Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
Am curious to know if anyone here suffers from travel anxiety? When I was little occasionally I used to suffer from bad anxiety when we had to travel than the few miles into our town, but the 45 miles to where my grandparents live was too much and resulted in anxiety and attacks leading up to the day in question. Then on the day of travel, we would take my dads car, if I went nine times out of ten I'd have a panic attack and end up sick along the way.
I'm a bit older now but my travel anxiety is even worse now. Any journey even the short ones into town make me so anxious and give me anxiety symptoms leading up to it and on the day.
I never go anywhere now. No job, no friends just extreme anxiety. Also another form of this is that when I'm in the car and travelling I need the toilet and need to wee literally within five minutes of the journey starting. And on hour long journeys it becomes so difficult, especially as most public toilets are closed here now.
This morning I was meant to go with my dad to see my grandma but the anxiety was severe and I backed out and now I feel so guilty and bad.
I know that the logical thing to do is to go to the doctors but I get severe panic attacks when I go so I don't go.But I realize that this is becoming really bad for me.
Yes, I have a big problem with this - it's very rare that I go anywhere further than I can walk there and back, and not unusual that I don't feel able to leave the house at all. I avoid travelling in vehicles as much as I possibly can - even if it means walking miles cross-country in terrible weather in the middle of the night.
When I do absolutely have to make a journey, the anxiety starts as soon as I begin to even make plans for it. I obsessively check the timetables over and over again, go along the route in Google street-view to make sure that I recognise every single step of the way, and get into a total panic if a bus or train is even a few seconds late. Being stuck inside a metal box with other people is horrible for my senses, and I have to fight the urge to just get off to be away from it for the whole journey. I especially can't abide going anywhere if I don't know exactly how I'll be getting back, or if I have to rely on someone else to get home. I miss out on opportunities to see people very often because of it.
Reported as abusive.
I know what you mean. It it serious and very life limiting. So far everything I've tried hasn't worked and now I hardly go out at all.