Can anyone tell me if it's common for people with depersonalization disorder to have problems with driving?
I haven't driven for several years now and even let my driver's license expire last month because I simply CANNOT get behind the wheel of a car without going into a full-blown panic attack. I have time and time again "faced my fear", as they say you are supposed to do, to get rid of a phobia. All it did was get worse. The reason why I get so scared is because I have a chronic sense of feeling "out of it", like I'm not in my own body, so when I drive feeling like this it makes me feel like I'm drunk driving, or under the influence. So then I start to panic because I'm afraid I'm going to get pulled over, or panic and cause a wreck.
I know in my heart that if I didn't have this constant feeling of depersonalization, from the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep, I would be ok to drive. I had my first feeling of depersonalization when I was about 10, but it really didn't get chronic until 2003 when I had my first seizure (I was finally diagnosed in 2008 with temporal lobe seizures AND bipolar disorder) and despite any type of medication I have tried, the "out of body" feelings are always there. I feel like a loser depending on my husband to drive me around (especially considering how independant I used to be) and getting any psych help around here isn't much of an option, considering there's no psychiatrists/therapists that take medicare.
I haven't driven for several years now and even let my driver's license expire last month because I simply CANNOT get behind the wheel of a car without going into a full-blown panic attack. I have time and time again "faced my fear", as they say you are supposed to do, to get rid of a phobia. All it did was get worse. The reason why I get so scared is because I have a chronic sense of feeling "out of it", like I'm not in my own body, so when I drive feeling like this it makes me feel like I'm drunk driving, or under the influence. So then I start to panic because I'm afraid I'm going to get pulled over, or panic and cause a wreck.
I know in my heart that if I didn't have this constant feeling of depersonalization, from the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep, I would be ok to drive. I had my first feeling of depersonalization when I was about 10, but it really didn't get chronic until 2003 when I had my first seizure (I was finally diagnosed in 2008 with temporal lobe seizures AND bipolar disorder) and despite any type of medication I have tried, the "out of body" feelings are always there. I feel like a loser depending on my husband to drive me around (especially considering how independant I used to be) and getting any psych help around here isn't much of an option, considering there's no psychiatrists/therapists that take medicare.
