Dr. Amy Johnson Explains Driving Anxiety, Her Journey With Anxiety, and Her Novels and Website
- Kerry Dunphy
- Aug 22, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 22, 2021
Dr. Amy Johnson, Ph.D., is a psychologist, coach, and author who provides a creative and fresh approach that helps individuals discover enduring freedom from unwanted tendencies, anxiety, and self-doubt.
Johnson explains that driving itself isn't the issue when it comes to driving anxiety. But instead, that there is a core issue that's causing one to be anxious in the first place. She says that an anxiety attack may happen while driving, which triggers an individual into thinking that driving is the issue.
"It's not that driving is not safe, that causes someone to have anxiety. But rather, someone may have anxiety while driving If one starts thinking of what could go wrong, or thinking about a scenario that caused one stress while driving before," says Johnson.
According to choosingtherapy.com, driving-related anxiety does not have one specific cause. Rather, many biological components and environmental experiences can factor into the emergence of having anxiety while driving.
Some people experience stress or fear of driving during specific situations. For instance, driving over a bridge, through a tunnel, at night, at high speeds, changing lanes, or merging. Most often, people are afraid of driving because they fear something negative will happen, as stated by healthline.com
Johnson says that she struggled with anxiety for most of her life; up into her late twenties. She mentions that she tried everything from therapies to any techniques one could think of to feel better.
"What helped me was understanding what anxiety really was. It's a lot of fear of fear or a fear of a feeling. What we're all afraid of, is the safest, most natural, and impersonal feeling in the world. But, we don't realize that," says Johnson.
Johnson says that in her experience, truly realizing what was going on, insightfully, is what made her anxiety vanish. She says that the first step to recovery is to sit down and try to brainstorm on what is causing one stress in the first place. Johnson explains that this is when individuals can learn new ways to cope with their stressors.
Johnson expresses that individuals should try to discover coping strategies before an anxiety attack occurs. She explains that during an anxiety attack, it's hard for someone to focus on merely anything. Johnson explains that this way, the strategy may work for individuals if they practice while they're calm.
Johnson is the author of the novel, Being Human, The Little Book of Big Change: The No-Willpower Approach to Breaking Any Habit. She also has another book in the works, Just a Thought: A No-Willpower Approach to End Self-Doubt and Make Peace with your Mind.
In 2017, Johnson opened The Little School of Big Change. It's an online school that has assisted many individuals in discovering relief from anxiety and patterns and how to live a more stress-free life.
Johnson also has a podcast called Changeable. It's a podcast about a new pattern in psychology that shows the ironic way change really works.
To discover Johnson's podcast, free resources for coaches, tips on different types of anxiety, helpful resources, and much more, individuals can visit her website.
I can't begin to express how much anxiety I used to experience while driving. It was a constant battle between my desire for independence and the overwhelming fear that gripped me behind the wheel. Determined to find a solution, I turned to the internet for help, as I've always been drawn to do-it-yourself approaches.
Online driving lessons became my saving grace. I decided to start by driving during off-peak hours in the city, when there was less traffic to contend with. It was a nerve-wracking experience initially, but with each passing day, my confidence grew. After a couple of weeks, I felt ready to take on more challenging tasks.
Gradually, I started adding complexities to my drives. I navigated through…