How Rich Presta's Program Can Get You Behind the Wheel Without Fears

Do you know how to face your panic attacks while you're behind the wheel? The Driving Fear Program can certainly help you out. You don't have to feel afraid and alone anymore or feel embarrassed at your panic attacks. With the help of Rich Presta's program, you can face the road without fear.

Driving is a big help for a lot of people. To be taken that away from you such as to feel afraid and nervous all the time at the thought of it can be a huge hindrance to the many things you can do to your life. You won't be able to enjoy traveling with friends and visit family members during holidays. But you can still fix it with the help of the Driving Fear Program.

The Driving Fear Program focuses on how you can face your panic attacks as well as your anxieties while driving. It helps you become more at ease with how you face the road so that you won't be able to feel all panicky and nervous.

One method used in this program is known as the R.O.A.D. Technique. R.O.A.D. is short for the 4 core steps recognized as release, observe, accept and demand more. These 4 steps will be able to help you stop panic attacks while you're on the road. More information about this technique and how to apply it will be found in the Driving Fear Program.

All the symptoms you might have encountered that are related to your panic attacks while driving are all covered by this program along with the R.O.A.D. Technique. Palpitations, dizziness, and the feeling of intense fear will be dealt with in this program.

Using this program will also help you train yourself not to become greatly affected when a panic attack arises. This program will teach you how to keep those anxieties at bay so it won't bring your body into a full panic mode while you're on the highway.

The Driving Fear Program is easy to use since it includes all the materials you need when you purchase it. The Driving Fear Program manual, instructional DVD and audio CDs will be available to you along with other free bonus materials as well. All these are essential when it comes to dealing with your panic attacks while driving and with the help of these materials, you can learn how to stop them from happening ever again.

This isn't a scam at all since the author behind this program, Rich Presta, has gone through the same anxieties you have. He was also getting panic attacks and experiencing all the anxiety symptoms you can think of. With the help of his Clinical Psychologist, he started the Driving Fear Program and has helped thousands of people with their driving fears. He continues to extend his help by offering readers to email him about their panic attack problems so you know you'll get advice from him personally.

This program is not a joke since psychologists also use this program, promoting it to their own clients and friends. The Driving Fear Program will be your guide in living an anxiety-free life. Start getting your life back as well and use the Driving Fear Program.

Driving Phobia and Anxiety

The Driving Fear Program is the most widely recommended program anywhere for overcoming fear and anxiety while driving. It has been used by literally thousands of of people like you around the world to help them conquer their anxiety and drive with more comfort and peace of mind.

If you decide to order the program, we will be compensated, but we think it's a fantastic and amazingly affordable resource to help you overcome your driving anxiety and dramatically improve your life.

Somehow most people tend to think that we should be immune to all that surrounds us on the road; that we should not let 'road stress' creep into our lives. People who can't sleep or who have 'flashbacks' reliving traumatic incidents might feel that they should 'pull themselves together'. How do you start to explain to your friends and family... After all there are people with 'real problems' out there aren't there?

Often people who suffer discomfort. Or delayed trauma, after a road incident feel alone. "I must be silly letting it affect me this way". But you can gain some comfort in the knowledge that there are thousands of people who have problems that arose as a result of, or that were compounded by, an incident on the road, a crash, a near miss, a child running out, an attack. If you are one of these people, you are not alone.

Some people develop a driving phobia as a result of their experiences. Some phobias seem to have no apparent cause. Phobia. Flashbacks, loss of sleep, irritability, change of character, anxiety, a feeling of loss, hopelessness. These are some of the feelings that people have described to me. You can move on.

'Driver therapy' can help you to gain confidence and a new belief that although the past is fixed in place now, your future is waiting for change. You might have already tried to change, you might have had treatment or training that has not worked or only been partially successful; you might be coping be taken sedatives. Whatever your current position, its time to move forward. To gently let go of old, less useful, self limiting beliefs.

Using modern counseling methods combined with in car therapy can help you to get back on the road and get on with your life. Or perhaps all you need is a renewed belief in your ability behind the wheel.

Recover, uncover or discover...

Whatever problems you have had behind the wheel, you can move forward again. Whether you need to recover from a past trauma, uncover the underlying confidence that is present in other areas of your life and apply it to driving, or discover a confidence that was never 'taught' when you you first learnt to drive the starting point is understanding where you are now.

In simple terms there are three 'dysfunction' levels at which you might operate emotionally behind the wheel, these are:

Fear, Anxiety, Phobia

Fear is a normal healthy response to unknown situations or situations where we perceive danger. People with a driving fear will often worry before a drive but resolve to get on with it as soon as they are out in the car - often forgetting the fear because they are so engrossed in the driving task.

Anxiety

Anxiety is classified in many different ways and has many symptoms. Typically, driving anxiety develops when 'fearful' situations are avoided and then the developing fear is generalized into other situations. If you have had an anxiety reaction to driving as opposed to 'simple fear' (but nonetheless real) you will probably have experienced some debilitating symptoms such as sweating, tummy upset, hyperventilation, exhaustion, a lump in the throat, etcetera.

Phobia

Phobia is a disabling mechanism. It protects you (sometimes totally irrationally) from your perceived danger. Drivers who have developed phobias will have severe panic attacks and be unable to carry on with a particular drive, or indeed they might stop driving altogether.

While many people consider phobias to be a sign of weakness, the opposite is probably true! The ability to automatically, and consistently avoid perceived danger is quite a powerful skill. When the skill can be better employed, 'normal' functioning can be restored.

Self help

The following advice is offered to assist you as you overcome your problems. The simple ideas suggested often help in cases of fear and mild anxiety. Some problems might need outside intervention, or in depth personal work (such as self-hypnosis) before you can approach a completely satisfactory result.

Before trying the measures outlined below, check that any physical symptoms are being dealt with by visiting your doctor. If you are on medication for anxiety (or any other disorder) check with your pharmacist that it is safe for you to drive. A good starting point is understanding the mechanism that drives your beliefs about driving.

Understanding your beliefs

In simple terms, we make sense of the world around us because we hold 'beliefs'. That is, we believe certain things to be true and as long as those things remain true, everything is all right - or at least everything is as we believe it to be ... this might be far from 'all right'.

You probably believe that when you go to sleep at night, you will wake up the next morning - this is something you give little or no thought to, but , if it were not true you probably wouldn't be able to sleep.

You almost certainly believe that there is a thing called gravity that holds you down to the ground. If you did not believe this you would tie yourself down with ropes and never move again; the fear of floating off into space would prevent you from moving!

Beliefs are normally formed by constant reinforcement - every time you have been to sleep so far, you have woken up; each time you wake up your belief is strengthened. Each step and every movement you make confirms that gravity exists - a constant reinforcement of your belief.

For some, beliefs can be formed in a flash. This is sometimes called 'one trial learning'. Phobias are often the result of 'one trial learning' after a motor accident. This type of self-limitation is so powerful that simply thinking about a situation brings on the symptoms of fear/anxiety - although outside help will be required, you can unlearn as well as you learn, replacing the problem behavior with a more useful and fulfilling approach.

Self limiting beliefs

When our beliefs are useful they serve us well, but there are occasions when we develop less than useful beliefs. Knowing about self-limiting beliefs might not cause them to go away, but it will enable you to understand the process that perpetuates the problems you have experienced.

It is common for people to describe anxiety sensations when talking about driving; these include tension, fear, etc. So lets look at how these sensations help to reinforce the self limiting beliefs that have, up to now, prevented you from knowing that you can be the driver that you want to be.

Tension and belief

For 15 seconds, tense up your body - clench your fists, tighten every muscle in your body and hold the feeling - 15 seconds. The relax ... Enjoy the sensation of letting all of the tension melt away allow each part of your body to relax in turn, from the top of your head, gently down though your shoulders and body and to the tips of your toes.

Now reflect on what happened when you were tensed up. Did you notice how, to a degree, being tense 'cuts you off' from the world around you. How you have less awareness of what's going on. Try it again and notice whether this is the case.

The problems associated with tension and driving are as follows:

When you experienced tension behind the wheel, you restrict the amount of information that you gather about your surroundings Some of this information is essential for comfortable driving. Mistakes, or wrong moves made because of the missing information reinforce your belief that you have been afraid of driving - this creates more tension. A vicious circle!

The solution is to learn to remove the tension and gather appropriate information. This can be done with therapy and/or specialist driver training and/or self help relaxation methods.

'Going inside' and belief

Try this. Take a minute or so to think about a holiday or other time in your life when you were really happy. Notice, first of all, all the things that you can see on that happy occasion; people, landscapes, seascapes, locations, whatever it is for you - experience the color and depth of your picture, allowing it to develop as you think about what you can hear; sounds, voices, loud, quiet, near, far ... Notice the feelings, physical feelings, warm, cold, textures; emotional feelings - you know these feelings well ...

Now. What happened to your awareness of the world around you as you drifted into your 'dream'? My guess is that, once again, similar to the 'tension' exercise above, you lost some awareness of your surroundings. Different cause, same effect.

After a driving incident, or during a drive when you have felt uncomfortable, you will have 'gone inside' for a few moments, or longer. This time rather than the full enjoyment of a pleasant memory, your brain will have presented you with Images, sounds and feelings of problem memories. Sometimes this happens so fast that all you are aware of is the resultant unpleasant feelings.

The net effect is loss of useful driving information and another vicious circle of belief reinforcement.

Breaking the cycle

Some people are able to break this cycle for themselves by following the simple advice offered on this page. Others will benefit from a little outside help. people break their limiting belief cycle through a combination of driver education and therapy. There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

Breathing

One of the most effective ways of combating anxiety is to learn how to control your breathing. By learning slow, deep diaphragm breathing, you can slow down all the functions that promote panic.

Please read the "Coping" page for more information.

Relaxation

The inability to relax has effects far beyond the driving seat. Many people feel that the only time they are relaxed is when they are asleep. The truth is, even when sleeping they might not be fully relaxed. If you have suffered from anxiety, your body need re-education in order to gain a normal relaxed state that will be appropriate for safe and efficient driving.

 What is Driving Fear?

A “specific phobia of driving” requires that you either avoid driving or riding as a passenger because of fear, or that you tolerate driving or riding with high levels of anxiety and fear. Driving fear is not just fear of getting behind the wheel and operating a car. It can also involve fear while riding as a passenger. 
In fact, some driving fearful people are more afraid of riding as a passenger than they are of driving, per se. Not all people with driving fear have much in the way of observable avoidance of driving, although many patients gradually become aware of subtle avoidance habits they have developed. Many people with driving fears get where they “have to” go, but suffer a great deal of distress while in a car. 
They arrive at work in a bad mood or with a tension headache because of excessive tension while driving, or they have multiple “scares” whenever in a car so that their driving experience is quite upsetting. They may also restrict their actual driving or riding to only those “necessary” trips, which results in reduced social and recreational activities. Alternatively, they may alter their commuting routes in a manner that restricts their freedom of movement.

Why is Driving Fear a Problem?

Some people may think that driving fears are pretty trivial or that they are so common that they don’t merit treatment. It is true that some people may be able to lead a life with even a severe driving fear and not suffer many losses because of this fear. However, this depends on the individual’s lifestyle, work and family life, and personal goals. 
For example, the writer (Bill) has a mild fear of heights. This has never been a big problem to him because he has never been a downhill skier, the fear is mild enough that he doesn’t mind looking out of high rise windows, and he has no other recreations that require him to stare down from high places. What would happen, however, if Bill had to ski to work every day, or if Bill had fallen in love with a partner whose main recreational interests were downhill skiing and climbing mountains? Luckily for Bill, there are no mountains between his home and his office. Unluckily for driving fearful people, most of us live in society where transportation in automobiles is increasingly necessary and our roads in urban centers are becoming even more crowded.

Necessary Treatment Activities to OvercomeDriving Fear

Your therapist will help you with the activities described below, but you need to understand that success in overcoming driving fear will depend on you practicing new (or forgotten) skills. To get better, you will need to

a. drive and ride as a passenger much more frequently and for prolonged periods of time

b. focus more on other drivers’ good driving behaviour and courtesy and less on “close calls” or other drivers’ mistakes

c. learn about, and subsequently, suppress your own “safety compulsions”, those habits you have developed to make yourself “feel” safer in a car, but which likely maintain your fear in the long run

d. identify and alter beliefs and automatic thoughts that make you feel more at risk in a car

Solution For Driving Fear