Fear of Highway Driving, Bridges and Height. Unusual fears.

[MrSquished]

anyone acquire this fear? like ever? or any weird fear of yours?

After 22 years of confident driving on highways all over the Northeast US, to highway driving all around Morocco, and Cyprus - where you even drive on the wrong side of the road. Through curvy mountain roads with no guard rails and just a drop off of the edge. Over countless bridges. And always driving fast, not reckless fast, but over the speed limit and usually in the left lane.

Then BAM. A year and a half or so ago started having panic or anxiety attacks when approaching a bridge and it turned into a fear of driving on almost all major highways in my area. Heights? Can't even ride my bike over the George Washington Bridge anymore, too close to the railing and dropoff, after 3 years of doing it on the regular.

City driving is totally ok. And I can drive on 2 highways - they are on the route from where I live to where my sister lives and parents live. Day, night that route is all good. I tend to stay in the middle lane but flow with traffic. That's the only highway driving I've done in a year at least. I am so comfortable on that route, it's the one I've driven the most in my entire life. Driving on a highway lane with any kind of drop off next to it besides just a narrow shoulder is also a no go. Thus middle lane driving.

I can get away with this for work and my commute obviously, it's either walking or city driving. Luckily I live next to NYC so I don't need to go far to find something awesome to do, or to go on a date, otherwise I'd be screwed. It's all city driving or public trans in my locale. I really don't want or need to leave my area for much at all, but now I don't have a choice.

I have no issue riding my bike all over the NYC streets either. No fear. I'm careful but no fear, and you can die there too.

I'm about to start looking up therapists. WTF? It's just odd. Never developed a severe phobia before.

TLDR: used to drive like a champ on anything for over 20 years. Now have a severe phobia of highway driving, and over bridges, and anything high. What gives?

 

[lxskllr]

I used to walk steel unclipped. I didn't like it, but I could do it ok. Now I get anxiety attacks, and it takes everything I've got, even with a harness. My fingers are tingling now just writing about it.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I watched an episode of Berlin Station the other day, where Hector asks someone if he's afraid of heights and says something like "you're either afraid of falling, or you're afraid you'll jump'.

So, which is it?

 

[lxskllr]

So, which is it?

I'm afraid of falling. I'm not even particularly afraid of dying. Just falling :^D

 

[MrSquished]

I used to walk steel unclipped. I didn't like it, but I could do it ok. Now I get anxiety attacks, and it takes everything I've got, even with a harness. My fingers are tingling now just writing about it.

How high up are these steel beams exactly

 

[lxskllr]

How high up are these steel beams exactly

Varies. Highest I've been on is about 80'. Most recent was probably 20'. I can climb straight up and down fine, and parking my ass in one place is fine, but walking laterally *really* bothers me. I get vertigo, then the anxiety ramps up, then the vertigo gets worse, then the anxiety... It's all mental. I do plenty of things that are objectively more dangerous, but something happened with heights over the years.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Not personally. But until it was replaced recently a major highway in my area had a high bridge using a steel grid deck built over a large river. If you looked down you could see the river 100 feet below through the roadway. Gave LOTS of people the willies and many would drive 10-15 miles out of their way to use a different crossing just to avoid that bridge.

What was really spooky about it was that to give it extra traction at each intersection of the cross members that made up the grid there was a little nubby welded on. Since there was so little contact area the bridge was slick as hell and the nubbies helped a lot. When the bridge was new it wasn't so bad. They eventually replaced the grids and they didn't line them up properly, so the nubbies kind of kicked the car an inch or two sideways each time you crossed from one grid section to the next. The nubbies were providing extra traction, but the way they made the car swerve just a tiny bit it felt like the car was on ice and had no traction at all. It would freak people out the first time they used the bridge and for many it was the last time they'd use it.

 

[MongGrel]

I think as you get a bit older the self preservation kicks in a bit.

I would not consider doing half the things I did 30-35 years ago, when I was younger and thought I was half bullet proof.

 

[MrSquished]

Varies. Highest I've been on is about 80'. Most recent was probably 20'. I can climb straight up and down fine, and parking my ass in one place is fine, but walking laterally *really* bothers me. I get vertigo, then the anxiety ramps up, then the vertigo gets worse, then the anxiety... It's all mental. I do plenty of things that are objectively more dangerous, but something happened with heights over the years.

Yeah fuck that. I would never have done that ever. I always had a fear of heights, but I could walk across bridges like the Golden Gate, bike over the GWB, stop and lean on the guardrail and look over, and drive on narrow mountain roads with no guardrails. I'm not talking like the Alps, but the Atlas mountains in Morocco, Troodos in Cyprus. Still pretty high. Never again.

Shit like this is a no go:

And these new trending glass bottomed bridges in China? Not happenin:

 

[Red Squirrel]

I don't do a lot of highway driving but the highways here are pretty basic, single lane per side, non divided, not that much traffic. They don't bother me, just need to always have an eye out for moose, bears, etc. In town it's 2 lanes and way more traffic though.

If ever I have to go down south I avoid driving on the 400 series highways at all costs though - I always travel by another method such as bus, train etc and arrange my trip so I don't have to be driving in big cities. I'm sure I'd be fine, just not my idea of fun. And the traffic jams would be super frustrating. I get annoyed at the odd traffic jams here let alone those places.

Those walking bridges look fun, but don't know if I'd trust Chinese construction. But if they built something like that here I'd totally go on it.

 

[lxskllr]

A Chinese made glass bottom bridge would give me problems. I have issues with engineering I don't trust. I'm also not a fan of popup carnival rides. Don't trust the maintenance/assembly regimen.

 

[Annisman*]

I've driven tons of times from Niagara Falls to Toronto and Canadian drivers on the highway have taught me that fear is quite rational.

 

[Red Squirrel]

A Chinese made glass bottom bridge would give me problems. I have issues with engineering I don't trust. I'm also not a fan of popup carnival rides. Don't trust the maintenance/assembly regimen.

I was at one of those carnivals once and noticed some instructions on one of the rides, it said "turn bolts until they stop". The fact that this instruction is required did instill a lack of confidence in the whole thing. lol. Though I think the fact that they need to be assembled and taken down so often kinda forces an inspection to happen just by the fact that all the parts are handled and looked at, so they're probably actually pretty safe. As long as the carnies putting them together know to turn the bolts all the way lol.

 

[feralkid]

 

[foghorn67]

I developed the fear of man made heights that are stationary. Airplanes and helicopters don't count. Just balconies on high rises. Not sure what did that. I can hang out the side of a helicopter, no issues. Perfectly safe balcony or stairs, sweaty palms and a bit of anxiety.

 

[MrSquished]

I developed the fear of man made heights that are stationary. Airplanes and helicopters don't count. Just balconies on high rises. Not sure what did that. I can hang out the side of a helicopter, no issues. Perfectly safe balcony or stairs, sweaty palms and a bit of anxiety.

I feel your pain on those. One of my two jobs is a real estate photographer. I often shoot balconies with or without views. If it's like a few stories up, no problem. Throw me onto the 40th floor with a balcony with clear glass railing with city views, I'm going out there on my knees to shoot it. Meanwhile the residents have a couple chairs out there and sip their morning coffee on it. Go figure.

 

[Mai72]

Fear is an indicator that you should move towards the thing that scares you. So, if it's bridges, highway driving and overpasses you should encounter more of these obstacles. It's kinda like seeing that hot girl at the bar but the fear of rejection is in the way. Talk to 10,000 girls and the fear eases.

I had a fear of bridges a few years ago. That was until I started to drive from South Jersey to Philadelphia. I had to drive over the Walt Whitman Bridge. And, I was on a major highway. I hated it at the beginning. But, I did it enough times that it soon became routine.

 

[brianmanahan]

Fear is an indicator that you should move towards the thing that scares you.

this kind of breaks down when applied to vicious rabid pumas

 

[Carson Dyle]

Christ, I wouldn't want to climb a 5 ft ladder that was made in China.

this kind of breaks down when applied to vicious rabid pumas

And fat girls with bad skin and overbites?

 

[MongGrel]

Several cruise ships even have glass staircases going from a bar to a restaurant that are about 13 floors up over air, have done that a few times.

The Carnival Spirit was the first one I had seen, we were on the Fam cruise for that one before the first official cruise.

There is always the Grand Canyon one also, but have never been there.

 

[Chaotic42]

Yeah fuck that. I would never have done that ever. I always had a fear of heights, but I could walk across bridges like the Golden Gate, bike over the GWB, stop and lean on the guardrail and look over, and drive on narrow mountain roads with no guardrails. I'm not talking like the Alps, but the Atlas mountains in Morocco, Troodos in Cyprus. Still pretty high. Never again.

Shit like this is a no go:

And these new trending glass bottomed bridges in China? Not happenin:

I'd love to go on any of those.

 

[Muse]

I left just about all my fears, phobias, etc. behind when I stopped being a teenager. I've generally had a pretty strong sense of rationality and that's gradually informed my emotions. It's a really good thing. Fear of flying? Phfft! Fear of dying? Not.

 

[skull]

I left just about all my fears, phobias, etc. behind when I stopped being a teenager. I've generally had a pretty strong sense of rationality and that's gradually informed my emotions. It's a really good thing. Fear of flying? Phfft! Fear of dying? Not.

I had the opposite only with heights. Always been a pretty fearless dare devil and I don't even know when it started exactly but somewhere from teenage years to early twenties I developed a fear of heights. I think it has something to do with the acid and shrooms I did around that time. Bridges don't bother me, only ladders over 20ft, steep roofs and roller coasters. As a kid I ran around the theme park trying to trick my way into roller coasters I wasn't tall enough for yet. Loved em road every one at the local theme park, these days no fucking way. I did have a buddy that works maintenance at the local theme park tell me never ride any rides there, they hack the shit out of everything.

 

[sdifox]

Yeah fuck that. I would never have done that ever. I always had a fear of heights, but I could walk across bridges like the Golden Gate, bike over the GWB, stop and lean on the guardrail and look over, and drive on narrow mountain roads with no guardrails. I'm not talking like the Alps, but the Atlas mountains in Morocco, Troodos in Cyprus. Still pretty high. Never again.

Shit like this is a no go:

And these new trending glass bottomed bridges in China? Not happenin:

Judging by how many tempered glass windows blow up here, I am not trusting that glass bridge.


As to op, I am afraid this is just old age creeping up on ya. That list will slowly expand to the point you will become a shutin :awe:

 

[Charmonium]

Irrational fear is a biochemical process. I recently had to deal with something similar and the only thing that helped was medication. Now you would think benzos like klonopin or ativan would be the way to go for anxiety and yes, that does work for a lot of people. But in my case the thing that saved me was an atypical antipsychotic, brexpiprazole. This is a newer version of the older drug aripiprazole (Abilify).

These are normally used as adjunctive therapies for depression and anxiety because they are antagonists for a particular set of serotonin receptors that are over expressed in people plagued by those issues. But in my case, it worked fine just taking it on its own.

The change was nearly miraculous. The same thoughts that would have caused severe anxiety now pass w/o any emotional consequences at all. It takes about a week to kick in because the drug has a 3 day half life so you need about a week to reach steady plasma levels. But at least its not the normal 6-8 weeks that you normally have to wait for anti-depressants to work.