Fear of Driving (Vehophobia): Symptoms, Causes, & Treatments
Vehophobia, or a fear of driving, is a specific phobia that leads to panic, avoidance, and an extreme discomfort of driving. Whether it comes naturally or after an accident, the fear of driving can significantly disrupt a person’s life, so identifying the condition and seeking professional mental health treatment, like psychotherapy, will be essential to limit the impact.
What Is Vehophobia?
Vehophobia is one type of specific phobia related to an intense and excessive fear of driving. When a person has vehophobia (sometimes referred to as amaxophobia or ochophobia) they will take irrational actions to avoid getting behind the wheel. And in situations where they are forced to drive they will experience extreme anxiety and fear throughout the process.
Conditions like driving anxiety can severely affect a person’s life as it may limit their ability to function well with daily, expected tasks. Someone with vehophobia may struggle to:
- Drive to work or school
- Maintain social connections with friends and family members
- Complete routine chores like going grocery shopping
- Attend medical or mental health appointments
Signs That You May Have Vehophobia
The signs of vehophobia may be very subtle at first and escalate over time. Some clues that you may have vehophobia include:
- Making excuses to stay home
- Asking your friends and family members to drive
- Avoiding even getting in a car and having others run errands for you
- Intentionally not getting your car repaired to avoid driving
- Moving to areas where driving is not necessary
Signs That You May Have Vehophobia
As a specific phobia, vehophobia will trigger symptoms that match other specific phobias while being connected to driving a car. The symptoms can range from fairly mild to notably debilitating for some people.
Symptoms of vehophobia, amaxophobia, or other car-related anxiety conditions include:
- Intense fear, anxiety, and worry linked to driving a car
- Feeling the anxiety each and every time the person drives or thinks about driving
- Actively working to avoid driving
- Experiencing high anxiety that can escalate if driving