NHTSA counted 40,901 traffic deaths across the United States in 2023, with 308 of them in Connecticut. Those are the numbers that get reported.

People involved in an automobile accident are impacted by it in different ways. Some adjust to daily routines, while some face limiting activities. Some fail to regain previous mobility, while others heal steadily.

Others, however, find that they face added costs for rehabilitation and therapy. Add to that vehicle repairs and alternative means of transportation.

Overcoming the fear and trauma after a car crash may be dealt with in different ways for different people. Still, there is a standard approach that can help. Let’s look at how to get rid of driving anxiety for those who got involved in a car accident.

There is a Documented Line, and It Sits at One Month

Public health agencies publish descriptions of expected stress reactions after a traumatic event to help people identify and understand them.

Most people have some stress reaction after a trauma, according to the VA National Center for PTSD. For most, fear, anxiety, and troubling memories gradually decrease over time.

A classification of PTSD includes four types of responses. These responses include reliving the event, avoiding things associated with the event, being vigilant, and changes in mood. Mood changes may include self-blame.

The National Institute of Mental Health or NIMH puts a duration on the clinical question. An adult diagnosed with PTSD must have the full set of symptom categories for at least one month.

Some symptoms appear in the first few weeks after a trauma. For some, symptoms may last past a month. If these symptoms start to impact the person’s daily activities, it can be a sign of PTSD. A health professional should examine the individual experiencing this situation.

The Claim Runs on a Different Clock Than Recovery

Many people find that filing claims and going through recovery can be mutually frustrating experiences. Recovery can be unpredictably lengthy and take unexpected paths, while claims tend to require quantification of injury and damages.

The gap between recovery time and claim time is well recognized in injury cases. A claim generally cannot be valued until the injured person reaches the peak of improvement, according to New Haven car accident lawyer James G. Williams, and the process can last a year or more.

The psychological impact of accidents, much like bodily injuries, often leaves a trail of medical records. When psychological treatment is documented, those records can serve as evidence in a personal injury claim. Concerns over paperwork shouldn’t prevent someone from seeking care.

Avoidance Can Reshape Daily Routines

The VA listed avoidance as one of the reactions people can experience following trauma that alters day-to-day activities and functions.

Driving issues can develop into larger avoidance issues. For example, avoiding driving after a car crash can start with avoiding certain streets but grow into avoiding driving altogether. This can lead to a person needing rides to go places or being unable to go anywhere at all.

Skipping the highway can feel like a fix, since the anxiety eases once the drive is off the table. That relief is brief, and every avoided trip reinforces the fear behind it. Over time, the list of roads a person can handle gets shorter. Gradual exposure can help break the cycle by working back toward the feared drives in small steps.

The effects of avoidance extend past commuting. It may start affecting a person’s ability to travel for work or take children to school.

What Is the Evidence Behind It?

A lot of trauma advice online does not list any study behind it. Still, agencies do use clinical research. The goal of exposure therapy is to gradually reduce fear, with the patient meeting the feared situation with decreasing alarm until avoidance and symptoms ease.

Drug treatment is narrower. Only two medications hold FDA approval for PTSD, sertraline and paroxetine, and NIMH notes that both are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

Symptoms must last more than one month to qualify for a PTSD diagnosis, but anyone whose reactions interfere with relationships, work or daily activities can speak with a counselor or doctor sooner. If reactions are interfering with relationships, work or other important activities, the VA suggests talking to a counselor or doctor.

Both the VA and NIMH list treatment options for these reactions.

The Part Nobody Tells You in the Emergency Department

Discharge paperwork lists the scans, their results, and the follow-up dates. It usually says nothing about the emotional aftermath. A driver who handles the highway on Tuesday may freeze on it by Friday and wonder whether that is normal.

Most people have some stress reaction after a trauma, and it is treatable. PTSD is diagnosed only after symptoms last at least one month. Evidence-based treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy, which can incorporate exposure therapy.