Fear Not

 Fear Not, Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTS) Aren't All Bad

Fear of driving is a common fear, and automatic negative thoughts can plague your mind on the road. The thought of being in an accident or hitting someone with your vehicle can lead to a set of ANTs that are very difficult to shake. These thoughts lead you to experience anxiety, anger, and even guilt for wanting to drive. 

They may be telling you that the technique you need to tackle these fears is by avoiding highways and staying off the roads but this method isn't always feasible in our modern lives.

This article will discuss how to face these irrational ANTs, and hopefully help you to overcome fear of driving. And don't worry, the ANTs can be conquered!

You are not alone if you have fear of driving.

Fear of driving, or at least a dislike for it, is a very common phobia. It is estimated that 1 in 25 American adults have anxiety about being on the road (1), and while many people are comfortable being passengers in cars, they don't like to be behind the wheel. If you have fear of driving then you're not alone: millions suffer from this phobia as well. 

For most of us it begins as a child and is something that sticks with us for years. Maybe your parents would refuse to let you ride in their car and forced you to walk or ride the bus.

 Maybe your grandmother refused to let you out of her sight, or maybe a teacher refused to let you drive a school bus. We all have some degree of fear of driving as children, and these experiences spurs us on as adults. This powerful emotion often keeps us away from the vehicle even when we wish we could try it out.

Fear of driving is irrational.

The truth is that your fear of driving is totally irrational and there isn't a logical reason for it! This makes it harder to get over because you know it's irrational, but the fear is so intense that you can't shake it. 

Maybe it's not fear of driving, per se: maybe you just don't like being in a large vehicle with other vehicles zipping past you at dangerous speeds.

 Maybe this feeling caused you to develop a fear of roads or highways leading to a phobia of driving altogether. Maybe your phobia affects all types of transportation, and not just cars. 

This goes back to some early experiences where something traumatic happened while on the road. Maybe you were in a car and saw an accident, or maybe you saw someone getting hit by a car. Whatever it is, it's irrational but you can't seem to let it go.

Maybe your fear of driving is affecting your life, and for that reason you are losing opportunities for good things!

You may be limiting yourself by avoiding driving altogether. Maybe you are missing out on a great job because the company outsources and gives preference to employees that can drive. Maybe you have been forced to move back in with your parents because jobs and friends are scarce in the area where you live.

If this is starting to sound like your life then take heart. You are not alone. Unfortunately, fear of driving is a real phobia that can affect many people, and it can be very difficult to overcome.

 But you don't need to be afraid anymore!

What is an automatic negative thought?

An automatic negative thought (ANT) involves a set of thoughts that appear in your mind without your control. They are irrational but they are very convincing due to their internal logic, and they often seem absolutely true.

The basic idea behind ANTs is this: if someone has an irrational fear of a particular thing, then that fear must be rational. So if someone is afraid of airplanes and sees a plane in the sky, then that person must be afraid that the plane will crash into their airplane.

 If someone is fearful of driving, then they must be fearful of getting in an accident. If a person fears things like dogs, then they must fear being bitten by one. And so on.

We often hear people talking about reincarnation or past lives where they were eaten by a dog as kids or something similar. So these ANTs are very persuasive, convincing you that if you believe them then you will overcome your fear of dogs! These thoughts like to insert themselves into our minds through our anxiety or through other areas of life such as finances and love affairs. 

How to Deal with Automatic Negative Thoughts

The best way to deal with automatic negative thoughts is to write them down, identify them, and then refute them. ANTs are irrational but they do make sense through the internal logic that they provide. Therefore you need to find a way to argue against these thoughts and prove them false. This can take some effort on your part but it will be worth it in the end! 

You need evidence that your feared outcomes are not likely to happen. 

If you fear of driving around sharp curves then show yourself statistics that show how dangerous this fear is: most car accidents occur at high speeds or while braking rather than while turning (2).  If you fear of driving with lots of other vehicles then show yourself statistics that show how safe highways are compared to city roads. Find something to disprove your initial automatic negative thoughts. 

Write down the evidence. Be sure you have some statistics or other information that can prove your ANTs wrong. This is crucial . Statistics can be a very helpful tool in dispelling irrational thoughts, but don't just stop there: write down details about the information you are using! This can be a good exercise to practice writing, and it will also force you to think about things more carefully. 

Use the evidence. Once you have a list of statistics, use them to disprove your automatic negative thoughts. You will have to think about them, but it's important that you develop this skill. When you find yourself thinking something irrational then write down the thought and then refute it with facts. 

Try to remember this process as many times as possible for every thought that comes into your mind. The more you do this the better off you will be; after all we are all fallible and prone to error in our thinking due to our human nature! Practice your argumentation skills, and better yet practice your memory skills so that you can remember these arguments in the future.

Conclusion

You have probably lived quite a number of lives in which you were fearful of some type of thing. Perhaps you were afraid of heights, or perhaps you were afraid of water. Whatever the case may be, it's clear that this fear was irrational because it was never based on any proof. If someone is afraid of something then they must have some valid reason: there is no way to "make" someone be afraid without a valid reason for their fear.