What To Do If You Are Afraid Of The Practical Driving Test?
Feeling afraid at the prospect of taking the driver’s license exam is much more common than it seems. This type of exam requires high concentration and a great capacity for reaction and maneuver, as well as management of negative emotions that may arise. Therefore, it is normal for us to feel some anxiety when it comes to examining ourselves.
As in all situations in which anxiety, fears and insecurities come into play, going to a psychologist can help us. Psychological therapy can help us to be more relaxed when facing this decisive moment, as well as to manage our emotions and enhance our ability to concentrate and coordinate. Let’s see how.
How to deal with the fear of the driving license exam?
It is very easy to fall into a vicious cycle of fear and anxiety at the prospect of having to take the practical driving test. This type of challenge is linked to a novel experience in which there is a lot at stake: not only the possibility of obtaining a driving license, but also one’s own safety or even that of others, since a vehicle of these proportions can be deadly, and This idea tends to attract all kinds of catastrophic and biased thoughts.
Below, we leave you a series of ideas and tips that you can apply if you feel overwhelmed by the idea of taking the driving license test.
1. Sign up for driving school if you haven’t already
As with all fears, you cannot face everything at once. It is best to work your way up gradually; In this case, the most pertinent action for this is to sign up for driving school once and for all. If you don’t take this first step, it will be difficult for you to overcome the anxiety that comes with facing the exam.
Nobody is born taught. Attending classes will help you understand what it means to drive a vehicle, and you will gradually enter that world that seemed so overwhelming to you weeks before. Think that when you take the exam you will have much more knowledge than you have now.
2. Disconnect and rest without obsessing
When mentally preparing for a driving test, less is often more. Thinking about the exam all day will not help you deal with it better. On the contrary; Recurrent thoughts are an extraordinary way to waste energy in a useless way and, furthermore, they do not solve anything.
Instead, try to do activities that you find relaxing and pleasant and disconnect. You will see how, after a few hours without that annoying thought in your head, you feel much more prepared to face the much “dreaded” exam.
Another very important factor is rest. Sleeping well makes us feel more energetic and in a better mood the next day, so plan your sleep schedules properly and respect them.
It is more than likely that it has not occurred to you to face the exam using alcohol or drugs; Surely, you are very clear that these types of substances will cause your memory and reflexes to be impaired. All this will, of course, not help you pass the exam.
However, there are people who turn to substances that they consider harmless, such as tobacco. This is a mistake, since, although tobacco will not affect your ability to react, it will will make you enter the vicious circle of anxiety due to withdrawal syndrome and the fear of not having consumed enough nicotine to “relax”, and this will not help you at all when it comes to relaxing.
Much better to use easy-to-perform relaxation techniques, such as diaphragmatic breathing or Jacobson muscle relaxation.
5. Don’t be hard on yourself
Guilt will not help you at all when it comes to improving and preparing for the exam. Analyzing your mistakes is fine, as long as you are understanding with yourself and understand that any mistake can be the starting point for learning.
So, don’t be hard on yourself. We all make mistakes and make mistakes, and blaming yourself will not help you be more prepared to face the driving license test; On the contrary, it can generate feelings of frustration that make you abandon the process.
6. Consult a specialist about the possibility of suffering from a phobia
It is always good to go to a therapist in situations of stress and anxiety. Even more so if you see that all the relaxation techniques and methods have no effect.
It is important to take into account the possibility of suffering from a phobia, which is not at all the same as being afraid. Feeling fear in certain situations is natural and functional; The phobia is something pathological that invariably requires professional help.
Phobias manifest themselves with a feeling of loss of control over the stimulus that causes them, and is very similar to a panic attack. Generally, they involve physical symptoms such as sweating, increased heart rate and dizziness, among others. If you feel any of these symptoms when you try to take the exam (or even when thinking about it), you should consult a specialist.
Are you looking for professional psychological support?
If you need psychotherapeutic assistance to better manage your anxiety, contact us.
In UPAD Psychology and Coaching We can help you, and we have a lot of experience both in treating anxiety-type problems and in supporting people who are preparing for important exams.
