DRIVING ANXIETY WORKSHEET
By
HappierTherapy
Author bio
The Happier Therapy editorial team is made up of Masters and PhD counselling psychologists. Each worksheet is created by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The worksheet then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
Download Worksheet
Anxiety is characterised by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure.
On the other hand, driving anxiety is an intense fear of driving or of being a passenger. Anticipatory anxiety is expected when you feel anxious just thinking about driving. Specific driving situations can cause significant distress, such as panic attacks.
What Are The Theories Behind This Worksheet?
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a type of psychotherapy used to help individuals improve distorted thoughts and behavioral patterns associated with mental health conditions such as anxiety.
CBT helps individuals identify negative thought patterns, learn how to regulate responses to anxiety-producing situations, and develop healthy coping strategies.
- Exposure Therapy
This therapy helps people change their behavioral patterns. It involves slowly exposing oneself to the event that makes one anxious, e.g., driving a car or being a passenger.
When you experience anxiety due to driving, it is mainly because your brain has a negative memory or belief of this event. Exposure therapy aims to slowly change this negative image to a positive one by reducing and ultimately eliminating your driving anxiety.
How Will This Worksheet Help You?
This worksheet is intended to help individuals address their driving anxiety and live healthy and productive life.
How Should You Use This Worksheet?
This worksheet should be used by individuals who experience symptoms of driving anxiety, such as;
- Increased sweating (on your palms and back)
- Racing heart
- Tense muscles
- Hyperventilation (rapid breathing)
- Feeling lightheaded or faint
- Shaking or trembling
This worksheet is a self-evaluation kit to learn, control and break your driving anxiety.
Was this helpful?
References
1.-
Evolutions Behavioral Health Services. (No Date). Driving Phobia Treatment. Available at: https://www.evolutionsbh.com/articles/driving-phobia-treatment-therapy-with-phobia-psychologist/. [Accessed February 14, 2023]
2.-
Health Match. (© 2023). Driving Anxiety: Overview, Causes, And How to Get Over It. Available at: https://healthmatch.io/anxiety/how-to-get-over-driving-anxiety. [Accessed February 14, 2023]
3.-
The Zebra. (© 2023). Driving Anxiety + 8 tips to manage it. Available at: https://www.thezebra.com/resources/driving/driving-anxiety/. [Accessed February 14, 2023]
