Fear of traffic lights (Fanariphobia) is more common than you might think.
Let’s look at what causes this problem and what you can do to get rid of it.
If you want help with it then I work online with people all over to world to help them overcome the fear of traffic lights in as little as one session. Contact me now for help.
The video above explains more about the fear of traffic lights
Why do I have a fear of traffic lights?
You have a fear of traffic lights because stopping at a red light triggers a memory.
The memory will be of something unpleasant that happened in your life and it’s often got nothing to do with driving at all. It won’t be something you’re able to think of just by wondering what it is because it’s not stored in the same place as those easy-to-access memories are.
The memory, sensation or symbol you’re looking for is located in your subconscious mind and that’s why things like CBT, counselling and other therapies fail. They all work with your conscious mind so they’re looking in the wrong place.
You don’t need to understand exactly what’s going on between the conscious and subconscious mind to overcome this problem but the video below explains this in more detail.
Whether your problem is traffic lights, bridges, highways, or anything else, this is how it works.
This video explains how your mind created the problem
Why you have a panic attack at lights
How does the memory of something from years ago give you a panic attack today?
Your mind has no concept of time so whatever the pain is that your mind has chosen, you’ll relive it just like that old event is happening now.
It’s the same as how listening to music can make you feel emotions. You’ll smile or feel sad as you feel the same emotions you had when you heard that song before.
But how does this work with traffic lights?
If you watch the video at the top of this page you’ll hear about a case I worked on where someones fear of traffic lights was caused by getting a red card at a football game.
Consider the symptoms they had: their face was tingling, their heart rate increased, they felt stupid, embarrassed, and ashamed, all in front of a group of people.
The feelings they had at the football match and at the lights are one and the same.
This is why your anxiety feels so odd and inexplicable when you get to traffic lights:
You’re reliving a bad feeling from the past which has nothing to do with traffic lights!
This is why driving lessons or exposure therapy are never going to help. Your anxiety has nothing to do with taking more lessons or getting more practice – it’s all about this past event.
Release the past and you can start living the future.
How to overcome the fear of traffic lights
Once you have found the feeling that you’re linking to lights you can start to change things.
That feeling served a purpose at one time in your life. It had some meaning and helped you in some way but now it’s just annoying and makes you get scared at traffic lights.
The memory thinks that it’s still doing a good job though. That’s why the more you push against it and try to fight it off, the worse it gets. It just wants to help you!
Finding the relevant memory as described above is just one way of doing it. There are many others and it’s at this stage that you need professional help.
I understand that many people feel embarrassed about this problem but I’ve heard it all before. Some people just want a quick fix in a 20 minute YouTube video but that isn’t going to work.
You need professional help to get over this and to help show you how that works, let’s look at a case involving a past client of mine.
How we fixed Fanariphobia – a case study
Someone contacted me expressing the usual concerns about traffic lights.
Whenever they were waiting at lights they would get sweaty palms, their heart beat faster and they felt sick in their stomach.
As we spoke about their problem they had the thought of hills come into their mind. They had no idea where this had come from and they didn’t have a fear of driving downhill.
A memory came up of a time when they were a young child being driven by their parents. Their parents started having an argument which made them feel very afraid due to all the shouting.
That stress and anxiety stayed in their mind, quietly sitting there doing nothing for decades.
Something about traffic lights triggered that memory so it brought the same sensations back to make them bad.
Despite them now being in their 40s, they were reliving that moment of their parents arguing. They felt exactly the same now as they had as a child over 30 years ago.
Exactly what that trigger was we’ll never know. It could have been that they stopped at some lights during the argument but you don’t always get to find out exactly what the cause is.
That memory was released and the problem was gone, all in under one hour!
I have simplified this a little but that’s roughly what happened.
Another case study on the fear of traffic lights
How I can help you
Working as a driving instructor for 20 years brought me into contact with hundreds of anxious drivers.
That’s what made me go on to study the mind and various forms of therapy. I wanted to find a solution that worked because just driving more doesn’t help.
I now work online with people all over the world. There’s no need to get in a car for this or to travel to meet me. You can overcome this problem from the comfort of home!
I understand that not everyone can do this. That’s why I have over 700 free videos on my YouTube channel but as much as they can help, I can only give you my best service by you working with me online.
Contact me for help
Contact me now to arrange a call where we can discuss your problem to see how I can help.
