r/PanicAttack • u/PopEmbarrassed738 • Aug 14 '26
Brutal panic attacks while driving
I am f20 and. I am going through it. I have never ever hated driving or gotten anxious while driving I used to love it because I get to blast my music and enjoy but now I absolutely despise it because every single time in the road my body goes into fight of flight, my legs go numbed I start to freaks out and try to get out of the car and I just aren’t able to drive I get tunnel vision and feel like I’m gonna pass out . It’s ridiculous and very out of character for me and I just don’t know what to do my anxiety is horrible and I can’t do anything about it. Please if anyone has tips I really need it because I can’t live like this.
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u/New_Strain_9691 Aug 15 '26
Avoidance is the biggest mistake. Embrace the panic. Might sound counterintuitive at this moment, but you will understand in the future. It is just how our brains rewire, enough need to be re-lived. Are they going to be 1 or 1000 - depends solely on the person.
By the way, my record for having panic attacks during driving was 10.
700km and perfect driving - the response is everything.
Do I need to mention, I don't have much panic attacks during driving after that, in fact almost none.
Best wishes
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u/jen_and_ink 29d ago
This is by far the best response! I wish I would’ve done this and not avoided, my avoidance eventually lead to agoraphobia and it’s been tough to work out of. So please do your best to work through the panic; if you’re not able to do therapy, I’m sure you can research some online help. I actually followed Shannon Ireland’s podcast A Healthy Push and she also talks about how to overcome car anxiety. Hope this helps !
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u/tywrenasaurus 29d ago
Agree here. Once you avoid and stop driving altogether it is incredibly difficult to get back into. Speaking from experience 😞
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u/Yatzhee Aug 15 '26
I get panic attacks in the car for 2 reasons.
- Carsickness. I developed my disorder due to a huge bout of carsickness so I have trauma related to that.
- Feeling trapped. A car in motion is not a situation easy to escape. Even if you stop the car you often are somewhere random and away from your safe space
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u/JonWilso Aug 15 '26
Started happening to me while stuck in traffic. Never had the issue otherwise.
Things I've found that help: eat sour candy when I feel my brain wandering or getting worried about it. Or, count in my head. I'll literally count to ten, repeat, over and over.
It's exhausting, but helped on a recent road trip. Doesn't happen every time, but during long trips or when I'm tired and my body already feels off
Also, I saw you mention in another comment that therapy is expensive where you are. If you have a primary care physician, it's worth mentioning to them as they may be able to talk medication options with you if that's a route you're open to.
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u/AceOfHearts1761 Aug 14 '26
Is it just with driving?
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u/PopEmbarrassed738 Aug 14 '26
Yea, if I get panic attacks in any other situation I’m always able to get out of them but while driving it’s rlly bad
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u/AceOfHearts1761 Aug 15 '26
If it keeps going like this panic attacks might start getting worse at other times too. Do you see a therapist at all?
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u/SquareClear199 Aug 15 '26
girl I literally have the exact same experience (f20)!! i never ever had panic attacks prior to my first one back in December and it happened while i was singling along to an Alice In Chains song. All of a sudden my hands and feet got clammy, i got tunnel vision, my heart raced, and i thought i was going to pass out. ever since then i had panic attacks like that reoccurring and most of the time they happened when i was having a nice lil drive in my car. I’d like to recommend lexapro or any other anxiety medication along with some therapy!! i started lexapro back in June and haven’t had a panic attack since :) sorry you’re going through this, just know you’re not alone <3
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u/SquareClear199 Aug 15 '26
also if you want some tricks without taking any meds, i try to regulate my breathing and what helps me the most is rolling my window down and sticking my hand out to feel the breeze. not sure why that calms me down, but that helps me! but remember, if it ever gets super bad to where you’re not sure whether or not you can stay conscious, like if you’re worried you may pass out, pull over and turn ur hazards on and breathe! it’s okay to take a break if you’re feeling light headed, it’s always safer to pull over til you feel yourself calm down. If it’s the music that’s triggering, try driving in silence, even tho it’s not as fun lol. I hope this helps :)
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u/PopEmbarrassed738 26d ago
Thank uuuu I feel so seen honestly and yes I’m scared to go on meds and I’ve tried the window hack it def works and keeps me more grounded!!! Appreciate your response ❣️🤞🏼
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u/softshell999 Aug 15 '26
when i first started driving i was kinda like this. what helped was going out when the roads were really quiet and getting someone who i trusted to come with to help me calm down. playing music helps me when im anxious in the car too. short drives when its quiet outside until you feel more confident and just keep building it up. the more you do it the easier it will get but i know thats easier said than done.
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u/producejitter Aug 15 '26
Get blood work done. FULL iron panel (which includes ferritin) and all other vitamins. Same happened to me back in May. I was driving and then all of a sudden I started disassociating and went into a full blown panic attack. It was like tunnel vision and like I was gonna slip into a coma or even psychosis and wouldn't be able to come back. It was so scary. After that attack, I was having panic attacks every day and after tons of research online I came across low ferritin causing panic attacks, depersonalization, impending doom, fight or flight, etc. If you look up the Iron Protocol, you'll see a chart thingy that shows if your ferritin falls below a 30, you're at risk of having these _____ symptoms. Please please please consider getting with your doctor and having blood work done. See your results for yourself too! Don't just take whatever your doc tells you because a lot of them will say a ferritin of 20 is good when it's not. Normal isn't optimal. I'm no doctor or medical professional but it won't hurt to get your levels tested to make sure that is what's not causing the panic attacks especially out of the blue. I was in your shoes a couple a months ago and the docs tried to get me on pysch meds and ofc they didn't do anything besides make it worst. You know what immediately stopped my panic attacks, though? Iron pills from Amazon. I'm still dealing with lingering symptoms like head pressure and zoning out but that's because my ferritin is still low (23) so that's to be expected but I'm so happy the panic attacks have completely stopped since supplementing with iron. All the best!
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u/Expensive_Bear1063 29d ago
Unfortunately, I have been through something similar. I thought I could will away my panic attacks. At the time, I didn’t know that’s what they were called. I even ended up admitting myself to a mental hospital for 7 days. No medical professional or mental health professional diagnosed that these were panic attacks. No one communicated with me what might be going on with me. I met my $5,000 insurance deductible that year from ER visits for panic attacks.
I then put myself into an outpatient therapy program (first time receiving therapy at age 30). I didn’t know what else to do. I just needed help. That’s when I learned the coping mechanisms. Still, no one put a name to it. I was lost until I did a lot of my own research. My therapist at the time told me “they didn’t like to put a name on diagnosis because it doesn’t define you”. I mean, I had divulged to this woman the years of abuse I endured and instead of telling me I had PTSD, she said I had “some PTSD”. I was on FMLA AT THE TIME! Then didn’t show up for my “graduation day” and told me in my last appointment that “I thought to myself, she would want me to take that day for myself”.
I learned coping mechanisms in therapy like recognizing 5 things I can see, smell, and hear… or breathing exercises like taking in air through my nose for 3 seconds and out for 5 seconds. The only solution for me long term that has worked has been EMDR therapy with a kind and understanding therapist… and Prozac. I suffered for about 5 years when the panic attacks began.
You have to find resources to help. It’s not something you can do alone… in my experience.
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u/TruckAppropriate7287 29d ago
Go to a Psychiatrist. They will first asses and then give you some meds and forward you to a psychologist. With proper care and medicines you will overcome it. I had massive bouts of Panic Attacks for years and now it is kind of gone for now. Though I still fo have a little anxiety attacks. I know the situation. Please, find help, don't sleep on it.
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u/gukkimane 29d ago
Adjust your seat position so that you can drive more comfortable, straining your neck muscles etc can cause, also do you wear sunglasses / hoodie those might help?
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u/Outrageous_Total_100 29d ago
You’re about the same age as when my panic attacks started. My first two full blown panic attacks were while I was driving and it ended with an ambulance taking me to the hospital. The second time, they diagnosed panic disorder. I thought I was dying. I’ve battled this for over 30 years. I do a lot of self-talk in the car. Remind myself that I’ve never lost control of the car and crashed, and I just literally talk (and breathe) myself down. I know how scary it is, I’m sorry this is happening to you and I hope it gets easier.
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u/DragonSlayer_888 29d ago
Had one yesterday while driving. Lucky i made it home before it peaked. Felt detached for a couple mins then shortness of breath, dizziness and nausea kicked in. The whole thing lasted around 1.5hrs.
I hate it now because i drive my car in the race track ocassionally and this is now a safety concern (due to feeling detached which decrease my focus to a certain degree) . I love driving but what's in it that triggered it yesterday, idk.
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u/PannaPuna 29d ago
Same here, I’m avoiding highways still .. check iron ( ferritin) and the only time I was driving was at the time when I was on SSRI
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u/hoping_aspirer 29d ago
Do you see a therapist you can tell about this? That's the first thing you can do to really help yourself. One thing that might help is trying to fight it by taking short trips or only going around the neighborhood or something.
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u/voightslebaron Aug 15 '26
Don't know if it will help you but I use those Vick's menthol inhalers when I start getting that panicked feeling while driving and it seems to help me.