My son believes he will die in car crash before he is 21

[starlight701]

My son was in a mental hospital when he was fifteen. One of the patients told him he would die in a fiery car crash before he was 21. (He is now 18)He just passed his drivers test in Jan 2007. He is a good driver. His highly intelligent. He doesn''t believe in psychics or things like that.

Yet a week ago he told my husband that a kid told him he would die before he was twenty one in a fiery car crash. My husband felt that my son was afraid. He has never talked to us about any thing that happened in the hospital before.

Is it possible for him to unconciously cause an accident- because he believes this kid is right. What do we do??? Do we ignore it?

Thank you for any thoughts-starlight

 

[David Baxter PhD]

You might try to talk to him about the irrationality of his belief.

Start with asking him to "consider the source" - who was the person who told him this and what issues was s/he struggling with at the time? Then look at a cognitive behavior therapy approach to challenging beliefs and thoughts - see the Psychlinks Resources forum for information on David Burns, twisted thinking, cognitive distortions, etc.

 

[Daniel E.]

Do we ignore it?

I did read a study a few weeks ago at PubMed.com that said that anxious drivers didn't drive as well on a closed course as other drivers.

 

[^^Phoenix^^]

A good way to get his confidence up is to enrol him in some racing courses, or defensive driving course. Even though he already has his licence, these types of course focus in more detail on certain parts of driving, and give more practise, you can get ice courses and all kinds of things, and as well as getting good experiance, if he is taught how to handle slides and other things that may crop up, then his confidence should rise along with it.

 

[pandora]

I hope it's okay to post after a few years have passed.

I used to have a paralyzing phobia of being hurt in a car accident. In my teenage years, I was in a car crash that resulted in my Chronic Back Pain. Ever since, I was anxious and attentive when in a vehicle. I had subconsciously avoided getting my permit and license. Yet the phobia didn't come out to play until My sister and myself were in another car crash. After that crash, I began to be in a state of panic as a passenger on the road. The panic heightened when I saw things that resembled my first accident (rain, and sharp turns).

Thanks to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as well as Desensitization, I have learned how to 1) inhibit the compulsions to move into a state of panic, and 2) assess my thoughts to see if they are rational. I am now able to drive around and find that my experiences have lead me to be a better defensive driver. I still sometimes have moments of near panic when in the passenger seat and a crash nearly happens. That's when I pull out the tools my CBT provided me with.

 

[Retired]

I hope it's okay to post after a few years have passed.

Any existing Forum thread is fair game if you wish to add a comment. This sometimes rejuvenates a discussion with current members who might have a renewed interest in the topic.

Thanks for your posting.

 

[Yuray]

I responded to to the post with genuine concern, but upon realizing how old the post was, I edited it and left nothing wordwise, but I was informed that I had to have at least two characters. I choose to leave four characters...............'oops'.