Car wreck....

On Sunday 11-9-08, me and my best friend were in a tragic car accident.
The police men said that we were lucky were alive.
Ever since then Ive been afriad to get in a car and I've been having some serious nightmares ever since..

Anything other than actually get back ina car because ive done that and it doesnt help

((((((((((( LoosingControl ))))))))))))

I'm sorry to hear of your car wreck. I can only imagine how scary it was for you. I'm so very happy that you were able to walk away from it.

My youngest daughter has been in a couple of accidents, one really bad one a year ago July where she too was lucky to walk away. She told me that she doesn't have an issue in a car if she herself is driving, but when she is a passenger, she has a lot of anxiety and PTSD. The accident she was in over a year ago, she was driving, the other accidents she has been in, she was a passenger.

You don't say if you were driver or passenger....but I guess in the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter. What I would suggest is if you have a T, discuss your feelings with your T, they can help you get through your anxiety and possibly help with the nightmares. If you don't have a T, I would highly recommend finding one that can help you with the trauma work needed to help you feel more comfortable.

Remember, this happened only a couple of days ago. It's fresh in your mind and on your mind. Give yourself some time to work through your feelings and memories and be kind to yourself while doing so. Deep breathing really helps when you are feeling the anxiety rise and grounding yourself to your surroundings by noticing colors, objects etc.

I hope this passes for you quickly....


sabby

Have you tried writing down your memory of it, your feelings and thoughts of the accident? Sometimes just getting them out will help. I'm thankful you are physically unharmed from it.

(((((((((((((( losingcontrol )))))))))))))))

I agree that you might find a t helpful in your situation, I have car issues also. I think there are a list of grounding techniques in the ptsd forum that you might find helpful also.

it's only been 3 days! Car accidents are incredibly disturbing. We've all had them, so I won't bother to talk about mine but it was similarly a lucky-to-be-alive thing. I didn't drive that stretch of road for a long, long time.

be nice to yourself, take it easy, concentrate on physically healing. rest. let it fade a bit. then see how you are.

Thank you everyone. I tlked to my T, already and just had me write down exactly what happend. or what i remembered. I was a passenger. but thanks everyone

Late posting here, but just wanted to pitch in my well wishes that you came away from the wreck unhurt. Anything else - anxiety issues and such - are secondary. The important thing is that you are okay.

I've been in a couple of accidents, but nothing major. Having said that, I used to get major driving anxiety, if I was the one driving. It was the control issue for me...I was controlling a dangerous, fast-moving vehicle, and I had some doubts as to whether I could handle such stress.

But anxiety is often illusory. Time heals all wounds, to use the old cliche. Give yourself time, and if you were the driver, please make sure to forgive yourself for being in an accident. You are probably unconsciously blaming yourself for what happened, even if it wasn't your fault (even if it was in the legal sense, mistakes happen, and we're human). Self-forgiveness is key here.

I don't blame you for having that fear after something like that happened, I know when my heart problems started acting up, it happened twice while I was driving, so last year winter i went from loving to drive all of a sudden to hating to drive. Its horrible it really is.

It could be post traumatic stress syndrome, but I would not reach that conclusion yet. You just need to work out your feelings in regards to the traffic accident. I believe that best thing to do in this instance is work through your feelings and go in as many car rides as possible. The worst thing in the world is to let the fear take control of your life. Just to let you know, I was in a minor car accident in 2003, I spun out in a snow storm. I was a bit afraid to drive after that, heck, I even still drove the same car. Anyways, your emotions are normal, there is no reason to feel that you're abnormal or anything.