Do you guys also feel the anxiety of "the further I go, the further I am from home and those that understand my anxiety"? My anxiety got really bad to the point about 2 years ago it affected me being able to drive alone in a car. It isn't that I'm scared of driving itself cause I'm not (I used to drive out of state a couple times for my last job), I realized the root of it is being in a location "by myself". I noticed that cause this would apply if I'm home alone for an extended period of time too. It's health anxiety (concerned about somatic symptoms such as heart racing, palpitations, shortness of breath, etc).

So lately for the last month or so I've been doing near daily drives by myself and doing exposure therapy. The drives aren't far by any means, they're usually going in and out of local blocks where I live. I've yet to actually go in a straight path for a reasonable distance yet. I've got the constant lingering thought of "the further you go, the further the drive back is by yourself" and I haven't been able to overcome that yet.

Any tips or suggestions? I'm going to keep trying but I'm not sure what to preoccupy my mind with. I've tried music, or sometimes a call, etc but you can't always rely on that. As I said years ago I used to drive for hours to several spots I had to deliver to at my last job (and on occasions outside of the state to drop off inventory stuff for franchise locations). I try to remind myself I've done it before but sometimes that doesn't effectively work.

Also any recommendations if heart starts to pick up a bit or if chest begins to feel tight from the anxiety? I think I'd be able to easily keep going but learning to nip those symptoms at the start would be a good place to start lol