Amaxophobia (also called hamaxophobia) makes you feel anxious or fearful when you drive or ride in a vehicle, such as a car, bus or plane. With it, you have a fear of driving and may also get anxious being a passenger. This fear can interfere with work, socializing and travel.
Practice sitting in the car and becoming relaxed before you begin driving. Consider playing soothing music. It may help you overcome a sense of rising panic and can drown out the noise of other cars. Even the most confident driver can become anxious if there are noisy passengers in the car.
The most common cause is the fear of having a panic attack while driving. Other causes are: Personally experiencing a car accident in the past. Witnessing other cars' tragic accidents or hearing about a car accident that involves someone close to you.
Vehophobia is specifically the fear of driving a motor vehicle. It is not the fear of being in a car or riding as a passenger. Phobias that are similar to vehophobia include: Amaxophobia – the fear of being in a vehicle. Hodophobia – the fear of traveling.
This phobia affects people of both sexes. Statistics in Europe indicate that it is suffered by people who are between 30 and 40 years of age and that it is suffered by 6% of the population. Some extreme cases of extreme amaxophobia can destroy a person's social, work or professional life.
Dystychiphobia is the excessive fear of having an accident. A person with this fear will experience anxiety and a disruption to their quality of life, as well as exhibit avoidance behaviors to steer clear of any situation that has the potential to produce an accident (even where it is unlikely one would occur).
Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth. Arachibutyrophobia is a rare phobia that involves a fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth.
Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Sometimes referred to as amaxophobia, the fear of driving is incredibly common and may be mild or severe.
Car crash OCD involves fears related to being in a car accident. It might involve a more specific fear of causing an auto accident through inattention, running a red light or stop sign, or by making an improper lane change. It might be a fear of being hit by another vehicle, or possibly a large truck.
Thinking about a specific driving situation can cause significant distress. Both the anticipation of a dangerous event and the unpleasantness of the anxiety induced by driving are primary concerns. Fortunately, driving phobias are treatable.
ADHD can lead to challenges during driving because of inattention and distraction, which can interfere with safe driving and possibly lead to vehicle accidents. Staying aware of how symptoms affect driving can help, but it requires understanding the risks.
Anxiety targets certain organs in the body. While some may experience racing heart and difficulty breathing, others experience diarrhea, lightheadedness or nausea. The mere thought of having these symptoms and being stuck in traffic, results in more anxiety and more avoidance.
Signs of Driving Anxiety
Feeling restless, keyed up, or on edge when driving, preparing to drive, or thinking about driving. Feeling easily fatigue and tired during or after a trip in the car. Having trouble concentrating while behind the wheel. Being irritable and short with others.
ADHD and OCD are two mental health conditions that may appear to share some symptoms. However, ADHD is externalizing in nature, affecting how individuals relate to their environment. By contrast, OCD is internalizing in nature, meaning individuals respond to anxiety by turning inward.
Practice, practice, practice
Try to include roundabouts and somewhere to park along the route to build up confidence. You should also go out at different times of the day to get a feel for how the roads change - so this could be an early morning drive one day, a lunchtime route the next and an evening drive on another.
Medications can be effective in treating severe phobias. Benzodiazepines such as Klonopin (clonazepam), Xanax (alprazolam), Valium (diazepam), and Ativan (lorazepam) are rapidly acting benzodiazepine medications that treat anxiety symptoms while they are occurring.
Be patient with yourself
It may take time. Bourne has had patients take two months to overcome a driving phobia, and others take two years. Everyone is different.
1) Arachnophobia – fear of spiders
Arachnophobia is the most common phobia – sometimes even a picture can induce feelings of panic. And lots of people who aren't phobic as such still avoid spiders if they can.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is a phobia, meaning the fear of long words. Ironically, it is a long word itself. The phobia isn't considered an actual phobia, but more of a social phobia.
When faced with the extreme fear of medical procedures, you might have tomophobia. These irrational fears must interfere with personal relationships, work, and school, and prevent someone from enjoying life. One's functioning must be impaired to meet the criteria of a specific phobia.
What are the Signs and Symptoms of Traumatophobia? The symptoms of Traumatophobia may vary from person to person, but can include: Excessive and irrational fear of experiencing trauma or being exposed to traumatic events. Avoidance of situations or activities that are perceived as potentially traumatic.
Signs That You May Have Vehophobia
Asking your friends and family members to drive. Avoiding even getting in a car and having others run errands for you. Intentionally not getting your car repaired to avoid driving. Moving to areas where driving is not necessary.
Some symptoms of amaxophobia include intense anxiety when riding in a car, anxiety when thinking of riding in a car, the feeling of terror related to being in vehicles, increased heartbeat rate, dizziness, panic attacks and physical symptoms such as trembling, sweating, and nausea.