What is Driving Anxiety Disorder?

There are several life experiences that can cause a person to develop some type of anxiety disorder. In fact, suffering from anxiety is something that affects tens of millions of Americans. As a mental health illness, anxiety is prevalent across the country. This is because excessive stress, physical harm, emotional trauma, and other distressing events can degrade the health of one’s mind and cause one to develop anxiety or a fear of a particular situation, tangible object, another person, or a specific condition.

Driving anxiety happens when a person gets behind the wheel to operate a vehicle. For these individuals, the act of driving and making maneuvers in a car is stressful. Driving anxiety is so common that as many as 66% of individuals in the country have some extent of driving anxiety. Depending on how severe one’s driving anxiety is, they may not only limit the amount of time they drive and where, but some people could actually try to completely avoid driving altogether.

Why Does Driving Anxiety Happen?

Every person’s life experiences and makeup is different. What deeply affects one person may not to another. And the way that one person can manage adverse life events can also vary from the next person. 

For example, a person who suffers from general anxiety disorder (GAD) may be at higher risk for also experiencing distress when behind the wheel and have more bouts of driving anxiety as a result.

A person that never had issues with anxiety may have suffered catastrophic and frightening consequences of a car accident which makes them particularly scared to drive. While these individuals may become hesitant to drive, in other situations, they might perform normally. As such, these individuals who suffered trauma in a past car accident may not necessarily have GAD, but they could only experience difficulties in their ability to cope with driving. They may only have driving anxiety.

Some of the thoughts that a person with driving anxiety could have when they get into a car could include the following:

• Worrying about getting into a car accident.
• Being trapped in a car with an inability to get out.
• Concerns about severe physical bodily harm or death in a car.
• Fear of driving in unfamiliar locations.
• Concerns about being able to handle a car and the possibility of losing control of it.
• Feeling troubled about having to perform driving maneuvers.

Driving is a necessary task for most people. And, often it happens so often during each day of the week that your average driver may not be thinking about the inherent dangers of operating an automobile. This can cause them to be lackadaisical about driving and maybe engage in some careless or irresponsible behavior. 

However, for those individuals that have a great fear of driving or anxiety about it, transportation can be a stressful proposition. Every day can pose a struggle concerning how to get from one place to the next.

Speak with a Car Accident Attorney at Fulgencio Law

Driving a car should be taken seriously, as the aftermath of a car accident can have devastating consequences. Not only can victims suffer physical bodily harm, but there may also be life-long emotional scars that make daily life much more difficult.

For help with a car accident injury claim in Florida, the Tampa car accident attorneys at Fulgencio Law can support you. Call Fulgencio Law today to schedule a free consultation at (813) 463-0123.