Seems like a lot of mentally ill people don’t drive but I can’t imagine living without a car, I admire those who can. Do you drive?..Walk?..Ride a bike?..Take the bus?
I do drive though not during rush hour. It’s too much. I drive at night a lot and I can drive on non-peek times. I do walk, there are enough little mom and pop shops in my neighborhood I don’t need to drive for that gallon of milk or small item. Riding a bike, not so much. I just don’t seem to enjoy it. Never have. I swim a lot.
I will take the bus if I have to go down town in the thick of rush hour just so I don’t have to drive in angry chaos, plus, sometimes it’s nice not having to worry about finding parking.
The only problem I have with driving is a constant fear of breaking down, and when I do break down, I have a full-blown panic attack. It’s happened many times. But, I gotta get out of the house and I need my car to do it. Maybe someday if my meds are working out better I won’t be getting so stir crazy around the house and not need a car, but for now, my home life kinda sucks and I need to be able to get out.
I’m sorry to hear that. I’m Ok with breaking down. In fact there are a few times, the car didn’t start right a way and I just sort of wandered off and completely forgot about the car. Like Oh well, that 's over. Then I take a bus home and then my kid sis has to find the car.
For me it’s getting lost. If I get lost, then I’m in a full blown panic behind the wheel and I’m too scared to ask for directions. So then I drive back home and forget it. Sometimes I’m so freaked out about being lost that I’ll have to pull into the first coffee shop I see and sit in my car for a while and calm down.
I don’t drive. With my poor co ordination/reactions,visual spatial difficulties etc i would be a danger to others. Chances of me ever passing a driving test are 0-1%.
There is a guy I used to work with from Blackpool, (very opposite side from where you are I know) he has no MI, and he just didn’t drive because the U.K. has a much better transit structure then the U.S. With all the trains, busses and a good time table, he never saw the point of paying the congestion tax and the other high prices.
How is the transit in you area?
I don’t use buses or trains very much as i am wary of going too far from where i live but what i know of it it is quite good if you live in a populated area. Out in the sticks bus services have got increasingly infrequent and for travel purposes you really need a car.
I do drive, i try to avoid traffic as much as possible, but its hard to since i live in los angeles area and there is always traffic. I drive about 30 miles a day for pleasure, since i have started raw food i have more energy than i use to’ and staying home makes me borred, i go outside for a tea or chill with friend.
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L.A., much like Seattle. Traffic, horns, congestion. I’m very lucky that i can adjust my work hours to avoid the rush hours.
I do like to drive at night. I love to drive out of Seattle through some of the smaller quirky towns that boarder Seattle.
I have to drive. I don’t trust anyone else enough not to.
Sometimes if I’m feeling suicidal, 
I’ll let the kid sis drive. She is a scary driver. I know why she’s so bad… I’m the one who taught her. (she was 13 and I was drunk at the time) I reaped what I sew there.
I have to drive. It too much to be a passenger.
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I have to drive. Where I live, to get anywhere you need a car. Driving is actually somewhat calming for me, as long as I’m not in rush-hour traffic, or heavy roadwork where it’s down to one narrow lane with concrete barriers on both sides, or in a big city. If I’m hallucinating, I just drive more carefully, and I ignore the voice telling me to jerk the wheel to the side and smash into a telephone pole or something.
heavy roadwork where it’s down to one narrow lane with concrete barriers on both sides,
That is a killer. I always want to stick my hand out the window and knock over all the traffic cones. Silly I know, but I just want to.
yes i drive, im driving 8 years i just bought a toyota celica sports 00 very fast car, i bought it on the other side of the country, i really enjoy driving its a pleasure
I like to drive. I just don’t really have anywhere to go nowadays.
Depends on my mood and the weather, I might walk, take my bicycle, motorcycle, sedan…whatever it takes to get there.
i dont drive. im 23 my dAd drives me everywhere.
i get scared driving.
nervousness. impulse.
I drive. But not when I get hallucinations, then I quit driving until they are gone. Once I didn’t drive for 6 months.
I’m like comatose. I drive when i am healthy.
I don’t drive anymore. I haven’t for almost 2 years. Something about driving triggers my visual hallucinations. So I definitely don’t feel safe behind the wheel.
And I don’t really miss it either. Now, I walk everywhere I need to go. It’s a lot less stressful and I don’t have the expense of a car or auto insurance!
I drive - It’s a freedom I don’t think I could live without.
I took the bus everywhere from1990 to 1996. Than I got a car and I have driven since 1996.