c/anxiety·Posted by u/theo_ramirez·1h ago
Why do long car rides make my anxiety worse even when I'm not driving?
Passenger seat should be easy. On a three-hour drive last Saturday I still got that trapped feeling around the two-hour mark, somewhere after we passed the rest stop with the giant coffee mug statue. I wasn't carsick. I just wanted the doors to be optional. I kept adjusting the vent, then the seat, then my seatbelt like any of that was the real issue. Conversation helped for ten minutes and then I'd drift back into how much longer. Highway is worse than city because there's nowhere to hop out. I don't even mind flying as much, which makes no sense. It's specifically being in a moving box I didn't choose the exit timing for. Anyone else get this as a passenger, not just as a driver?
Peer discussion on askDr.app. Not therapy and not a substitute for professional care.
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u/malik_j1h ago
City traffic does it to me. Highway is okay. Opposite of you, same trapped feeling.
u/emma_fraser1h ago
I keep a pack of mints and eat them one by one like a countdown. Childish. Gives me a job besides staring at the odometer.
u/ben_okonkwo1h ago
Does it help if you're the one holding the aux cord, or is that still not enough control?
u/hannah_brooks1h ago
I ask for a five-minute stretch stop even when I don't need the bathroom. Felt high-maintenance the first time. Now people just expect it.
u/jade_c59m ago
Window seat if I can. Watching the road helps more than closing my eyes.