There are a variety of ways anxiety and panic symptoms can affect your life. Traveling any distance from home can be especially difficult when anxiety convinces you that you are unable to leave, be farther away, or be in the air, on water, or in an enclosed area. There are very effective ways to work through this and get back to going where you want to go!
Exposure therapy is a very effective treatment for travel anxiety. With a mental health professional’s guidance, you and your therapist can plan out steps to take and conquer the fear in each situation. Keep in mind that what may seem like one step there are actually likely smaller steps encapsulated in there. Riding a ferry, for example, may seem like just one step. I challenge you to consider the different smaller components that make up riding on a ferry. An exposure hierarchy may include a ladder-like approach to work your way up to riding a ferry. First, you may look up the different local ferry options. Then, read about or look at pictures of the different boats available. Following, you may look up the lengths of travel, and choose the shortest route. Next, you might consider if it easier to travel alone or with others and then talk with your family and friends about who can go. Then, you can choose a date that is not too soon that you won’t have enough time to prepare but also not so distant into the future that you don’t feel the power of the discomfort needed to successfully complete an exposure (your therapist can be especially helpful with this). After, you might purchase the tickets. Still after, you may drive to the ferry dock, watch ferries come and go, or just practice doing that part of the travel exposure. You will also need to decide if you would like to drive in a car as either the driver or passenger, or be a walk-on passenger. All of this occurs before the actual ride takes place. Then, when the date comes, you go on the ferry, which involves even more steps on the actual boat that can intensify the exposure and also help you build your brave muscles. These steps may include where you will stay on the boat (inside, outside, level, sitting, standing, with others, with a large crowded area, by yourself, only with your travel companion), will you eat or drink and if so what and when, managing motion sickness if you are prone to that, driving on and off, coping with being parked on an incline or decline, talking with people you don’t know, managing a panic attack if one occurs, and then your plan for a return trip either by ferry or another route. Your therapist can help you decide what steps are the easiest to hardest (this varies from person to person), and help you navigate each one with the appropriate skill set. This is very important for exposures, as we don’t want to be too relaxed or overcome with fear to the point of shut-down.
Completing an exposure like this can be challenging, but also very thrilling! I have seen people who have successfully grown and experienced true freedom from anxiety with this approach, and that is my goal of helping you live your life with meaning and purpose. Let’s get where you’re going!
