The irrational fear or panic that keeps you from thinking logically when you get into a car is what we call amaxophobia. This anxiety or fear of driving can be caused by a trauma suffered at the wheel, by lack of personal safety or by simply going outside the co-driver’s comfort zone. If this happens to you, you should know that there is a solution: the fear of driving can be overcome.
At JFK Driving School we have a team of professionals specialized in these cases of amaxophobia. However, we offer you 7 tips to start fighting the fear of driving.
7 tips to remove the fear of driving
1. Healthy mind in healthy body.
Your body and mind need to be in tune and at peace. If you master your body, you relax your mind. Learn to relax. You will say, “Sure, that’s easy. Yes, it is possible to learn to control emotions through relaxation techniques. You will have to use your time (each person is different). But you will succeed if you don’t give up.
2. Change your perception of driving.
You need to know what makes you think driving is a threat. Once you detect it, to start enjoying the car and driving, you must associate the trips with positive feelings. For example: autonomy, travel, relaxing landscapes, independence…
3. Work on your self-confidence.
Start thinking that you will be able to drive without fear. There are self-confidence exercises that can help you improve your perception of yourself. Your personal development will help you in driving and in all areas of your life. Take the plunge. Recover your autonomy and challenge yourself, start driving or sign up for a driving school that offers specialized courses to help you lose your fear of driving.
4. Start driving little by little.
When you see that you are starting to feel better, both mentally and physically, encourage yourself to take the car in areas with little traffic, for a short time (as you see that the time increases) and accompanied by someone you trust and who is calm.
We recommend that you do this exercise with a professional from Escuela, as the relationship is more professional and will inspire more confidence. You can read some of the comments of our students as well.
If, on the other hand, you decide to trust someone close to you, run away from nervous and shouting people, they will only make you feel worse. Remember that you want to overcome one trauma, not create another.
5. Exercises to overcome your fears.
In some cases of severe fear of driving, it is not enough to start moving around in polygons, as the possibility of seeing cars in motion causes panic to resurface.
In these cases, at JFK Driving School, we test your fear in a controlled manner, so that you see that you are able to overcome situations in which you previously felt unsafe. We want you to regain confidence in yourself when you drive.
6. Driving alone.
It’s time for total independence. You need to be sure that you have enough resources to control cold sweats if they come back and to react to different situations that pose a danger while driving.
But now you have a backpack of knowledge to know what to do in each situation. Practice a little more every day.
7. Practice, practice, practice. Driving experience is a degree.
By practicing you will get better and more confident. You can do this with classes tailored to you in a school, if you still don’t look good enough to drive alone. At JFK we have a service and special prices for people who like you already know how to drive but need to overcome their fear of the car.
Let’s practice!
