5 Tips to Overcome Driving Lessons Anxiety

These days, when life is hectic, tasks are piling up and time is passing quickly, we can all agree that a possible solution is to get yourself driving lessons on Tutorextra.co.uk with a professional, qualified instructor who has a lot of experience, and a driver’s license. Although this seems like a very common scenario for young people and older, busy adults who want to optimise their daily life, it is also a very typical scenario that they might struggle with anxiety when having to take classes for learning how to operate a vehicle. 

Reasons for driving lessons anxiety

Driving lessons are a necessary step to take in your life if you want to be physically independent from other people and other conditions such as public transport schedules. However, anxiety about not being a good motorist is one of the most common problems to deal with. To deal with any type of concern, including this one for learning how to operate, we first have to identify the source of this stress.

• Afraid to be in the car

This trigger of anxiety that we experience when we learn how to operate a car is pretty common, although it sounds a little controversial. Many people want to start learning how to drive a vehicle, but they delay it for ages, or even just do not do it, because they are scared to be in the car, bearing such responsibility. It is the fear of getting into an accident, especially in rush hour, that keeps them back from starting their classes.

• Hitting a pedestrian

Hitting a pedestrian is a common reason to be nervous when it is time to start  driving a vehicle. This fear is both internal, because it is normal to be anxious about learning how to pay enough attention to the world around you while driving and following the rules, and external, as the actions and behaviour of pedestrians are absolutely out of your power and control. The only thing you can do to learn to live with this fear is that you shall prepare well and practise a lot to push the brakes safely if needed.

• Fear of doing something new

This is a reason to keep back from starting to learn how to drive that has a lot of conditionality in it.  Just like any new skill, operating a vehicle is something new, and it requires a lot of focus and aquiring new skills, and it is only natural to be afraid of new, unknown things. This fear of learning how to operate a vehicle is less typical for younger people. Still, older adults tend to be very stressed by the idea of gaining a completely new skill that generally involves some level of danger in its nature.

How to deal with anxiety in the car?

Learning how to operate a vehicle can be a massive source of stress physically and mentally as well as anxiety for most people, but this is something to overcome in just a few weeks. Here are some pieces of advice on how to deal with this type of disorder!

• Tutor

This tip might seem only logical, but you have to find yourself a tutor. What you need to understand is that not every instructor is a good choice for your better mental development in the process of taking classes for operating a vehicle. You need a patient, calm and supportive instructor who will make you feel comfortable during the sessions. 

This simply means that you cannot go to a certified school and get a regular tutor. You have to pick one that will understand your problem and will be ready to help you deal with it on a mental level. With TutorExtra this is easier than ever. The platform gives you the chance to find the best instructor for you online and in the local area.

• Read a book

The classes on how to drive a car can be a massive challenge for many people. It is scientifically proven that reading a book on the topic or dealing with irrational stress can improve your mental stability when behind the steering wheel.

• Yoga 

Yoga and driving classes can seem a little unrelated, but this comes only at first thought. Yoga is proven to have a positive effect on all types of anxiety including the concern from getting in a vehicle for the first few times. When doing yoga to deal with your disorder, you must pay attention to the breathing patterns that are involved in the process. Many breathing exercises are specifically used to help you deal with anxiety.

• Sports

To drive a car you have to master the skill of multitasking. Your focus should be everywhere around you and your reactions should be quick and adequate. The stress shall be dramatically reduced if you learn how to execute this coordination perfectly. There is no better option for you to develop the skills of multi tasking and coordination for your lessons than to start practising a sport. Basketball, tennis, and fighting sports are some of the greater options.

• Avoid extremities

One of the best things to start working on if you fear these lessons is to start learning how to avoid extremities. What we mean here are extreme thoughts. They can also be recognised by psychologists as intrusive thoughts. What we can do when we notice such a thought gathering its power in our brain and body is ask a few questions. 

We have to question the realistic spectrum of the thought. – “Is this possible?” We have to think about the reason for this fear of taking driving lessons – “ Why am I scared of these lessons? Is there a deeper reason that I feel so anxious about it? Do I have a previous negative experience in a car and how do I deal with it?” 

Be on the positive side

Intrusive thoughts can be powerful and almost uncontrollable when it comes to this type of lesson as driving is putting yourself in danger on purpose. However, whenever you start feeling anxious about this new activity in your life, always try to focus on the positive side. You have to ask yourself “Why am I doing this? Why am I on the journey of learning how to drive a car?” 

Some people will say that it will make their life easier, or that it will make them independent from their partner or other situations that they want to avoid, or that they just want to explore the world on road trips. Whatever the answer is, it will strengthen your inner motivation for taking driving lessons.