Driving

[Chilling_Echo]

This is one thing that I don't think I've seen on the board, but do you all ever feel anxious when you drive? alot of times I feel like I'm competing almost, like people are trying to seem better than me (I realize how stupid this sounds, I've never actually written this down before).

But yet instead of exhibiting the normal effects of my anxiety that i usually put out like blushing, sweating, inability to concentrate, etc, i just get angry since i feel like i'm in my little bubble where no one can see me, my car. this of course leads to--> severe road rage!

I'm always afraid I'm going to do something stupid on the road.

Also, i don't really fear it like social situations, more it takes alot out of me bacause i feel like i have to hold my own, not like being an aggressive driver (which everyone ultimately has to do to get where they want to go) but more hold my own socially.

 

[Tris]

Im 20 and still dont drive...i dont wanna go get my license...ill have to sit in a car and drive with an officer sitting next to me the whole time writting down what im doing wrong and blah blah blah...SCARY!!

 

[Scottish_Player]

driving is the one thing i enjoy,it give me so much freedom and without it i would be lost

 

[aliasgirl]

..

 

[LA323]

I LOVE DRIVING, i feel very secure and i think im a good driver, i been driving since i was 15. I like driving around the neighborhood for no reason at all, and hear my music AS LOUD AS I CAN!! i love it and its like i didnt have SA, u guys should try it

 

[Chilling_Echo]

aliasgirl, i tried to start driving at age 14 1/2 and toughed through it to get my permit but didn't start driving but two weeks before i got my license (had to force myself) at 17 1/2. for a while i liked it but now, well i've already explianed.

 

[Parttimer]

Getting my license was on of hte best things i did. I waited too long till i got it when i was 22. I find it gives me the freedom to go out and if i feel too anxious i can pull the plug and go home. The decision is not in someone elses hands then.

 

[Chilling_Echo]

yeah, i HATED asking for rides and such

 

[Sempfy]

I do like driving, but like with most other things, I always worry at first that I'll have an accident or something. When I'm on the road I sometimes feel I'm holding other cars up. Like, I'll be doing the speed limit and a car is right up my bum, and I feel I should increase the speed jes so they don't get angry, kinda silly really. :/

 

[Parttimer]

I do like driving, but like with most other things, I always worry at first that I'll have an accident or something. When I'm on the road I sometimes feel I'm holding other cars up. Like, I'll be doing the speed limit and a car is right up my bum, and I feel I should increase the speed jes so they don't get angry, kinda silly really. :/

I asked my dad abouit this hes been a cabby for years. "fuck em, don't look at em" he told me.

 

[Chilling_Echo]

ah, yeah sempfy, i feel that way alot but other times i just get pissed off and flick em off...

 

[RoboLobster]

I love driving, it's one of the few things I can do that completely relaxes me (with no one else in the car atleast), very enjoyable.

Getting your license can be scary, but once I got mine the sense of triumph was great. Plus the freedom it gives you is very nice.

 

[dazz]

im 17 and cant wait until i can drive, but that'll never happen unless i actually get my self a job

 

[Kaya]

I am 31 and have been driving since I was 18. I suffer alot of anxiety when I drive and I also get that competative feeling, which makes me aggressive. Kind of a weird combination!!
For example, if someone is tailgating me I feel anxious because I am holding them up and I think they will think I am a bad driver or something, so I want to speed up, but at the same time I get shitty because it is dangerous and aggresive, so I end up slowing down even more to piss them off! Which can be fun! :twisted:
I actually had a pretty bad accident a few years ago, which was completely the others persons fault, so it has made me more cautious as a driver and not so worried about what other people think because I would rather be alive in one piece than seen as a slow or bad driver.
I do enjoy driving in situations where I feel safe, and the independence it gives me far outways the suffering!!

 

[blank]

Im 31 ..32 next month, and I only drive when I have to.
I work next door to a grocery store, and after work knew that I needed a few groceries.
Rather than driving into traffic, turning into the middle lane and crossing over to the store which is all of a thirty second drive from my job, I instead trampled the 100 or so yards over to the store in the mud and back.
It's a problem.
You folks that drive have it so good.

 

[mole]

Sometimes when I am in town and there are massive amounts of traffic and it is all close up and almost claustrophobic I find it can be as difficult as eating in a busy restaurant .Normally though, I find it great, especially at night. I get inside this space that feels safe and guarded.
When I get really pissed off I jump in the car and put my foot down and crank up the music. Normally by the time I return I am in a better frame of mind.

 

[blank]

Sometimes when I am in town and there are massive amounts of traffic and it is all close up and almost claustrophobic I find it can be as difficult as eating in a busy restaurant .Normally though, I find it great, especially at night. I get inside this space that feels safe and guarded.
When I get really pissed off I jump in the car and put my foot down and crank up the music. Normally by the time I return I am in a better frame of mind.

A whole lot of what is holding me back in life is not getting out there and driving.
Imagine the number of things that you do with friends and then imagine not driving to those places.
It really holds you back.
If I would drive, I would have a girlfriend, a better job, live in the part of the world that I want to, and probably be a hell of a lot happier and self confident.
Your lucky to be able to drive.
As I write this, I hear yet another siren on an ambulance. ( three in the last hour )
Living by a major road makes you realize just how many people are dying behind the wheel of a car.
A fellow that I work with used to be an ambulance driver, and told me that most of the times when you hear a siren , it is a fatality.