Old 03-18-2011, 08:04 PM
  # 6 (permalink)  
chicory
Member
 
chicory's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 13,497
I sometimes wonder if it is related in some way to post traumatic stress disorder?

anxiety runs in my family. my mom was afraid to drive. i did well, until during my last marriage when my jerk of a husband would fall asleep at wheel, run off road, etc. he had sleep apnea, and would do nothing about it. I was terrified to ride with him. he screamed at me, a lot, when I would ask" are you awake? so, i stopped riding with him.

I proceeded to develop a fear of driving over a small bridge near my home, and fear of driving at all, really. i was already afraid of driving on freeways. i was even afraid when someone else drove. I would gasp audibly if they went a little faster than i liked around a corner , for instance. i would plead for them to slow down, and could not relax at all. impending doom, in my mind.

i had been in two wrecks about 10 years prior . one was pretty serious, a head on, in a whiteout fog. i was ok, but very bruised up, and lucky!
the next one was minor, but frightening nonetheless. i dont know if that had anything to do with my anxiety.

i went to the doctor, as my life was miserable from this fear. she gave me wellbutrin, and it helped me tremendously. i can drive over bridges, and can ride with people, without fear, if i trust their driving. i am doing ok, tho i still hate expressway driving and dont do it myself.

wellbutrin is good for anxiety, and depression. i have no side effects from it, tho i take a lower dose.
got rid of the jerk , and that helped a lot. he must have had at least 4 rear end collisions, totaled a vette, (said a deer jumped out), and sideswiped all our vehicles on mailboxes, the barn, the other cars, etc. tho he never admitted any of it.

hope this helps you,
chicory
chicory is offline