Driving anxiety (car)
Hello everyone! I'm Laura and I'm 24 years old and I got my driving license in October 2020. Im so proud and happy about it but my happiness didn't last very long. In my first week when I got my driving license I was driving through a yellow light and I thought it was red and there was a camera. And I knew when I was driving through red and the camera got me that would mean my driving license will be gone very soon. Since then I'm so scared about traffic lights and speed cameras. It got worse and now I'm basically scared about anything. When I don't let someone pass the street I scare that he will sue me. When I accidentally took someone's right of way then I get anxious. Whenever I get into the car I already get anxious because I scare that I will do a mistake that will take away my driving license. I'm so proud of it and my biggest fear is that I lose it. But I feel like when I'm thinking about being cautious and careful I feel like that will make me do more mistakes. It sounds weird but I take this fear to bed. Sometimes I get nightmares and can't sleep well or cry and can't feel happy. I already limited my driving. I only drive to work now and back home because I'm too scared. But I don't want this to carry on. I want to find a solution. It sounds stupid but it's a big fear in my life at the moment it makes me so anxious I don't even understand it.
It's a fear every new driver faces. My father had a similar experience when he got his driving license. He would drive our family somewhere in town and I could see him sweat, and his face read . Me observing that , i thought driving would be very difficult, but it wasn't the case for me. It is because i realized that i could stop the car anytime i like. Think about it like this, you feel like you're not in control of your car and you feel like you have to pay attention to everything. I would give you a simple advice. Just care about the brakes. Be confident of the fact that you have the power to least stop the car . Trust me, it really helps.