overcome Driving Phobia
The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (AADA) said that overcoming driving phobia is possible. However, in order to do so, a person who fears driving must seek assistance from a CBT therapist. CBT or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the most reliable treatment for any type of anxiety disorder.
Facing any fears is needed in order to overcome it, although it needs a whole lot of motivation to do that. The first step in overcoming one’s feat is to identify those fears by writing down reasons why a person wants to control them to serve as motivations.
To treat driving phobia, exposure therapy is the most effective method because it gives people the chance to develop confidence in controlling the vehicle and getting comfortable with it. The CBT therapy’s objective is to help people change their response on the situation or phobia that they are scared of. Slowly, through repeated exposure of the person’s particular phobia, it can help manage their anxiety.
Towing Services Company, a provider of road assistance and towing san jose motorists, believe that the way to overcome fear is by learning to drive by way of a professional driving school. Most drivers know how to operate and drive a car but tend to panic when experiencing road traffic challenges to which they have not been exposed. Moreover, many also fear the idea of being towed mainly because they are not too familiar with road signs and traffic rules.