How to Stop a Panic Attack While Driving

What Is a Panic Attack?

If you’ve ever had a panic attack before you know how devastating it is to experience one. Add driving in traffic into the mix, which takes focus and care, and you can quickly become overwhelmed with fear. Driving is an activity many already find stressful, but there are things that you can do to ease the symptoms of a panic attack and re-establish a sense of safety.  

A panic attack is defined as “A sudden or intense episode of fear that triggers a severe physical reaction in the body when there is no danger or apparent cause.” Panic attacks are terrifying and typically begin without warning, although they can also happen as a response to a trigger. Your body releases a hormone called cortisol in response to stress when it perceives a challenging, threatening, or uncontrollable situation. Cortisol is produced by the adrenal system and controls body functions like:

•  Stress response 
• Metabolism
• Suppressing inflammation
• Regulating blood pressure and blood sugar
• Your sleep-wake cycle

For many people, having a panic attack makes them fear that they’re about to die, even if that fear is irrational. Some liken it to the feeling you get when you’re falling on a roller coaster as the bottom drops out from underneath you. People who have panic attacks often share these symptoms as their stress response is triggered:

• Sweating profusely
• Numbness or tingling
• Rapid heart rate
• Shortness of breath
• Tightness in the throat or diaphragm
• Chills
• Nausea
•  Abdominal cramping
• Headache
• Chest pain
• Dizziness or fainting
• Feeling like things are unreal, or you’re going crazy

Knowing that panic attack symptoms aren’t fatal provides little relief to the person experiencing them. Sometimes other mental health issues can mimic a panic attack, so make sure you talk to your doctor if you begin to experience panic attacks. 

Usually, someone experiencing a panic attack can expect symptoms to ease within 20 minutes. However, some panic attacks can go on for hours. Every year up to 11% of Americans experience a panic attack, and approximately 2 to 3% of that will develop a panic disorder. Women are twice as likely as men to develop a panic disorder.

To discover how the mental and behavioral health care programs can help patients at You Behavioral Health via our online platform, give us a call at (855) 206-2268 to get started.

Why Do Some People Experience Panic Attacks While Driving?

If you experience a panic attack while driving it could have nothing to do with a phobia of driving but rather triggers in your psyche. After your brain perceives a threat, your adrenal system starts producing cortisol, which allows your body to use more energy. Increases in cortisol can provide the fuel your body needs to deal with a prolonged or extreme challenge. It’s part of our ancient flight-or-fight response triggered by the hypothalamus. It just happens to be while you’re driving to get the kids, or snacks, or go to work instead of outrunning ancient predators. 

But what causes a panic attack in the first place? The simple answer is that we don’t always know. We do know though, that our brain and nervous system play important roles in how we perceive fear and anxiety, and they aren’t always great at discerning a real threat from a false one. Your risk of experiencing a panic attack increases if anxiety runs in your family although experts aren’t sure why. People with anxiety, depression, PTSD, or other mental illnesses are much more prone to panic attacks. Having a substance use disorder, also known as addiction or alcoholism, also increases the risk of panic attacks. If you’re experiencing frequent panic attacks, you will benefit from a treatment program that includes cognitive behavioral therapy. See your doctor if you experience panic attacks and any of the following

• Anxiety that is chronic and interferes with your daily life
• Difficulty concentrating
• Extreme irritability
• Inability to or fear of leaving the home
• A panic attack that lasts longer than 15 min
• Sleep problems

6 Steps to Stop a Panic Attack While Driving

Once your adrenal system begins pumping cortisol, your stress response is triggered, which essentially means you can’t stop a panic attack once it’s started. And although the panic may feel overwhelming, there are things you can do to cope and lessen your symptoms and discomfort, such as:

• Take deep breaths. Taking deep, intentional breaths in and out will calm your nervous system and help you feel more relaxed. Try it now, inhale for four seconds, and then exhale for four seconds. Use this technique if you’re at a stop sign, traffic light, or pulled over to the shoulder.
• Pull over. If you can do so safely consider pulling over to the shoulder of the road. Make sure you use your turn signal, do a shoulder check before crossing any lanes, and use your hazard lights when parked. 
• Identify your worry. Once you’ve made sure you are out of traffic and safely on the shoulder ask yourself where the fear may be coming from. Naming the worry out loud may make it more manageable and less scary.
• Remind yourself that these feelings will pass. You won’t feel this level of fear and anxiety forever.
• Practice positive affirmations out loud in your car. “I am capable. I am strong. I am worthy, I am enough”

As most panic attacks are over within 5 to 20 minutes, the intense feelings will start to abate soon after they first appear. Deep breathing really does help to take the initial edge off your fear and worry, we can’t overstate the calming effect it has on the body. 

There’s also another fantastic way to lessen anxiety and panic, and that’s via something you might be doing in your car anyways. That’s right, we’re talking about singing. The vagus nerve is the biggest nerve in your body, it joins the brainstem with the rest of you and connects to your voicebox. It helps your body switch from the flight-or-fight ancient brain response to the relaxing parasympathetic mode. Remember how we mentioned a way to get your ancient brain to chill? This is it! Singing, humming, or gargling all stimulate the vagus nerve in a positive way that promotes relaxation. If you experience frequent panic attacks while driving cranking up your favorite tunes and belting out the words may just be the thing that gets you through the day. 

Get Virtual Help to Address Panic Attacks and Other Mental Health Concerns from You Behavioral Health

Remember that if you are dealing with panic attacks while driving, you aren’t alone, and there are ways to lessen the frequency and intensity. Attending regular therapy sessions with a qualified therapist will improve your quality of life no matter where or what triggers your panic and anxiety. At You Behavioral Health, our team offers first-rate mental and behavioral care through our online platform, using evidence-based methods to help you work through what you’re experiencing and feeling. We also accept most major insurance companies, which you verify here. Shouldering the burden of panic and anxiety by yourself is more than anyone should have to bear, change is waiting for you by calling us at (855) 206-2268 today.