Potential Causes Of Anxiety For A Racecar Driver

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When you're a race car driver, you need to be focused and confident when you're in the driver's seat. Unfortunately, feelings of anxiety can emerge for a number of reasons, and they can often be big enough that they keep you out of victory lane. Anxiety issues can last for a long time, and may continue to worsen until you ask for help. Fortunately, you can book some sessions with an anxiety therapist to discuss the reasons for your race-day anxiety and work together to find solutions that will leave your anxiety in the dust. Here are some potential reasons that a race car driver may encounter anxiety.

A Death on the Track

Driving a race car is a dangerous business, and there's a potential for a fatal accident every time the green flag waves. While it's true that most races finish without injuries or deaths, fatalities are common enough in motorsports that they're a concern for most drivers. It's possible that you were driving during a race in which someone died. Going through this tragedy can often lead to feelings of anxiety. For example, you might be tentative about returning to the same track or competing as ferociously as you used to.

A Mechanical Problem

As a racer, you're likely comfortable with navigating your way around any track — and in doing so, you've undoubtedly developed a trust for your car. However, if you've recently suffered a mechanical problem that resulted in an accident, your faith in your vehicle and in your pit crew may have dwindled, resulting in anxiety. For example, if one of the tires wasn't fully tightened during a pit stop, it may have come loose and caused you to have a hard crash. It's easy to feel anxiety during future races as you wonder if all of your car's tires are tightly secured.

A Penalty

While it might not be as serious as the previous two potential causes of anxiety, you may have recently received a penalty on the track. For example, perhaps you were penalized for driving too aggressively. This can lead to anxiety during future races as you may worry about being penalized again, and then decide to back off the throttle a bit. This new behavior can obviously affect your ability to succeed, which isn't what you want. Through a series of anxiety therapy sessions, you'll ideally be able to put whatever is bothering behind you so that you can once again race confidently.

Talk to professionals, like those at Lehigh Valley Counselors, for more information.


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