I have amaxophobia, which is essentially driving anxiety. It is a relatively common condition
that impacts my ability to drive and makes it hard for me to get in the car. I struggle to drive anywhere that involves me going on a main road, or where there is traffic or traffic lights. I clearly have a lot going on that I need to deal with, which I am trying to do. I’ve been seeing a therapist who is trying to help me. He’s set me a goal of doing a small drive each day and doing driving-related activities. For example, tomorrow I am booked into the local mechanic close to Moorabbin who is going to run me through all the important things in my car. He’s going to tell me what I need to do if something happens to my car whilst I’m out driving, and hopefully make me feel more confident about what to do in an emergency. If it’s not obvious, I’m really nervous about this experience.
At the moment I can barely drive five minutes without having a panic attack. It’s a terrible feeling and a really scary experience, and it’s added to my fear of driving. The fear of having a panic attack is almost stronger than my fear of driving – they go hand in hand.
When I’m at the mechanic’s workshop, I’m going to ask him to check out the quality of my car whilst he runs through everything with me. If he finds that there’s something wrong with it, like the electrics in it or whatever, then I’m happy for him to call in a professional auto electrician in the Moorabbin area to fix whatever needs to be fixed. I’d rather be safe on the road when I do work up the courage to go on proper drives. It’s going to be a long process, but everything helps.
I just hope that I can be better soon.