Fear of crossing bridges
Fear of bridges is something many people suffer from silently. It affects some people more than others. Where one person only gets a stomach ache if he has to walk, bike or drive over a bridge, the other will try to adjust the whole route just to avoid having to drive over a bridge. Because we even have roads in the Netherlands that pass under canals, this is another thing that is possible.
To make sure that you can just take the shortest route to your destination, in this blog I discuss overcoming the fear of crossing bridges.
Fear of bridges
Bridge anxiety can be very multifaceted. You are on your way to something and suddenly you have to cross a bridge. Especially if you have to cross a large bridge, such as over one of the major rivers in the Netherlands, fear can suddenly strike.
For example, you may be afraid that the bridge will collapse, or conversely, you may be afraid that you will collapse on the bridge because of the fear and you actually don't even know exactly why you are afraid yet.
If you suffer from a fear of driving or a fear of heights, you’re often more likely to have a fear of bridges as well. For example, you might worry about falling off the bridge or having your car break down in the middle of it and blocking all the traffic.
Recognizing fear of bridges
You freeze through fear and pull your car over. You may even have your children on the phone mentally supporting you for this one time to cross the bridge.
You may experience the following symptoms with fear of bridges:
- Accelerated Heart Rate
- Breathe Faster
- Sweat
- Vibrate
- Crying
- Slow down driving/biking/walking or standing still
- Tension in your muscles
- Goosebumps
Origin of fear of bridges
To overcome fear, it is often necessary to know why the fear of bridges arose. In the past, at least, I never thought about the fact that a bridge could collapse. Then suddenly a bridge collapsed somewhere in the U.S. It eventually became clear that the bridges there were not being adequately maintained and had rusted.
Then all of a sudden we also got into speed regulation at bridges over major rivers. For those of you who have driven on the A2 in Germany, there is often a traffic jam before the bridge that crosses the Rhine because everyone is only allowed to cross at 60 kilometers per hour. In addition, the road on such a long bridge never feels as smooth as it does on earth.
Occurrences and measures such as these can, of course, create the fear of bridges.
In addition, the fear may have been passed down from your parents —for example, if one of them also suffered from it—or it may have been triggered by a past event.
If you don’t have a clear cause for your fear of bridges, a hypnotherapist can help you with regression therapy. During such regression therapy, you delve into your subconscious to search for beliefs and memories that have caused your fear of bridges.
When a memory is the cause of such fear, regression therapy allows you to look at that moment in a different way than when you first experienced it. As a result, your fear of bridges can already be overcome.
Overcoming fear of bridges
Overcoming the fear of crossing bridges can be done in several ways. As mentioned, regression therapy can play a role in overcoming the fear of bridges. In addition, you can use cognitive behavioral therapy. These techniques are often more effective if you undergo them while under hypnosis. This is why most hypnotherapists use them as well.
Which bridge is the scariest?
In one of these techniques, you make a list of the fears you have with bridges. Various scenarios you list from least scary, to most scary.
Such as walking on a footbridge, walking on a bike bridge, walking on a bridge that is also for cars and then these scenarios by bike and by car.
Putting these events in order from least scary to most frightening allows you to gradually face that fear.
Initially, this can be done, for example, through visualizations of those events, such as a guided visualization led by a hypnotherapist. If you experience symptoms of anxiety during such a visualization, you can immediately practice techniques to prevent that anxiety response.
Most of the time, in fact, physical anxiety only fuels fear more. By stopping or reducing the physical reaction to fear, you often make a big step toward completely overcoming your fear of crossing bridges.
Gain confidence at the bridge
If you fear the bridge will collapse just as you are driving over it, it is important to regain confidence in it. If your fear lies more with your own driving skills, you may want to see if there is anything you can do about driving anxiety.
Changing beliefs across the bridge
One of the first things you can do is identify what beliefs you have that make you afraid to cross a bridge.
You can often figure out these beliefs by asking yourself the why question several times.
Why am I afraid to cross bridges? Answer > why this answer? Answer > why this answer?
With that method, you often get to deep underlying beliefs that are often more in your subconscious than your conscious. Then you can ask yourself if that belief is logical, and if it's not, ask yourself if a logical belief is the opposite. By repeating those logical beliefs during self-hypnosis, you can reduce the fear of bridges.
Visualizations for greater confidence in the bridge and yourself
Another hypnosis technique you can use is visualizations. If you are afraid that you will suddenly start driving very oddly on the bridge, you can actually visualize how crossing the bridge will go if it does go well.
You then visualize yourself sitting in your car, "feeling" the steering wheel in your hands, so to speak, and smelling the smell your car normally has. You see the traffic around you and react appropriately when someone changes lanes or the road suddenly narrows.
During such a visualization, you also visualize the emotions that you have, or rather that you want to have. You visualize calm breathing, feeling in control of your car and feeling insightful about the road and traffic around you.
If you find it difficult to do this from scratch, a hypnotherapist can first help you with a guided visualization in which everything goes just right.
Staying calm as you cross the bridge
Sometimes even before you have conquered the fear, you may need to control your fear simply because you need to drive over a bridge. In that case, there are several ways to stay calm.
Keep breathing
Your brain needs oxygen to function properly, but not too much so don't hyperventilate. Keep breathing calmly as you drive across the bridge. It doesn't matter if you smell diesel and gasoline odors. This is all part of it and if the air smells like that, at least you have enough oxygen in your system to notice it.
In the process, you can suppress the rest of your bodily reactions with it, such as muscle tension in your arms. With each breath, remember that you are sending oxygen to the place that feels tense to make it more relaxed.
Focus your attention on the road
If you’re experiencing a panic attack, you might start paying attention to everything except the road. For example, you might notice that the fear is making you dizzy, and you’ll focus solely on your body. Try to keep your attention on the road anyway. Notice the other cars around you; feel how the tires make contact with the road—you can often sense this through the seat you’re sitting on. Hear the sound of the wind gliding past your car.
Stay in the here and now
Keeping focus on the road and breathing is important to stay in the here and now with your thoughts. You can have all kinds of thoughts about what could go wrong, but by staying with your thoughts and focus on the road, you anticipate much faster when things do go wrong. As a result, everything will actually go right instead of wrong.
Driving a car is primarily a game of anticipating fellow road users, especially on a busy bridge.
Want to learn more about overcoming fears? Join the free online masterclass on hypnosis.
Or come to a seminar and/or check out the courses offered by the Hypnosis Institute of the Netherlands.
Also pin this handy infographic: