Driving...

When I'm driving I feel a lot of anxiety with other drivers on the road. I am totally consumed with what they are thinking about my driving, especially if they are behind me and i am obviously going slower than them. I also absolutely hate having to drive people too. I feel they are constantly scrutinzing my driving and judging me. I hate it and so far I have never found anyone that shares this fear/anxiety. Does anyone else have a similar problem?

TheWickedEnd said:

When I'm driving I feel a lot of anxiety with other drivers on the road. I am totally consumed with what they are thinking about my driving, especially if they are behind me and i am obviously going slower than them. I also absolutely hate having to drive people too. I feel they are constantly scrutinzing my driving and judging me. I hate it and so far I have never found anyone that shares this fear/anxiety. Does anyone else have a similar problem?

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i know excactly what u mean!driving ppl is not my favourite activity and i feel so nervous that they will judge the way i drive,especially if they have a driving license and sometimes i don;t pay attention on the road cause i am so concentrated at my thoughts.i also hate driving in crowded places and searching for a parking place cause i think everyone is watching me and i may do something stupid.

I like driving. I got my license pretty late, when I was 22. But since then I enjoy driving. Of course, I have the same problems that you do. I hate driving with other people inside the car, especially if I don't know them well. I think I appear a bit dumb for other drivers in the car. But I wouldn't say I have strong anxiety. It's just some automatic thoughts.

i reckon coz of SP im conciously aware of things going on around me more then people with out it and makes me a safer driver
ahhh hope that makes sence haha

i'm getting my drive license classes next month, an i know i'll get very anxious ... i don't know if i can do it =(

I have the same problem! I get so nervous, and I'm constantly looking at the car behind me. I'll start thinking to myself that maybe I'm going to slow and annoying the other driver. Driving in general just gets me very anxious, even though I'm glad that I have my license. I'm so scared of getting into an accident.

I don't like driving with people either. I'm afraid that they'll think I'm a horrible driver or recognize mistakes that I make. I get really uncomfortable.

Haha yeah I do try to keep up with the flow of traffic so I don't feel like I'm holding people up. But driving can also be relaxing for me (if it's not rush hour). Just driving around by myself and listening to music, not really going anywhere in particular, or just taking the long way back home. Of course, with gas prices the way they are I've stopped doing that for the most part.

When ever I'm driving someone somewhere I get really anxious and really tense, then I start making stupid mistakes due to not being able to think clearly. Like just last week me and my room mate were driving somewhere and I ended up on the wrong side of the road...scary..Plus when there's someone else in the car I pretty much always have at least one close call...one of these days I won't be so lucky and I'll get into a crash..

I'm fine when driving alone though

Dude I have the same problem, but I have learned to cope with it.

I am constantly thinking about what the other drivers are thinking of my driving. I don't want to piss anyone off and I try my very best to drive so that it makes everyone around me happy. I will drive fast so that people won't tailgate me (i still get tailgated sometimes and I hate it) but if someone is driving slow in front of me I will not tailgate them and keep a good distance away.

I also get anxiety when trying to turning left onto a busy street but I can't turn because there is too much traffic and there are cars behind me waiting. Sometimes I'll just turn right even if it's the wrong way to my destination, so the cars behind me don't have to wait.

I'm just like this and I even made a post here a while ago about it. I hate driving. It's gotten better as I drive more, but I still hate it.

I take the bus where I can now. I know it's usually not a good thing to avoid something you have anxiety about, but I think taking the bus is good for me just because it makes me get used to being around people. I even (sorta) made friends with a couple of girls who take my bus. Plus I still have to drive some places, so I'm not avoiding it completely.

So my insight is that it will get better as you learn to trust your own judgment, but if you still hate it take the bus.

I can definitely relate to this problem. Here are some of the things that I used to do, but I am much, much better at it now:
1). Hate making a left-hand turn when there are a line of cars behind me and then turn right and find somewhere to turn around to go where I really intended to go.
2). I never follow anyone too close no matter how slow they are going. I will just slow down myself or rarely, if ever, go around them.
3). I really get anxious when someone follows me closely. I will speed up and this does not work. I always have to check my rear-view mirror and hoping that they could read my mind to stop following me so damn close!!
4). I used to get really nervous when other people are riding with me, but this situation is much better and I just drive like normal and don't worry about what they may or may not be thinking.
5). For some reason, when traffic is busy, I would always be nervous when I'm the first one at a red light. I used to feel like all the people in the cars that were behind and beside me were staring at me and I would get very anxious and paranoid waiting for the light to turn green.

These are some of my pet peeves that I have conquered for the most part!