So… I got my diver’s license as soon as I turned 18. It was a very stressful period of my life, and I hated everything about driving. They promised me freedom, but I got shackled.

Passing the exam as a nightmare (took me 3 attempts) and even during the lessons the professor saw how horribly tense I was. I got sick just by thinking about the car.

Once I passed, my family decided that I’d get over my fears by forcing me to drive, every single day, for weeks, with the whole family in the car, yelling, mocking me…

I had several panic attacks that were dismissed as lack of maturity, and I stopped driving. It’s been years.

But now I’m going to have to get better at this due to circumstances, and I’m scared.

I feel that I can’t focus on all the elements of the road, I have a very hard time calculating distances because I’m very short (edit: 1’50m, if that is relevant) and barely see above the wheel, I have to move the seat so close to the wheel that I fear that if one day the airbag jumps, I’ll suffocate. My blind spots seem infinite.

My car is automatic, so no stick to worry about.

If you have read all I wrote, I’ll greatly appreciate any advice or encouragement. Thank you

  • Symphonic@lemmy.world
    32·
    2 days ago

    Just trying is a good first step. You don’t need to finish it. Just try and see how it goes.

    Maybe try to spend time in your car just sitting. Then getting comfortable with your seat position. Then put things around your car to get some imagination of your actual blindspots. Then maybe driving and practicing in empty parking lots.

    Then when you’re actually comfortable maybe get a good instructor who can spend time with you and get you comfortable on the road.

    If it’s not your thing. Then it’s not your thing. That’s cool too.

    Also, if you can talk to a therapist. They can give you some good exercises to calm you down and put things into perspective.

    • Artisian@lemmy.worldEnglish
      21·
      2 days ago

      Second the suggestion of just sitting in the car noticing what you can see and getting comfortable. Consider practicing some grounding exercises; you have good reason to be upset in a car and that’s a distraction you don’t need.

      Also, many cars are more adjustable than you’d expect. Consider taking awhile to look at everything (mirrors for eg) and play with their positions. You can also sit on a pillow to get some height (though make sure pedals are comfortable).