With driving anxiety disorder, we make ourselves unnecessarily anxious with our disaster-oriented, irrational thoughts about the future. We tend to assume these thoughts are “true,” when in fact they’re just thoughts. Learn how to change anxious feelings about driving by changing your thoughts with these positive affirmations for anxiety.
Chronic anxiety disorder is caused, at least in part, by thoughts — anxious thoughts. Our thoughts are the way we tell ourselves what’s “true” about the world.
If you suffer from driving anxiety disorder, chances are you believe some things about driving that simply aren’t true. You probably also have a bad habit of reinforcing these “truths” via negative self-talk that’s always expecting the worst to happen. You’re likely afraid of some aspect of driving without really knowing why you fear it. That’s a good indicator you’re suffering from cognitive distortions, which are irrational, distorted thoughts.
But you can change the way you feel by changing the thoughts that make you unnecessarily anxious. Positive affirmations for driving anxiety disorder are an effective way to do this. Affirmations are really just the substitution of more helpful thoughts in place of painful, unhelpful ones. They help reprogram the linkages within your brain and body between certain thoughts and certain feelings.
7 Positive Affirmations for Anxiety Disorder to Ensure Driving Success
Tell yourself:
- I trust that life supports me. I am safe. The truth is, you are safe. Driving is an everyday activity that untold millions engage in without incident. The thing that makes you feel anxious is the belief you’re in danger. You’re really, really not.
- I am solutions oriented. Driving anxiety disorder is solvable. One of the main reasons people become more and more afraid of driving is because they see it as an intractable problem with no real solution. This is false. This disorder is very treatable — if you’re willing to change your belief that it’s not. That’s the starting point for all therapies, the belief that change really is possible.
- I take charge of my emotions, my desires and my abilities. You’ve gotten in the habit of letting fear take charge of you, instead of the other way around. I know the fear feels big and unmanageable. That’s perfectly okay. It’s still just a feeling, your feeling. It’s a feeling that belongs to you. You don’t belong to it.
- I’m confident. I know I will solve my problems successfully. Confidence is simply the belief you can do something. The more you believe you can do it, the more likely you are to do just that. Confidence starts with belief. Beliefs are just thoughts, and the best way to ensure success when you drive is to start changing them. Positive affirmations are a great way to change thoughts.
- I live in the present moment and I’m confident of the future. All anxiety disorders, including driving anxiety, are about what “might happen” in the future. The reality is, whatever you’re afraid of isn’t happening right now. In this moment, right now, you’re okay. What you’re really afraid of is that you won’t be okay in the near future. Take your focus off the future and put it back in the present where it belongs. The future is just the present that hasn’t happened yet, and it’s going to be fine. Easy mindfulness exercises are a helpful way to learn to live in the present moment.
- I face difficult situations with courage and conviction. I always find a way out of such situations. There’s no doubt that facing driving anxiety requires a great deal of courage. Something else that’s not in doubt is that you’ve faced difficult situations before and gotten through them. There’s lots of evidence in your life that you’ve somehow found your way through hard things. I mean, you’ve gotten this far, right? You’ll work through your driving anxiety, too.
- Today, I’m willing to fail in order to succeed. This may sound strange, but part of ensuring success when you drive is about giving yourself permission to fail. When you’re experimenting with new thoughts and new behaviors, failure is something you can pretty much count on. You’re going to have to get comfortable with (or at least tolerate) failure in order to eventually succeed. You simply cannot learn to do something new and difficult without doing it wrong sometimes. Just remember that the only real failure is choosing to do nothing.
These positive affirmations will probably feel strange at first because you’re arguing with your negative thought distortions and you won’t believe the new things you’re telling yourself. Remember that repetition is a key part of success with affirmations.
Repeating healthy, life-affirming thoughts has a hypnotic, mantra-like calming and soothing effect that will eventually improve your driving anxiety disorder. Say these affirmations to yourself — out loud, if possible — whenever you experience driving anxiety. They have a cumulative effect which may not seem like much at first, but will lead to surprisingly positive changes. Over time, positive affirmations for driving anxiety really can help ensure success when you drive.
One thought on “Driving Anxiety Disorder – 7 Positive Affirmations for Anxiety to Ensure Success When You Drive”
Cultivating positive affirmations is very useful as can learning how to process and neutralize the anxiety that fuels negative thoughts and beliefs. Mindfulness therapy and training with those thoughts and emotions is one of the most effective approaches available for overcoming anxiety and fear. I have seen tremendously positive results with clients who are struggling with driving anxiety and phobia.
One person came to me for help with a phobia of driving over bridges, but once she started applying mindfulness and practiced mindfulness-based exposure challenges she quickly overcame her fear.
The feeling of being trapped in traffic on highways is another common experience that responds well to mindfulness training.
The main thing is that you have to work with your fear and NOT avoid it. But you need the right approach to make this truly effective.
Boulder Center for Online Mindfulness Therapy