Well...first...ARE they bad intersections?

Because I can probably name a few dozen intersections that I avoid if I can.

If you're concerned about your driving skills, perhaps you could get a friend or hire a driving instructor to give you some tips.

Or maybe just some practice? Pick a quiet night with good weather, and just go out and practice when not so many people are on the road?

They aren't bad intersections, I just get this overwhelming feeling if I use that specific one I will have an accident.

I am usually such a confident driver. I used to drive 1000 kilometers to University and back home every 2 months. I know I have the driving skills, it's just this gut feeling if that makes sense?

Is it more like OCD...where you can't stop thinking about it?

I have very little direct experience with OCD, although I know a number of people who have been treated for it and have done well. Perhaps someone else has more experience and can share.

I do have a lot of OCD tendencies so it would make sense I suppose. I spoke to my psychiatrist about it and she just said oh that's strange...so I feel like maybe I'm just weird and it's just a stupid thing I cant get over

I understand what you feel, in some part, since I moved to another state and the driving is so different from where I was. So, when I drive I do get concerned that other careless drivers might cause an accident. I see them all the time. My daughter started driving and it is nerve- wrecking!!

Its not so much a fear of driving and other careless drivers its more a thing where in my head I feel as though I will have an accident if I go to those certain intersections. It feels almost like a premonition if that makes sense?

Oh definitely not "weird", and far, far, FAR from alone.

But as I said my experience is only hearing about things second hand.

Hmm. My first question is that the psychiatrist is not exactly on the same page as you are in finding the worst symptom and moving through that process.

I was hit from the back while a passenger in a small car by a "monster truck", and suffered whiplash in the parking lot. The driver of the truck got out and threatened me, and the police were contacted. It took me several years before I would even drive down that particular row in that parking lot.

Finally, a friend and a police officer met me there, and walked me through the whole parking lot and then had me drive down the row and park in the same space. To make a long story short, it worked.

The thought process you are sharing about intersections may reveal something else entirely as you journal more about your feelings. Premonition often reveals other things rather the one that is present in the moment.

Best wishes! You are not alone with those types of thoughts.

I know the anxiety all too well and I validate it rather than fight it. Traffic is not getting any less dangerous and the need for defensive driving is still growing.

Talking to traffic cops and/or defensive driving instructors is my favorite way to validate the need with some profoundly calming and effective tips and tricks.

I can understand driving anxiety, but I'm learning to drive at the moment so maybe it's not the same thing. Every time I drive my shoulders are constantly hunched, and I'm hyperaware but also unable to make good judgements as if I weren't anxious. It's more because my parents are always putting pressure on me because of how I may raise insurance or damage the car, and are constantly shouting and criticizing if I drive.
I wish public transportation was an option where I live, or better yet, being able to walk everywhere.

Since you said it's been lately.... and only in certain intersections... did something happen in one of those intersections that you saw on the news, or witnessed in person, or heard about someone that did get into a car accident there? It feels to me that something specific triggered this new fear.

Maybe you could start there. And, I would suggest driving with someone and go through these intersections with another person right there in the passenger seat. To face this fear. So that it doesn't grow into a bigger fear of more intersections or streets. Have you ever driven through these intersections before? By yourself, or with someone else?

I have driven the intersections as a passenger but I tense up and I have to start my breathing exercises to keep me calm.
The one intersection I have seen a minor accident on, but the others I don't know. Maybe it is the trigger from the accident.

I'm terrified to face the fear but maybe just being a passenger at the intersections first might ease me into it a bit

Thank you all for the help, I've felt so isolated. I don't know anyone else who has ever experienced something like this

I would encourage you to face this phobia. I say this because I was the same way. First, I was afraid to turn left because I couldn't just sit there waiting to turn, and not moving the car. So I ended up making a bunch of right turns, to avoid making any left turns. Then from there, I couldn't drive far anymore.. Etc. Etc. Then eventually, I really don't drive at all anymore. I wish I had faced this fear from the very beginning. Because it only got worse for me.

These types of fears (such as driving, flying, spiders, heights, etc.... more the phobias) can grow into a bigger, more unmanageable fear if not tackled pretty early on. I don't want to see this happen to you. A therapist could help you also. Good luck!

I have experienced anxiety with driving. In my early teens I had a family member die in a car accident. This incident cased me fear of driving with someone else in the car. I could drive perfectly ok by myself but once someone was a passenger I would panic. I found a therapist who worked with anxiety and phobias. We would get into my car together and drive a while until I started to feel anxious then we would turn around and start at the same place we left from. I was instructed to ground myself when the anxiety got worse. I was instructed to pick something out in my vehicle that I could glance at that would remind me to ground myself to ease the anxiety. After several trials of driving some distance and turning around grounding then starting all over it started to work. Try getting into your car and driving close to the location of that intersection once you feel your getting too anxious turn around and start from the beginning once you calm and ground yourself return to driving toward that location again. Do this until your able to pass through it. Give yourself time though and it may be helpful to start as a passenger first. Remember to find something in the vehicle that will help you remember to ground yourself. Big fuzzy dice lol