Last Updated on March 10, 2023 by Mike Robinson
Amaxophobia, or the fear of driving, has been a growing phobia in our society during the last few years. I think anyone would agree to conclude that, like many other phobias, the fear of driving can become very disabling for the person who suffers.
However, overcoming this psychological disorder is achievable with reasonable effort and treatment.
Characteristics of amaxophobia
When discussing amaxophobia, we refer to an irrational and disproportionate fear of driving. First, we must distinguish between fear produced by a lack of driving confidence and phobia or irrational fear of driving.
This phobia is a unique sort of fear that is disproportionate to the circumstances. The sufferer cannot reason with or control it, and it causes people to avoid driving.
Therefore, if your driving fear does not match these criteria, it is not a phobia but a less severe anxiety that may be cured by focusing on the causes: lack of driving practice, low self-esteem, difficulty adapting to a new vehicle, etc.
Symptoms of amaxophobia
Amaxophobia is an unfounded, illogical fear of driving. People with this phobia experience specific symptoms, whether they engage in the dreaded action (driving) or only visualize or think about it.
These symptoms are as follows:
- Elevated heart rate.
- Increased respiratory rate.
- Heart palpitations
- Increased sweating
- Stomach aches.
- Headaches.
- Muscle tension.
- Drowning sensation
- Pupillary dilation
- sensation of dizziness.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Dry mouth.
- Shaking and chills
Not all these symptoms must be present for the condition to be amaxophobia. But you will feel some of the above symptoms at an intense level if you have this disorder.
The anxiety brought on by amaxophobia is in one or more of the following categories:
- Psychological symptoms (catastrophic thoughts combined with fear or anxiety)
- Physiological symptoms (tremors, shortness of breath, and increased heart rate)
- Behavioral symptoms (avoidance behaviors).
These three groups of symptoms are those that define anxiety as a phobic disorder and therefore are necessary to make a diagnosis of amaxophobia.
If these three symptoms are physically and mentally overbearing when you drive or visualize and think about driving, you may have a driving phobia.
How many people have amaxophobia?
According to recent studies, 1.5 million people have this issue. Amaxophobia is more common than we realize, and without proper treatment, the sufferer may be “forced” to never drive or drive with incredible difficulty.
Nearly one million women and half a million men have amaxophobia. Thus, this issue primarily affects women. After seeing these shocking figures, let’s discover why and what causes this condition.
Causes of amaxophobia
A scientific assessment of specific phobias found no one explanation for their cause. Let’s review some generally agreed-upon possibilities.
UK mental health specialists “The Densy Psychological Services” list these factors:
- The phobia could be the result of a past traumatic situation. Usually, it is a traffic accident. According to research, this seems to be the leading cause of amaxophobia. But not all people in a car accident develop amaxophobia.
- Another factor related to the development of the phobia would be getting lost while driving and experiencing fear when passing unknown sites.
- Driving at night or in adverse weather conditions. Bad weather can cause high anxiety in some drivers.
Although these three situations may be related to developing amaxophbia, they are not the only potential causes. There are other factors to consider:
Genetic factors
Is amaxophobia genetic? Yes, some people are more sensitive to anxiety and prone to feeling anxious in certain situations, which might lead to amaxophobia. These findings raise another question: Is amaxophobia more likely if I have relatives with it?
The answer is more complicated. Fyer et al. found that those with first-degree relatives with specific phobias are more likely to have one. The communication does not appear to specify the feared stimuli.
If one of your parents has amaxophobia, you’re more likely to develop a specific phobia, but it doesn’t have to be driving (animals, heights, blood, etc.). Thus, the phobia of driving is not genetically transmitted, but other phobias are.
To conclude amaxophobia, I would like to comment on a series of personality features that, according to the II Report on Amaxophobia issued by the Road Safety Institute, are typical of persons with the disorder.
According to this study, some of the traits would be the following:
- Very demanding.
- The need to have everything under control.
- Insecurity
- Fear of lack of control
- Depression
- The presence of other phobias (such as claustrophobia or hematophobia)
- Exposure to prolonged states of stress could also be related.
Treatment: How to overcome the fear of driving
According to Dr. Alan Eisenstat, amaxophobia begins with the thought that an accident can occur. The more you think about the possibility of having an accident, the more anxious you will be and the more symptoms of amaxophobia you will experience.
Likewise, the more you think about the possibility of having an accident and the more anxious you are, the more you will avoid the dreaded situation (you will avoid driving). Avoiding the situation reduces anxiety at the moment but keeps you anxious to drive in the future.
Most cognitive-behavioral psychologists worldwide agree upon this formulation on amaxophobia for treating phobias and many other types of anxiety. According to this concept, anxiety (and phobias) are maintained because avoidance behaviors prevent you from learning that the possibility of having an accident is very low.
By not driving, your brain cannot learn that the probability of having an accident is relatively low, so you keep the fear of driving. Therefore, to overcome the fear of driving, you have to drive. It is impossible to overcome amaxophobia without getting into a car and grabbing the steering wheel.
You cannot get into a car and start driving if you have a driving phobia. Your anxiety will be at its peak, and you won’t be able to manage. To properly treat a phobia, you must do it through the three steps mentioned above: the physiological, psychological, and behavioral components.
Let’s see how it’s done:
1- Physical component
The most effective and widely used technique is relaxation techniques, especially those that control breathing, such as diaphragmatic breathing. The psychotherapist teaches these techniques to the person who has amaxophobia so that he can control his breathing.
By controlling your breathing, the body calms down, and therefore all those physical symptoms you suffer when you have anxiety, such as tremors, palpitations, and sweating, decrease.
Decreasing these bodily symptoms reduces your body’s anxiety and associated discomfort. Learning to control these symptoms through relaxation is essential so that you can manage your anxiety when you get into a car.
2-Psychological component
The patient learns how to reduce the tendency to think he will have an accident. You accomplish this with an effective technique of Socratic interrogation.
This technique consists of answering a psychotherapist’s questions. After a time, the patient runs out of arguments to defend the phobia. Remember that phobia is an irrational fear, so this technique exposes the irrationality of phobic thinking.
Through Socratic interrogation, you try to change the idea that you will have an accident. However, it happens rationally since the possibility of suffering an accident remains since it exists. But the overestimation which caused suffering is eliminated.
3-Behavioral component
This is the step that you start driving. A professional rehabilitator should perform this stage. When you start this intervention, you are already minimally able to control your anxiety when you get into the car through relaxation techniques. The goal is to drive and experience what happens when you.
By repeating your driving behavior and witnessing that you do not have accidents, you will begin eliminating the idea of having accidents. Also, resources are provided to handle difficult situations on the road.
Currently, several specialized driving schools for the treatment of this problem exist. There are also psychotherapists specializing in phobias and therapies and courses offered through the internet. So, if you have amaxophobia, you should look for these types of resources because, through proper treatment, you will overcome your fear of driving.
Articles you may like: Cacophobia: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments
