Anxious About Learning To Drive?

Then you’re not alone! Many of our learners have had feelings of anxiety during their driving lessons. The important thing to remember is that this can be quite normal and it is certainly not the first time your driving instructor has seen it. We all get anxious at times.

Here’s some information that I hope will help you.

Can I learn to drive if I’m an anxious person?

Ultimately this is down to you and how well you control your anxiety. Anxiety can range from being very nervous to affecting your everyday life. If it’s the latter you could be suffering from panic attacks or lethargy to it affecting how well you can concentrate. These symptoms sadly, can affect your driving ability. If anxiety is affecting you in a serious way, it would, in my opinion, be a good idea to see a GP. They can help in many different ways; it doesn’t have to be medication if you don’t want it to be. Once you’ve learned to control your anxiety, you can get yourself behind the wheel.

All is not lost!

First of all, there are many levels of anxiety. Having it, most certainly does not mean you cannot drive. You just need to work out how best to manage it.

The most important thing to do is to talk to your driving instructor. Having anxiety is NOT something to be ashamed of! And being brave and talking about it, is most definitely something to be PROUD of! It takes courage! If you explain to your instructor how you are feeling and tell them if there is something in particular that you are worried about, they will take the time to make you feel as calm and informed as possible.

Tips & Tricks

Knowing what’s going to happen on your lesson...

Sometimes all of those anxious feelings just come from not knowing what to expect. Depending on your level of driving ability will depend on what will happen on your lesson. Make sure you ask your instructor about what topic you will be covering, what area you will be driving around and what to expect from those subjects. Just knowing what you will be doing can sometimes be enough to calm your nerves before setting off. You should always have an agreed lesson plan with your instructor at the start of a lesson anyway. But if you need more details, don’t be worried about asking for it.

Letting mistakes go...

We ALL make mistakes, that’s life!! But as a learner you are expected to. If you can drive perfectly, go book a test because you’re wasting your money paying a driving instructor! In all seriousness, even full licence holders make mistakes on the road. Like I said, that’s life. The important thing is to try your best and do your best to learn from them and let it go! Beating yourself up about making a mistake, leads to more mistakes! It has a tumble weed affect. The more upset you get with yourself, the less you concentrate on the road ahead and the more serious the mistakes end up getting. I’ve lost count of the amount of learners who failed their driving test, because they made a small mistake, that wouldn’t have failed their test, but because they wouldn’t let it go, their concentration lapsed and ultimately that failed them.

Take a breath...

Taking deep slow calming breaths can help slow your body down and calm those anxious feelings. Easier said than done sometimes though right? If you can’t focus on doing this and driving, there’s no shame in taking a break. Your instructor will be more than happy to do this for, so just ask. There are lots of techniques out there for this. But a simple one is 3-3-3. Breath in for 3 seconds, hold for 3, and gently exhale for 3. Sometimes, just getting yourself out of the car for a couple of minutes is enough.

Talking to yourself...

Yes, I said it! I give you full permission to talk to yourself whilst driving! As will your instructor and it won’t be the first time your examiner has seen it either. The thing with anxiety is, the more we think about being anxious and how its making us feel, the worse it gets. We actually talk ourselves into making it worse without realising. Anything you can do to distract yourself away from those anxious thoughts and feelings will help. So, if you’re feeling those familiar pangs, start talking yourself through each step of what you’re doing. It will not only help your anxiety, it will help your learning journey too.

Anxiety about your driving test...?

Who hasn’t? Whoever we are and whatever test/exam we have coming up, it’s only natural to be anxious about it. But if your instructor has told you that you’re test ready, then they believe you are. So, it’s time to believe in you too! In a test situation our nerves normally come from not being 100% sure that we know everything. So, if that one roundabout or manoeuvre you have doubts about comes up on your test, your anxiety will tell you that you don’t know how to do it and so you’ll probably mess it up. So, if something is niggling at you, ask your instructor to go through it with you until it’s not. Be able to do it with your eyes shut (but please don’t!) For instance, you don’t forget how to walk when you’re nervous do you? That’s because we do it without thinking about it. If your driving is natural and you’re 100% confident you won’t fall over! Believe you can and you will!

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