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Driving again! Anyone who has driving ocd please tell me about it


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I've been doing ok-ish so much so I'm reducing meds with help of gp and private phychological therapist. You may or may not remember I saw a phychiatrist I did not like ( please don't think they are all the same or let it put you off seeing one ) anyway he made some comments about me driving. I feel like it's really knocked my confidence and I feel scared in the car. Or at least I did today. I saw a cyclist on the other side of the road and panicked. What if he had been on my side etc etc. Anyway my thought pattern that got me in to that was as follows.....it was a long drive. I started to worry that maybe I am just a bad person who wants to do bad things (I do know this is ocd) still I can't stop the thoughts and it scares me, especially when in a awkward position like driving as I don't want to test the idea in case. I suppose I'm asking how do I stop that or reduce it when it starts. I put the radio in but it was still there, tried deep breathing still there! I considered pulling over the car and ringing home for a lift, but if I did that am I just avoiding my ocd? I don't know what to do when the doubt appears that's the thing that frightens me most. If I was obsessing over something else eg my driving is great I don't even think about it. I do think the phychiatrist has knocked my confidence. I'm eager to hear from any other ocd drivers as I'm yet to hear from someone similar. Ive heard where people think they've caused an accident but mine is slightly different.

Edited by Liberty
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What you're doing is looking for reassurance that there are other people out there like you. You're hoping if you hear of someone just like you it will make you feel better. You may never find someone exactly like you but that doesn't mean you're not dealing with OCD. What matters is that you have intrusive thoughts that cause you distress and in response you perform compulsions. That's OCD in a nutshell.

You need to work hard to identify the compulsions you do and stop doing them. Your post above is evidence that you are still going over this stuff in your head. In essence you are ruminating. That's a compulsion. Do your best to ignore the urge to ruminate and let the whole matter go.

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Hi, I agree on one level that yes I would like to know in not the only one that does this as it terrifies me. The other thing I was asking for is hen for eg that happens what happened today no matter what I tried it wouldn't stop so what do I do to try and stop the feeling of utter panic. If I stop driving them I'm giving in but I don't know what to do when that happens I tried talking to myself, the radio, breathing it just wouldn't go

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It's hard to get through a panic attack. You should certainly try to relax and breathe through it. More than anything you have to wait until it starts to subside. Panic attacks feel awful when they happen but they don't hurt you.

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It really depends, Liberty, on how intense the attack is. I've had panic attacks that were so acute I had to pull over and wait for a half hour until it subsided enough that I could continue driving. Other times the attack was more like heightened anxiety and it was okay to drive or do other things.

If the panic is interfering with what you're doing, like driving, do try to pull over into a store parking lot or something of the like, relax and breathe through it.

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Hi. I've just driven to work and the panic started again but I don't know if that's in my head because I'm panicking about panicking. If that makes sense? Also this feeling of maybe that's what I want to do as in cause an accident. Maybe that's just me? It's strange. It feels like because the phychiatrist doubted me I'm now doubting myself thinking maybe I do want to cause an accident, maybe I like all this and don't want to get well. It's awful I feel dreadful. Then I think I shouldn't be driving. My heads in bits. At the back of my mind now thinking it's not ocd. Haven't heard anyone else had this type before and he certainly didn't agree.

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