Hi Em52682,

You have received some great feedback from the other members, and I can't offer much more by way of new information. 

A lot of what you are going through seems to be due to anticipation of outcomes that unlikely.

You will see a lot in the program about challenging negative thoughts and replacing them with real truths.

That would be a good place to start as you can go through that and make positive progress.

 

The others made great points about Simulation of your panic and exposure work which can be combined later on. So  you can review those sessions in the program and work through the homework on those different techniques. As you progress, you will feel more and more confident and be able to transfer that into your driving, and can also combine those techniques when ready (session 8)

 

 Feel free to ask more questions should you need to.

 

 

 

A simplified version of what everyone is saying. If your memory is full of things that disturb you then that is what you will draw on. Cover them by putting in reasons not to go there and reasons why they are not true. Mild exposures will build positives to draw on rather than the negatives you draw on now. 

Davit.

I used to have panic attacks in the car, where I felt I would abandon my car and leap out into the street.  When you begin the program, you will find out what your triggers are.  You will find out that panic disorder is fear of the next panic attack and it has nothing to do with the situation you are in.  For me I had a panic attack at a traffic light and in the shower, so I falsely associated panic with being in the car or in the shower and it was not the reason.  Once you start the program you will find that your panic will lessen over time and I haven't had a panic attack in over two years.  I'm able to manage anxiety and high anxiety, by using the coping skills in this program.  And, I can drive anywhere now.  Replacing negative thoughts with positive truths works.  Panic is a learned behavior, so you can unlearn it.  It takes practice to retrain your thoughts from negative to positive and believe the positive.  I have every confidence that you will get better and better.  Regarding passing out behind the wheel, if you'd like to start out with having a person ride along with you in the car, to help you initially be able to drive, that would be one idea.  However, if you have never actually passed out while driving, than it's an irrational fear, there is no physical reason for you to pass out.  So, it's about getting your thoughts under control.  Tell yourself the facts and truth and believe it.  Say, "I've never passed out behind the wheel before, so I'm not going to pass out behind the wheel now."  Say it out loud.  And, just keep saying positive truthful statements to counteract the negative thoughts coming in and it will work.  I'm living proof of it.  It takes time, but the panic will subside, it's just temporary.  

Shari

Hi Em,

 

You're in the right place here :) I have the same sorts of experiences, only my fear is vomiting, not fainting. For starters, and the thing I am having most problem believing myself, is that you really don't have a reason to faint. From what you've said, doctors haven't diagnosed a medical condition which would cause you to faint. Other than that, you've fainted only when talking about blood or injury, which is extremely common for a blood-injury-injection phobia (it is an actual thing, I promise). I also am prone to fainting, especially when I see an injury. But the injury itself, nor the images that flash through your mind, don't cause fainting. Otherwise everyone who sees blood would faint and doctors wouldn't be able to do their job. I know for me, and most likely in your case too, it's the hyperventilation that causes fainting. There is a section in this program on relaxation, which includes box breathing and you might find this useful. Also, you've had all these panic attacks and not once fainted. If you need reassurance, there is a question about this in the Questions to the Expert link at the top of the page.

With the phobia, there are techniques called desentisation and gradual exposure. Desensitisation involves thinking about injuries and looking at pictures, you might start by looking at a picture of someone with a small cut and feeling the fear but not giving into it until your level of fear decreases. Then, gradually you work your way up to looking at a picture of a gory injury. After a while, your tolerance will increase as your fear decreases and, although you probably will still be afraid, you aren't as afraid as you have been in the past. Section 4 in this program talks about this too, but it's specifically for panic disorder and works on gradually exposing yourself to situations you fear experiencing a panic attack, such as driving.

Another thing you may find helpful is having a plan for if the situation you fear were to occur, if there is a chance it will. This might include making sure you have some water and some form of sugar when you start feeling light-headed. Or while you're driving, winding your windows down so you have fresh air might help. I can't really think of any more off the top of my head, but hopefully you understand what I mean. It's almost like having an escape plan in case of a fire.

I hope this is helpful.

Best of luck,

Kaitie.

For my entire life I have always fainted whenever I have gotten a shot or had blood drawn or seen an injury to myself or anyone else.  I have also fainted on several (more than a dozen) occassions when other people were simply talking about injuries they have experienced or seen.  I can come near fainting simply by thinking about a hypothetical injury.  

 

Other than that, though, although I have alwasy been extremely shy, I had never experienced anything like a panic attack until adulthood, when, a few years ago, I started feeling like I was going to pass out at random times that had nothing to do with injuries or thinking about injuries.  I thought I was experiencing bouts of low blood sugar or something, though, and did not realize that what I was feeling had any psychological connection at all.  It took me several months and doctor's visits before I finally realized I was experiencing panic attacks.

 

For a long time the panic attacks happened at completely unpredictable times and places, with no seeming trend.  Eventually, though, seemed to settle into certain situations - unfortunately and ironically those situations were the very situations I used to enjoy and find the most calming before these panic attacks began occurring:  in social situations, at church, in movie theaters, in classrooms, and while driving - with driving being the most sure-fire trigger for a severe "oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh I'm seriously for real going to die this time" panic attacks.

 

When driving it is now VERY common for me to suddenly feel like I am going to pass out.  Before I get in the car, I worry about whether I will have a panic attack, and I also will often start to worry about what will happen if I pass an accident with injuries and I pass out and crash, or I will have an intrusive thought about an injury that I've seen or heard about in the past, and it will make me start to feel light-headed and then I'll try to stop thinking about it or freak out about the fact that I'm thinking about it and/or feeling light-headed and I start to panic that I might pass out and I start really feeling like I am on the very edge of passing out at any second and then I'll crash and die, etc. etc. etc.

 

These panic attacks are much more likely to happen, or to be more severe, in situations where it would be hard to

pull off the road safely - for example, on the highway, on on-ramps, on bridges, etc.  These panic attacks are extremely severe, and they are getting more and more frequent lately, to the point that they are now happening pretty much every single time I get behind the wheel, and they are severely limiting how often I leave the house and where I am willing to attempt to go when I do.  I worry that if I don't start taking some serious actions to fix the problem, I will not even be able to force myself to drive the 10 minutes to work some day.

 

Driving is certainly not the only situation where I experience panic attacks, but it is definitely where panic attacks are causing the most serious disruptions to my daily life.

 

Soooo, what this whole super-long introduction has been leading up to is this question:  what is a safe and effective way for me to approach exposure?  I worry that it may be possible for me to actually pass out during one of these panic attacks - particularly when fears or thoughts of seeing or thinking about injuries are so frequently involved, and these things alone have made me actually pass out in the past, before I started having panic attacks.  I have not fainted even once since I started having panic attacks, but with my history, I feel like it's a realistic possibility.  Obviously, it is not safe at all to pass out behind he wheel.  On the other hand, I know from experience that avoidance only reinforces the panic attacks.  How do I push myself to keep driving through a panic attack without endangering others (or myself)?