Fear of Bridges Research and Further Information
Driving Anxiety and The Fear of Bridges: Making Sense of Gephyrophobia
Driving anxiety can be a generalized fear triggered by getting behind the wheel of a vehicle. But the fear of bridges – also known as gephyrophobia – is an intense anxiety that stems from having to drive over a bridge. This fear can be triggered by driving across any kind of bridge, although bridges that are narrow, long, or over gorges or bodies of water can provoke the most acute anxiety in motorists.
People who suffer from gephyrophobia know that their fears may be irrational, but plunge headlong into a panic attack when faced with the need to drive across a bridge. They may experience a “fight or flight” response, which provokes physical symptoms such as increased heart rate and respiration, sweating, nausea, and shaking. They may experience an emotional response in which they feel like they will lose control or die. They may also give in to catastrophic thinking – asking themselves, “What if” and believing in the worst case scenario; for example, they may immediately jump to the conclusion that they will have an accident and drive off the bridge.
This fear is intense, powerful, and can feel overwhelming. But studies show that phobias are learned behaviors and as such, can be unlearned as well. In this article, we will take a closer look at gephyrophobia and how it can be treated with a self-help regimen.
Gephyrophobia: More Common Than You Might Think
Dr. Michael R. Leibowitz, professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University, calls gephyrophobia “not an isolated phobia, but usually part of a larger constellation” of issues. Quoted in a 2008 New York Times article, Dr. Leibowitz says that gephyrophobia is not as widely accepted by the general public as, say, a fear of flying, but can be paralyzing nonetheless. The “larger constellation” he refers to is a fear of heights and/or a fear of open spaces, which can also trigger anxiety about driving over bridges. In other words, if you have a fear of heights, you may not experience driving phobia unless you have to drive across a bridge.
This fear is common enough that some of the biggest bridges in the world offer a specialized service for travelers. The Tappan-Zee Bridge in New York offers a chauffeur service for those drivers who cannot bear to drive across the bridge, which rises 150 feet above the Hudson River. The Mackinac Bridge in Minnesota and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland offer similar services. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will send tow truck drivers to pull motorists who panic and stop in the middle of the bridge.
While towing or chauffeur options are nice in theory, they don’t correct the fundamental issue at heart: taking control of the phobia. At some point, a motorist would have to cross a bridge that doesn’t offer an escort service – or simply find a way never to cross that bridge. In fact, never crossing bridges becomes a way of life. For example, Jan Steers, quoted in the same NYT article as Dr. Leibowitz, simply stayed on Staten Island for 13 years, missing her brother’s wedding and other family milestones due to her fear of bridges. Missing out on family and friends shouldn’t be a way of life, and there are treatment options available for those who suffer from this debilitating phobia.
Treating Driving Anxiety with Self-Help
Experts have found that treating driving phobia and even fear of bridges can be accomplished just as effectively with a self-help program as with traditional therapy. According to a study quoted in Helen Staul’s book Phobias: Fighting the Fear (Arcade, 2004), agoraphobics were separated into three groups: one that received a book called Living with Fear, one that received exposure therapy tasks from a therapist, and one that received exposure therapy directives from a computer program. All three groups improved at almost the same rate, and to the same degree.
Self-help has several advantages over traditional therapy when it comes to treating phobias. These reasons may make it possible for patients to seek out relief from self-help regimens rather than traditional therapy:
- Self-help is affordable, and doesn’t require insurance coverage;
- Self-help is private, and no one has to know about it except the person undergoing treatment;
- Self-help is empowering, as it puts people in control of their phobias;
- Self-help is customizable, allowing people to choose which types of therapy work best for them.
Treatment Options for Gephyrophobia
A self-help regimen to cure the fear of driving over bridges will implement many different techniques. These techniques are designed to calm the “fight or flight” panic response triggered in the mind and in the body by the irrational fear of crossing the bridge.
The physical symptoms of a panic attack are shaking, sweating, increased heart rate and respiration, and nausea. So the self-help regimen should contain techniques that help ease these physical symptoms. Breathing exercises are helpful at calming the heart rate and slowing respiration down to a normal speed. During a panic attack, levels of the stress hormone cortisol rise in the body. Studies have shown that laughter can actually reduce cortisol levels, thus making laughter therapy a good option for those suffering from panic attacks.
The emotional symptoms of a panic attack include overwhelming feelings of fear, as though the sufferer will lose control or die. Catastrophic thinking, which means imagining the worst-case scenario, is also common. Visualization, in which the sufferer deliberately switches his thought process to a neutral or happy path, is a good way to halt the emotional onslaught. Writing down a script, in which the person imagines the worst case scenario and then comes up with rational and factual arguments against catastrophic thinking, is also a good treatment option.
Self-help regimens can be customized so that people who suffer from fear of crossing bridges can pick and choose which treatments work best for their needs. Some people do well with exposure therapy, while others find that cognitive behavioral methods, like the ones described above, work well. In the end, it doesn’t matter which treatment option is successful. The point is to make that crucial first step in seeking out a self-help regimen and then put it into practice. In that way, people who suffer from gephyrophobia can find permanent relief from their fears.
