Horrible car accident left me traumatized

Hello Mark,

Back in November 2000, I had a horrible automobile accident, which totalled my car. I was fine as far as driving was concerned. Then in February 2001, while driving on a highway, I had my first panic attack and it has been downhill ever since. I have seen ten therapists in thirteen years, with no relief. In fact, the driving anxiety got worse. I discovered this website back in October and bought the 'Overcome Fear of Driving' and then 'End Panic Attacks' downloads. Unfortunately, after listening to them every day I still have bad driving anxiety.

On a positive note: I must say that I also suffer from a host of self-esteem problems and found downloads that I think are helping in this area. Since listening to 'Believe in Yourself' and 'Self-Confidence Booster', along with a few of your other downloads, I can honestly say that my constant feeling of doom has begun to lessen. I feel a little more confident and, in short, I am beginning to feel better about myself and my life. I can honestly say that these downloads have helped me more in two months than thirteen years of therapy ever did.

However, the driving anxiety is still a huge weight around my neck. I read the testimonials of those who have been helped by the driving fear download and think, “Why not me?" Is there another download I can try?

This question was submitted by 'Scared of the Road'

Mark says...

Hi Scared,

Thank you for writing in. It's great to know you have been helped so much by some of our downloads. : )

It may be that you are still traumatized by the serious car accident back in 2000. Around 25% of people continue to have persistant problems after a traumatic event; the other 75% of people either eventually seem to dream out the trauma or talk it out, but for the unfortunate 25%, talking about it may make it worse and it doesn't get 'dreamed through'. To access whether you are indeed still traumatized, ask yourself: does it still feel emotional to recall that time? If you sit and really remember it, does it feel anxious in the here and now even though it was all those years ago? The second question to ask yourself is: even though it was almost 14 years ago (as I write this), does it feel really recent when you recall the accident?

Because of the way traumatic memories are stored, they don't seem to fade like neutral or happier memories. For example, I worked with a man who told me he could recall his World War II memories from the early 1940s like they'd happened yesterday. When I helped him de-traumatize those memories, he could at last feel that his horrific experiences were a long time ago.

If you are still actively traumatized by this crash, then being helped through 'rewind' should help reprocess that memory so it becomes like any other memory: something that you know was bad at the time but no longer feels bad to you now. And that would have the knock-on effect of helping you naturally and easily feel much calmer when driving. Rewind is a comfortable method that should only take one session; the change can feel quite miraculous.

I'm guessing you are based in the USA (we are UK-based), but there are a few therapists already practicing Rewind in the States and that number is increasing as the approach becomes better known. If you contact our office and let us know roughly where you are situated, we may be able to help you find a therapist nearby able to use Rewind.

All best wishes,

Mark