Anxiety VS Driving

Good morning!
As iām now in the middle of taking my driving class, I thought this would be a great opportunity to share my experience about it, and how my anxiety in the early years affected that.
Side note; I seems to mostly get Mental Health posts ideas lately.. and not much Bookish ones š Ā So iām sorry in advance for that, ahah!
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Where I live, the age where one can take the driving test/driving class is 16 years old with parental permission. If you wanna skip that part of having a parent sign with you, itās 18 years old. Considering iām now 25 and just started this processus last year, iām almost a whole 10years ālateā.
In my town, I would say itās pretty rare to see a person over 20 not having itās own car or atleast itās licence.. Which was another thing that I felt bad for not having while I was already so old (the other one was still living at home) ā But since iāve joined this community and spent more time talking to people online, I saw that there was just a BUNCH of people just like me who didnāt knew how to drive.
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The truth is that even at 16, I never wanted to drive.. even when I started to be behind the wheel, I was still pretty nervous and didnāt really wanted to. People in my town just drive so badly that my anxiety kicked in and I was just so scared of being in an accident. Hell, I was not even the one driving and I was flinching when a car just switched lane in front of us.
Back then, just the idea of being like my mom and casually drive around without much trouble was just so far-fetched to me⦠like, I had it ingrained that it just wasnāt something I would be able to do. I had also took a peak at the manual and it seemed to have so many informations, and rules to learn that it seemed just impossible for me to know all that..
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Iāve only been driving since September, so of course I still have lots to practice and to learn before iām ready to have my full learnerās permit; as of which my first test is in late may. But itās just amazing how iām feeling absolutely relaxed and actually like it, now that iām properly medicated and my anxiety isnāt as strong as it was. I still has bits where Iād slow down because I donāt know if the other driver would do as supposed or just go ahead and cut me ā but thatās the thing, iām more aware of the others so I āsee everythingā; so thatās not a bad thing.
Although itās something thatās so easy to feel judged on when itās a step that feel like āyou should have by Xā, itās really important to know yourself and only enroll when you feel like youāre ready. If I wouldāve had caved and went before last year, in the middle of my anxiety crisis, it could have been really bad.. even my own mother is like āyeah no, I wouldnāt had felt okay giving you the car.. scared youād do something harmfulā.
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How do you feel about driving?Ā
Girl, I feel you. People in my city drive in a way that could scare Hulk. God it can be stressful just sitting beside the driver and watching everyone drive like they donāt care whatās going to happen if they donāt follow the rules. Driving is about mutual trust. You trust the others on the road to follow the rules and you follow the rules for their safety and yours. God IKR ? Iām aware of my own hesitation to learn how to drive as well has to do with the fear that something would happen and not because of me but because of whoever is in the opposite driving.
The best thing to do is not trust anybody else than your driving ā if they do drive correctly, awesome! But if they donāt.. well atleast youāre covered.
Iāve got one time where it was a 80km down to 60 as it was a curvy turn, AND it was a plain like (so no overtaking).. stupid idiot after me decided to full speed do it anyway š¤¦š½āāļø if ya wanna speed, thatās on you buddy, iām doing my limit here.
This is such a brilliant post. It’s definitely okay to learn only when you’re ready and not when society says you should be! I’m so glad that you’re learning to, quite literally, take the wheel on this venture. I hope it all goes well for you. The longer you practice and the more you drive, the more confidence you’ll gain and the more natural it will become. But remember, even if you pass your test, if in the future your anxiety rides high again, there’s no harm in taking a step back and waiting until your in a better headspace to try again. š
Thank you so much xx