How to combat driving anxiety

Below is a handy video from the AA driving school that could help you with your driving anxiety!



The AA Driving School releases a new VIDEO and research after a reported 60% of young drivers still rely on superstitions to pass their driving test

A quarter of drivers resorted to extra measures such as lucky pants, superstitions or a long drive to get their nerves in check before their driving test, reveals the AA Driving School*.

60% of young drivers aged 18-to-24 were by far the most likely to turn to extra measures – 7% admitted to wearing lucky pants, 6% said they carried a lucky charm and 9% said they took herbal remedies such as Rescue Remedy before their practical test.

You can watch the New AA Driving School video designed to help learners combat their test nerves and pass with flying colours here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=-pC8vhgeipU

The study also found that a long drive or having a lesson before the test was the most popular way of easing tension, with one in five (20%) drivers saying they did this.

In order to help pre-test drivers, the AA has published advice on how to combat driving anxietyyou can read it here:

https://www.theaa.com/driving-school/driving-lessons/advice/driving-test-nerves

Stand out stats:

Only one in ten (13%) drivers said they felt no nerves before their test.
Nearly half of all nervous drivers (44%) said their nerves affected their test in some way.
Women and younger drivers were the most likely to admit nerves affected them on their test day (52% and 77%).
Drivers in Northern Ireland were the most likely to put their faith in superstitions in the run-up to their test, with 2% saying they avoided walking under ladders or crossing the path of black cats before the big day.
Last year over 1,700,000 people took their driving test - just 46.7% passed

Edmund King, the AA President, said: “Passing your driving test and getting on the road is a real milestone for many people.

“While we’d be more likely to advocate an extra lesson or two to combat pre-test nerves, if wearing lucky pants helps someone feel more confident on their test day and they pass as a result, then good for them.”

The top ways that nerves affected drivers are listed below:

Made minor mistakes - but still passed their test
Woke up early
Had a bad night’s sleep beforehand
Made a serious mistake that led to a failed test
Couldn’t eat before the test
Had a sudden ‘blank moment’ about something they knew how to do
Said something silly to the examiner
Couldn’t stop shaking
Vomiting
Got lost on the way to the test centre

And spare a thought for these drivers who spent most of their test feeling less than fresh.

“I remember sweating so much that I had to pull over to wipe my brow and clean my spectacles! And put talcum powder on my hands!”

“Sweated profusely and the instructor had to open the windows to clear them!”

Finally, let’s remember the poor person who almost accidently bribed their examiner…

“I handed my instructor £20 instead of my license, and it looked like a bribe.”

Sources

*Populus received 20,435 responses from AA members to its online poll between 13th and 20th March 2018. Populus is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

On a dark day

It isn't always what you see when scrolling through posts on Instagram whilst eating your breakfast. It's not the media's warped version of being locked up in cords and chains and it's not bottles of orange tablets on the side of your kitchen counter.

It's the pain of your heart falling out of your chest, the struggle to get out of bed with weights on your feet and needing sticks for your eyes to keep them open. It's the struggle to chew and swallow every mouthful of porridge even though it's got your favourite syrup in it. It's the want to make the right decision, but being in so much turmoil on the inside that you can't see in front of your face.

It's the worry of being a burden on others and yet wanting someone to come and shake you to see if you're still alive and the thought of not taking another breath and yet wondering what your children would look like smiling back at you.

It's the questioning as to when things will get better, when staring back at you in the mirror is someone you can no longer recognise when writing yourself letters and running out of pages in your journal with all of the words that escape your head.

It's wondering how you're going to get through the next day, let alone the week when each step brings you more stress onto your shoulders. It's the pain of people leaving, tenfold.

It's the ship in the ocean with the waves crashing over the boat, the sea salt sticking to your skin and the water filling up the deck. It's the isolation in that sea that you're told keeps you safe. It's the big red brick walls which are built to heaven and back to keep you protected with the reinforced steel to stop people from getting close to you. It's the theft of sunshine and the country lines into the darkness. 

It's also the strength, the light and the truth. It's the big dark monster which has an achilles heel which only courage can contain. It's the untold story that people carry on their back when walking the mountain. It can be big, bold and beautiful. It is a test that never seems to end, but it has an attachment of achievement that is only known to those who live with it. It carries with it a hidden power, bigger than those who have never experienced it. In the end, it can be the smallest dot on the wall surrounded by colour. It can almost be invisible, it can be cured. Most of all as if I never knew, there is nothing stronger than someone mental illness has flowed through.

Grieving

Grief. A word that makes most of us shudder, either because it relates to the stress of work or sadly, the loss of someone we love. Mental health can be affected by so many different things and Grief is certainty one of them. I almost feel as if grief can have its own hold on you, somewhat different to your anxiety and depression that you can become used to.

I'm not just talking about grief in the traditional sense of the word, that someone has passed away but we can also feel this emotion for a range of difference situations too such as heartbreak or moving house. I think all of these involve a grieving process.

Supposedly there is a 5 step process to grieving, from denial to anger and to acceptance but that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone experiences grief in the same way or routinely every time it is experienced. I remember when I lost my Great Grandma when I had just begun primary school and I cried as soon as I found out the news. Later down the line I lost my other Great Grandmother and I didn't cry for a long time. This year I lost my Grandmother whom I was very close to. I think the first and last time I cried was at her funeral and only now 5 months on am I beginning to feel the pain of her loss. Some people may find that unusual but, it just shows how it can take hold in a variety of ways.

Experiencing heartbreak and loss of someone important in your life has taken hold of me in way depression couldn't in the past. I became lifeless and couldn't function at all. I didn't really cry, but I did find it extremely hard to get out of bed, even more so than perhaps some of my worst days of depression.

To me, grief can sometimes be a bigger beast than mental health on it's own because often becomes it's own unpredictable emotion, where as with my mental health I can usually predict the way it is going to turn out. The important thing is to allow yourself to grieve, it's normal and it's okay. It's also important to remember to look after yourself and your mental health at these times because it can often become overwhelming and debilitating to experience. Some may also be experiencing mental illness for the first time when they grieve, and that's okay. Look out for the signs and be that person that they can talk to.