[limpsalong]

Hi all! I am new here and still feeling my way around!

I have a question about therapy. I live 1 1/2 hours away from the nearest therapist and have an extreme fear of driving. Hubby can't drive and my only other family member works from 8am-8pm every day except Sunday. I can drive if it is an emergency but have panic attacks the entire trip. Taking my son to college 7 hours away was a complete nightmare! My question is this: What do you all suggest I do to get the help I need? We have a program here where you can take a bus to the nearest town but there must be a minimum of 6 people on the day you want to go or they do not take you. I also work M-F so that makes it difficult too.

My PCP is terrible. He has no compassion for anyone with mental illness but I have no choice but to go to him as the issue once again is how far away all other doctors are.

Thank you all in advance!

Welcome to pc limpsalong. Have you exhausted looking into all mental health resources in your area? Have you called the mental health services there and explained your situation? I know an LCSW who has sometimes made house calls in situations where there is a high need, but little resources or ability to get to services. I wish you luck and please keep us posted.

This is a great supportive community.

[TheWell]

There are therapists who do online therapy through Skype. It's something to look into.

[rainbow8]

Have you considered phone therapy? It's another option that might work. I hope you can find a solution! Welcome to PC!

[ECHOES]

It sounds like finding a way (online therapy, self-help books, etc) to find relief from your fear of driving would free you to begin therapy when a therapist is available.

Or moving might be an option since there are no therapists close by.

Are you looking for medication from your PCP, and he is unwilling to prescribe it?

.

[Perna]

I would try to work on the driving/panic attacks on my own: http://www.anxietycoach.com/fear-of-driving.html while saving money for future therapy.

Once I could drive more comfortably, I would then reassess my situation and see what I wanted to do.

[limpsalong]

Thank you all for the welcome. Some good ideas I will definitely look into. Psychicbaby...the only SW in this area..well, let's just say I wouldn't take my dog to her! She did some counseling with my son when he was younger over anger issues and she told him to light fires when he felt angry. WHAT???? I though the idea was to make him better not make him do something worse. She is just simply awful.

I found a couple resources online that I may try for therapy. I mean why not? Sitting here isn't helping. Thank you all again!

Skype , email or phone would be a good start. Maybe once a month face to face and the oth times a combo of the above?

Online therapy is actually very good because A. its cheaper and B. You can look back over your emails and everything you have said can be read over again. I find this way better so far. its easier to say things than face to face

I can relate a little... I'm scared to drive anywhere new, as I started suffering with anxiety whilst I was learning to drive. I passed my test, but not long after that I started having panic attacks/anxiety/depression so bad I had to quit work. For a while I was in such a heightened state of anxiety I had to have dad drive me to see the therapist I'd started seeing - this went on for weeks, if not months - but eventually my T convinced me to try driving there on my own. I did a couple of test runs with my dad in the car helping to direct me (we had to take a different route so I didn't have to use motorways - I'm still not confident enough for those) but then I started driving there on my own. To begin with I would get there shaking and in a state, and have to sit by the road somewhere to calm down before my appointments, but each week the anxiety got less and less. Now, I actually enjoy that drive, and it has boosted my confidence in the car...

Maybe you would become less anxious when you got familiar with the route? Is there anyone (a friend?) who could maybe drive you there a couple of times, and then perhaps be your 'co-pilot' another time or two to give you confidence before you have to go it alone? I don't know if that's something that would work for you? Perhaps you could even enlist the help of a driving instructor to familiarise you with the route and gain you some confidence on the roads? - some of them do things like that, the one I had did all sorts of refresher training and confidence building for older drivers as well as teaching newbies

Psychicbaby makes a good point about the house calls, there are Ts who will do that - but I'm assuming they'll probably charge more for that, especially if it's a long drive.