Imagine you are driving on a highway when suddenly everything around you starts feeling  strange, like unreal and the steering wheel is far away from your hands. For a moment, you feel as though you are not even in the car. You’re conscious enough to keep driving, but everything feels foggy, as if you are seeing it from outside your own body. It is as if this would occur at a speed of 60 miles per hour. Alarming? Yes, but to many, this disorienting experience, known as dissociation while driving, is an unsettling reality. This type of “mental disconnect” can strike at any time, leaving the driver feeling detached from surroundings and it’s a powerful mental shift that can put not only the driver but other people in a car at risk too.

So, what is it that brings on this weird feeling? How can you catch it before it takes over and-most importantly-how can you stop it? Let’s take apart the real risks, explore why this occurs, and cover practical steps to keep your focus steady and your mind fully present on the road.

What Causes Dissociation While Driving?

Dissociation while driving is a condition wherein one feels disconnected from reality or even from himself or herself while operating a vehicle. Some of the most common forms of dissociation include derealization, the feeling that the world around you is unreal, and depersonalization, in which you feel as though you are not in your body or as though you are acting in a way that is not quite like you. Both states feel so unreal specially when you are driving in a high speed, and this diminishes situational awareness makes it harder to maintain mental engagement with the task of driving. People dissociate for numerous reasons while driving, and understanding these causes is one of the essential steps before preventing such situations.

Two of the most common reasons for derealization while driving are stress and anxiety. Driving itself can be stressing, especially when the person is in heavy traffic or if he or she is an unfamiliar route. For such people who have anxiety easily, the tension of driving conditions may cause them to dissociate. Fatigue and sleep deprivation are also significant contributors. When a person is tired, their cognitive ability becomes impaired, which clouds the mind and can create a form of mental disengagement that can resemble dissociation. This often occurs due to chronic sleep disorders, a busy schedule, or the routine and sometimes monotonous nature of long commutes, which can all make the mind disengage from the task at hand.

These feelings of detachment may be instigated especially in those with a traumatic past or even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from flashbacks or memories regarding driving along certain routes or being within some specific contexts. Broadly, trauma impacts all psychological operations of the psychological functions, for instance attention and perception. Therefore when they feel hurt or become overwhelmed by the emotions possibly that may come while driving they dissociate themselves to feel the pain. Others experience their dissociation as a result of other mental disorders. Therefore, some may experience disorders of dissociation, other anxiety disorders, or disorders of depression. Such ones with disorders of dissociation can have depersonalization or derealization not only while driving, but the attention involved will sustain it to drive even more, disconnecting these people from the activity.

Symptoms of Dissociation while Driving

There are several reasons dissociating while driving, but here are some some noted symptoms of Dissociation, you should not ignore: 

• Feelings of observing oneself from outside the body.
• The world around feels surreal or dreamlike.
• Gaps in memory; drivers may arrive at their destination with little to no recollection of the journey.
• More likely to occur on familiar routes, where habit memory can lead to a “blank out” state.
• Distorted perception of time; some drivers may feel that time is moving too slowly or too quickly, causing confusion about the duration of their drive.

Why people dissociate during driving require an understanding for a remedial approach? For some, dull mental stimulation associated with routine drives, such as commuting, leads the mind away from the task. For others, overstimulation, such as the cacophony of rush hour or complicated intersections,  causes dissociation as the brain attempts to protect itself against stress. Some people are more prone to dissociation when they have underlying anxiety or mental health issues. The desperation of the mind to seek a respite from this constant demands of everyday life increases the possibility of depersonalization while driving in individuals with chronic fatigue and burnout.

Prevention of Dissociation While Driving 

Prevention of dissociation while driving requires efforts to be mindful and be grounded in the present. Grounding is the ability to focus on breathing, observe your surroundings or engage one’s senses to stay connected to the current moment. For instance, a person may pay attention consciously to the feeling of the steering wheel, the sounds of the engine, or the surrounding views of the car as ways to compensate for this disconnection. Regular breaks while driving can also alleviate the situation as getting out of the car for some time can be refreshing both to the body and the mind. Fatigue is the most significant precipitating factor for dissociation, and, if possible, it would be wise to avoid driving when feeling tired or alternate drivers.

Moreover, in order to engage the mind significantly, one might take varying routes, which can be an exciting activity particularly for longer drives and repetitive routes. The newness of the route provokes the mind, which is prone to falling into a state of autopilot, thereby reducing the risk of having a dissociative episode. Mindfulness is a great prevention tool. Outside of driving, practice of mindfulness through meditation or other focused-breathing exercises can help better, thus making it easier to maintain presence while driving.

However, in these circumstances, if this tends to frequently occur while driving, we advise you to involve a mental health expert for determining the problems and means of coping and particular therapies that may be of some use in working through the actual causes of the dissociation. Cognitive-behavioral therapy would serve well for a patient when dealing with the issues at the routes. Some could get better by bringing changes in lifestyle or receiving adequate therapeutic intervention to get grounded and decrease episodes of dissociation.

Lastly

Dissociation can be very debilitating behind the wheel, specifically when so much vigilance is expected while driving. Being alerted to signs of dissociation and its triggers allows individuals to take protective measures so that it might not come to pass hence making sure drives are better and even safer. For those who have more chronic or severe dissociative symptoms, should definitely look for trustable mental health professionals like The Rehab Support. It may be an excellent way to arm one with tools and guidance about how to get through both the road and life with greater confidence and presence.

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