Scared of cars??

Recently I've gotten into a car accident and I just can't seem to stand cars or any motorized vehicle anymore.
I get really impatient and frustrated whenever I'm either in the car or the bus to school and it's starting to get annoying
because I can't seem to stop no matter how much I'm assured by friends or family.

Any way to get rid of this or at least help? Anything is appreciated

 

You clearly have some sort of emotional trauma towards cars, and can peruse legal action towards the causer, given then right evidence,
With that being said, you're eventually going to have to move on with your life,
What're you going to do about it? Never use car transportation again? That's ridiculous, what you can do about it is take precautionary mesaures everytime you step foot inside a car and begin to start trusting someone else with your life, like always make sure the driver's not intoxicated in any way, make sure you're always able to trust the driver (Meaning their a good driver), and to always wear your seat belt, I'm sure you can pick up on everything else.

 

It might just take time to start trusting motorized transport again Good luck

 

The odds of being hit by a car are low, so the odds of being hit again are even lower. Cars are being designed to be safer and safer each time, crashes may look horrific sometimes but cars are designed to crush and take impact, so the energy of the crash is absorbed by the car, not you.
If you're not speeding you'll be fine

You'll just have to get over it over time.

 

You might have something like PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), where you are linking cars/automobiles to your traumatic experience of being in a car crash.

I think it would benefit you to recieve a bit of therapy and just get the chance to talk about why you feel the way you do about cars, and hopefully work around your feelings of fear & anxiety that are connected to these vehicles. I wish you luck man, with time and patience I think you will be able to overcome your fear.

 

Like Zerkerfist said, it sounds like you have a disorder similar to PTSD. It takes time to come over, but you shall eventually be okay.

I suggest you do a few sessions of Therapy, and trust me, they help. With some therapy, it sounds like you can get over your problem. I wish you luck with your condition.

 

Thanks for the help but most of the time I get really stressed about the school rides (The bus) and things like that.
This is the only place I've said anything so people may think I'm crazy or something for having basically a "Car phobia" :/
I can't seem to stop the insecurity feeling physically or mentally on my own, I'll try your therapy ideas though, thanks!

@<3&#9787;
It was mainly pouring rain causing the person's tires to slip, I don't think I can pursue that legally

 

I am almost 100% certain that you have some kind of remaining effect from this event that was obviously very traumatic and scary for you. I do not blame you for being afraid of cars or riding in them. I have a friend who was in a bad car accident when he was younger and he HATES being a passenger in a car, so unless he is driving (the only situation where he feels in control) he pretty much tries to avoid taking rides, even on busses and things like that.

I know therapy can sometimes sound like you are "crazy" and need help, but trust me man, I think it will really, really help you in this situation If you sit down with a professional counsellor and/or therapist, I think they will simply get you to talk about this past traumatic event, to help you deal with alot of the fear, anxiety, nervousness, and discomfort that you get from being around or in vehicles. With time, a little counselling and therapy, and by practicing methods to overcome these fears, I am confident that you can help squash these negative feelings and regain your confidence around using cars and being in them.

Try a school counsellor if you don't know where to go to look for help... that is always a great place to start

 

This is One-Trial Conditioning in play here. You're associating the excruciation of the car crash to cars in general. Rest assured, there are ways to 'cure' motorphobia. Before you see a therapist, as this phobia will very rarely spontaneously regress due to that nature of Operant Conditioning (everytime you avoid cars, you strengthen this phobia), I would recommend you try my suggestions below.

The first thing I would recommend (this, you can do yourself) is formulate a fear hierarchy. Basically, put what you must fear about cars, and what you least fear about them in a list. For example:

Driving a car.
Sitting in a car while someone is driving.
Crossing the road of a busy street.
Watching a busy street from afar.
Looking at cars online, or through pictures.

That's just a real simple example. You should always start with what you least fear, and then work your way up (fear in this case means when you are uncomfortable). Expose yourself to the fear hierarchy chronologically, and just do what it says until you either start to feel the uncomfortable feeling subside, or see a noticeable regress (it doesn't feel as uncomfortable as before). If either is the case, move on, and repeat.

That is one technique many therapists may use. It can be done by yourself depending on the strength of your personal will. A family member can also assist you by giving you encouragement if you feel the need to quit.

Another technique is simply flooding. This technique is very simple. Assuming that having someone drive you around in a car is a very uncomfortable thing for you, all you have to do is ask your parents to drive around the city where there are lots of cars. Do this for perhaps an hour or two. If your level of comfort has not subsided at the end of the hour, try again on a different day (be sure to keep them close).

Again, therapists quite often use this technique.

Those are tips on how to abate your phobia. However, one thing, the most important thing is to not make it worse. Never, under ANY circumstance avoid automobiles. You'll only make your phobia stronger and harder to 'cure'.

I would recommend your try the fear hierarchy first, then, if that doesn't work as well as you expected, try the flooding. If both fail then seeing a therapist for a professional job may be in your best interests.

 

I tried flooding earlier today and it was absolutely horrible.
I almost broke the seat from clutching too hard, are there any other ideas around?
Anything is helpful

 

Have you tried the fear hierarchy? If flooding is too hard, then you should definitely try the fear hierarchy.

Here's a wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systematic_desensitization have a look at it and try the fear hierarchy out. How the fear hierarchy works in laymens terms is essentially your body feeling 'o, this isn't so bad afterall'. Obviously, if you're panicking then your body will continue to associate the fearful response. It may be worthwhile to try flooding again AFTER you've exposed yourself to the fear hierarchy (hopefully reducing your level of uncomfort). Then, when you're about to try flooding again, take something like 'valium' that makes you less anxious. In turn, while you experience flooding again, you it should be less uncomfortable, and you should get to a point where you feel 'hey, this isn't so bad'. Your body will then associate a less uncomfortable feeling with automobiles, and you should regress (the anxiety can have a similar but inverse affect to aversion therapy).

If you can't get the fear hierarchy to work, then it would be best to consult a therapist. However, I'm fairly sure that they may use some of these techniques.

Go google 'fear hierarchy', then google' systematic desensitization' or 'graduated exposure therapy' (synonymous with sys. des.).

I hope the fear hierarchy works out for you, just remember to take it slow, and only progress up the hierarchy when you feel noticeably more comfortable than when you began. It may be worth it to have a family member help comfort you throughout the ordeal. Good luck.

 

Go to your local GP and ask for a Post Trauma Relief Support. That should help you with any of those problems.

 

Never heard of this sort of phobia but i'm not one to judge other people, have you tried just having a little glance at cars past your street?

 

Im scared to drive a car but not to sit in one i don't know its just the fear of how close you come to other cars and how easy it is to kill someone.