Being hypnotized

Jkip0705

So I have a terrible fear of driving in snow...like I will avoid it at any cost and if I do have to drive I cry or scream pretty much the whole time (crazy I know). In 2002 I had a bad accident when I hit ice one night on my way home from work and crashed into a barn (not Dukes of Hazard though haha). Anyway, I finally got back to "normal" until last year when DH and I hit ice coming home one night and hit a guard rail. It triggered my fear again and it's terrible! My mom mentioned going to be hypnotized but I feel uneasy about it. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? I feel like I cannot go through another terrified winter again. TIA

Cipolla2Be

I am getting my MA in Professional Counseling and during one of my group class sessions our Professor hynotized one of us....the girl (who is a friend of mine) had a friend who had died in a car accident and she has never really been able to let go and get over it.  The session lasted a good hour and I know she is not one to fake crap...especially when it came to crying in front of everyone and sharing her feelings....she is very protective and does not cry easily at all.....her whole body went limp....it was a amazing.  He really got a lot of emotion out of her and she was able to reflect on a lot about her fears, feelings, and her friend.  Afterwards, she said she felt a lot better and that it felt like a huge release. 

The other night my mom told me that she had another bad dream, this man is always chasing her since she was little and she runs down her stairs etc after him.  Well this time she almost ran out her front door.  She has run into walls, fallen out of her bed or in the hallway, and once even hit her head on a night stand while she was on a business trip in a hotel, all because of this same dream, same man always chasing her.  I told her that she needs to go talk to someone, and mentioned being hypnotized because I thought it would help her. Funny because we just talked about this Friday night.

SO...If  I told my mom she should try it to see if it would help.....of course I think you should try it.

2dBride

I had therapy that involved hypnosis.  Honestly, it is nothing to be afraid of.  Basically, it is a series of exercises to get you relaxed and focused.  You will remember the entire session.  You won't do anything you don't agree with.  All it is doing is to help you to process things emotionally as well as intellectually.

Hypnosis may or may not be the best therapy for your phobias.  The typical treatment for phobias involves your getting very gradually exposed to whatever you fear.  For example, you might start with seeing pictures of cars and snow, then sitting in the car when there is snow on the ground, then moving to very short trips in a car in snow as a passenger with a trusted driver, etc.  Hypnosis may be one way of reducing the anxiety as you do this, but it is seldom the entirety of therapy.

Cipolla2Be

Agree with pp.

Jkip0705

Thanks! I will start looking into it more and see what I can find around my area! Last winter I went and talked to a therapist just to see if that would help, it did a little but I did not really like the lady so it was hard to talk to her, I ended up not being able to afford her after awhile and left!

Fotophreak4c

I think I remember you posting about this last year too! Or maybe it was someone else? My ex boyfriend was a horrible driver and I was in 2 bad accidents with him and also witnessed him get into 2 other major accidents while I was driving behind him and we were going to school. It has made me the WORST backseat driver in the world. I cannot be comfortable with anyone unless I am in control driving. My poor dh has tried everything with me. Sometimes I will just burst out crying while he is driving, even when nothing bad is happening! Like I can visually forsee bad things happening ahead of us, like getting t-boned in the upcoming intersection. It's like I am having a vision before it happens and it freaks me out so I start crying and panicking!!  Well, he bought me a nintendo DS for the ride and that really helped me focus my attention elsewhere. He also helped me realize that those visions are just things I am creating in my head and Ive kinda looked at religion to help as well. I am prob 70% better than about 2 yrs ago, even though I still get freaked out sometimes, I realized that there's nothing that I can do and to start crying or yelling at DH will not help anything. When you cry and scream while you are driving, you are probably making it HARDER to focus on the task of driving so try to remember that being strong and not breaking down will prob increase your chances of you having a safer ride wherever you go! sry for the ramble! 

munkii

I'm glad you posted this because last year I was in an accident after hitting ice.  It wasn't anything terrible--no damage, no injuries--but it's scary (you know that!).  Right now, all of our streets are covered in ice; so, I lasted about 5 minutes before turning around and coming back home.  Why can't it be April already?

glitterspank

I share the phobia.  I moved to Indy a little over 4 years ago after living my whole life in New Orleans, where we may see a flake every 10-15 years.  My first time driving here I had 4 near death experiences over about a 8-10 mile stretch because I couldn't stop my car from sliding all over the place.  Not a good intro to snow, especially when I had other drivers blowing at me like I should be driving faster when I clearly had a Louisiana tag which should have been considered the equivalent of a handicapped designation in that situation.

Not quite 2 years ago, when DH was living in DC, we decided to meet halfway in Wheeling, WV for a weekend...the same weekend Columbus, OH had its worst snow storm in 100 years.  I drove through (and survived!) that mess and later, in a pitch dark stretch of road farther along, hit a patch of black ice and spun all the way across a number of lanes of traffic, then back across and onto a median before I regained control of the car.  Thankfully, that stretch of road was empty at the time. My poor dog banged his head on the dash and my cell ended up somewhere under the driver's seat.  DH and BFF were both worried about me being on the road and were blowing up my phone, which rattled my nerves even more.  I was a total wreck by the time I got to the hotel.  

Everyone knows better than to expect me to drive in snow now.  I drive in it only when absolutely necessary and am tense and on the verge of tears the whole time.  It's a pretty crippling fear and I should probably seek help, too.

Jkip0705

I am glad I am not the only one! It makes me feel a lot better actually! I am hoping with time things will get better. I keep reminding myself that I live in NY and it is something all NY drivers have to deal with and they do it every day!

I have done the same thing where I start to drive and turn right back around and go back home because I am too scared! I lost a lot of money from not working doing that last year :-(

I did buy snow tires last week so I am hoping I will notice a difference. My major concern is that I go to grad school at night that is 45 minutes away and it's all back roads. Yikes! 

We are supposed to have a storm Wednesday night into Friday so this is where it's all stemming from now....I am nervous!