For too long a taboo topic, the impact of the menopause is now being more openly discussed. But one recent article highlighted a lesser-known potential side effect of the menopause – anxiety when driving.

Why does the menopause cause anxiety when driving?

Anxiety can become an issue during the menopause due to fluctuating hormone levels. This in turn can cause simple, everyday tasks like driving to feel daunting and difficult. The knock-on effect of driving anxiety is loss of confidence and avoidance of driving, which impacts the issue further.

How does anxiety impact upon driving?

Anxiety can affect the way we drive and our driving habits in a number of ways, including:

  • Avoiding driving completely, or as much as possible
  • Only driving on familiar routes
  • Avoiding ‘difficult’ driving situations, such as busy motorways or driving at night
  • Feeling nervous when driving with passengers
  • Feeling nervous when driving somewhere new

Anxiety becomes a problem when it prevents us from doing important daily tasks such as going to work or seeing friends and family, impacts upon our independence or at worst causes dangerous driving through driving too slow, being hesitant or knee-jerk nervous reactions.

Tips for anxious drivers

 Whether your anxiety is caused by menopause, a recent driving accident or generalised anxiety disorder, there are some simple tips you can try. One of my specialisms is helping students with anxiety to feel at ease, comfortable and safe in order to make the most of their driving lessons, or to overcome driving-related anxiety they’ve developed after passing their test. These are some of my favourite tried and tested methods I’ve seen work well for many of my students – of course, what works for one person may not resonate with another, so you might find you need to try a few different things before you find something that helps.

  • Speaking with your doctor: If your driving anxiety is caused by menopause, it’s important to speak with your doctor first and foremost to see if they can help you with appropriate treatment. Be sure to tell them how you’re feeling and how the anxiety is impacting upon your daily life.
  • Breathing exercises: Deep breathing just before driving can help to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and
  • Talking therapies: Talking therapies like counselling, CBT and NLP can help you to overcome your fear of driving, or anxieties around driving.
  • Support from loved ones: If you are struggling with driving anxiety, don’t bottle it up and keep it to yourself. This only makes things worse, especially when driving with passengers. Tell a trusted friend or family member and ask them to accompany and support you when driving to help build your confidence back up.
  • Refresher lessons: If you have passed your test but still struggle with your driving confidence and anxiety when driving, refresher lessons or advanced driving lessons could be useful for you. Menopausal women tend to have passed their test twenty, thirty or more years ago, so a refresher often helps boost their confidence and can reduce driving-related anxiety.

Is anxiety impacting upon your driving? Speak to me today about friendly, supportive refresher lessons to help build back your confidence.