Am I the only one whose mind goes wild while driving? During times when my anxiety is peaking, driving completely exacerbates it. I tend to get mesmerized by the lines on the road and my mind finds every thought it can grab onto bringing me down that dreaded anxiety spiral. Yes, when I say dreaded I mean it! The spiral is usually what sets my anxiety into overdrive and something I have trouble snapping out of easily.
Not only is that spiral detrimental to your mental health and emotional stability at the moment, but it can be really dangerous to you and others on the road. I have had plenty of times where I have found myself so dazed and deep in thought that I forget I am even driving and barely paying attention. It has led to a few close calls, which scared the living lights out of me (and my thoughts).
I’ve used a few techniques while driving to eliminate that anxiety spiral!
- Turn on upbeat music: Turn on your favorite music that you’ll sing along to or a podcast that holds your attention. The key is finding the music that will keep you engaged. Singing along keeps your mind on something else rather than giving it the time to spiral. A podcast could work if it was the right one. For me, if I am in an anxious state, podcasts tend to put me in a daze and it turns into just noise in the background rather than something I am engaged in.
- Be where you are: If you feel a thought pop up that you know has the potential to make you anxious (I call these anxiety thoughts), label it (“okay, this is just an anxiety thought”) and grab onto your steering wheel and turn your focus to where you are. Move the volume knob on your radio, change the radio station, open a window. Move your attention to the moment and exactly where you are. This also changes where your focus is similar to the music that I mentioned above.
- Talking it Through (to yourself): Oh yes, I know it may sound crazy… then call me crazy! As you feel your anxiety creeping and you have that first initial anxious thought, label it (“this is just an anxiety thought”) and say that out loud. Talk yourself through that moment. Remind yourself it is nothing to fret over. It is simply your anxiety trying to play some nasty trick on you. I think of anxiety as a thing that likes to get me to that spiral. Its goal is to put thoughts through my head that will in the end make my mind spiral out of control, which is exactly what happens.
Next time you’re driving while anxious (DWA!), use these three techniques to help alleviate your anxiety and stay focused on the road!
Let me know what techniques you use!
xKristin
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