Driving with Agoraphobia

K

ktkellerman

New member
So my boyfriend has agoraphobia. We have been going out driving every night. He was doing very well until....his license expired. He is unable to make it to renew it. I tried calling to see if a power of attorney or someone could renew it for him. "NOPE". His aniexty is extremely worse when I drive. And he is afraid to drive cuz he doesn't want to get pulled over and "arrested". he is afraid they will take him into custody. He feels like he has no control. He is frustrated cuz he was doing so well and now he feels like he is back to square one. We still go out every night, but maybe only make it a block away from our house. I was hoping that someone had the same issue and could share how they renewed their license. Can someone help me!!!
 
BlackKids

BlackKids

Well-known member
If he wants to drive then he needs to renew his licence. Not having a licence/tax/insurance causes more anixety because If you do get pulled over its not going to be pleasant.
Hes not back at square one as hes been making progress so surely that should be encouragement to go and renew his licence.
Maybe with your support he can cope :)
All the best
 
Hoth

Hoth

1
Can't he renew his license by mail or online? I've never had to step outside or talk to anyone to renew my license. Maybe Maryland is different.
 
K

ktkellerman

New member
Apparently Maryland is weird. We called 3 days before his license expired. You can only renew every other year by mail. So he was sol.
 
lurknomore

lurknomore

1
ktkellerman said:
Apparently Maryland is weird. We called 3 days before his license expired. You can only renew every other year by mail. So he was sol.
Click to expand...

That is weird... do you have to renew every year? Up until this year, in VA you had to renew every 5 years, and now it's every 8. I turned 30 this year and did everything online, and I don't have to worry about it again until I'm 38.
 
U

Unregisteredvgjb

Guest
I had my permit for 4 years, and it was going to expire once again. During this time I ended up having agoraphobia, which made it seem impossible to go to the DMV. And this was to get my licence, because it was silly that at the time, an 18 year old who didn't have her licence. (Or it seemed silly to me anyway)

So I decided that I just had to go and do it. I was terrified at the thought of being in a car with someone else that I didn't even know, and driving around town. Turns out it wasn't so bad, and in the end, it made it possible for me to slowly continue my journey with dealing with agoraphobia.

And by the way, I did the same thing as your boyfriend. I'd get out of the house and drive around everyday, whether I felt like it or not.

Moral of this boring story is, it's a simple task, and it's worth it in the end.

The best way for me to get over being afraid of something, is doing it multiple times. If he's afraid of being in the car with you driving, take it slowly. Drive around the block every night, then move out a block further. Keep doing that until he feels confortable with you driving to the DMV. Then drive to the DMV for a week or so everyday, and sit in the car so he'll feel more comfortable being at a different place.

Hope this all helps a bit
 
R

rtisan

Member
If he could take some type of calming meds, you could drive him there. I had an expired license (you can only renew by mail once in CA) for 2 years. I went to the DMV, ready to take my written test and when I went up to the counter, the woman said, "You have a perfect record. No need for the written or driving test". They took my pic, gave me a temporary, and I received my new license in the mail shortly thereafter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top