Does anyone else here get scared of taking public transport? I recently moved and they have a bus route in the new town I'm in, which would be super useful for me since i don't drive. However, I'm terrified of going on one!
I understand what you mean. I live in London, I'm fine with using the tube and other trains. But I always avoid buses (at least by myself!). I think it's social anxiety thing for me. And the fact there are a lot of loud mouths on buses. Not so much on the tube, most people just ignore each other.
Buses, trains and all kinds of public transport scare the hell out of me at the moment. Not just for terror activity, but also there are too many people around for my liking. It feels that everyone is looking at me and judging, even though I know that they are not. In my head is that everyone can see me and I don't like it. I don't want anyone to see me for some reason which I am not sure of. I'm hoping my therapy will bring the reason to light and maybe get over it in time.
@JCP Yeah on the bus there are so many people, and I'm always worried I'll get the change wrong since they only accept cash here. I also have a habit of getting lost easily, I'm so bad at reading timetables. @janemariesayed Same, I don't think I could ever take a train alone. Even when I'm with people I get nervous. Mind you, the only ones I've taken in my life are in Sydney, and they're awful. Yeah, I feel the same. I'm like "do I smell bad?" "am I sitting in the wrong spot?" "am I annoying people?" I end up wanting to escape but there isn't really away to do that when you're traveling. It can be a bit overwhelming.
I can understand how terryifying it must be in a bus full of strangers in a new town. "We tend to think all eyes and minds are on me". However, this is not necessarily true as almpst everyone has enough on their minds to bother about others. Most people just wish to fet on with their days and hardly care who is travelling with them. Remember, even if people look at you or think about you the moment they get down nobody really remembers you. So the best way to travel when scared is to just ignore people and be busy listening to music or reading a book.
Due to a lack of confidence, I also used to be terrified of getting on public transport, simply because it meant that I had to interact with other people in a closed environment. What i found helpful, was for the first few times go on there with a friend or a member of your family, just somebody to talk to and take your mind off the situation that you are in. For many people something as simple as catching a bus or a tram can be a huge ordeal so you certainly aren't alone. Just doing it a few times though can soon give you the confidence to carry on doing it, and eventually it will be another hurdle that you have crossed. It's the small victories such as this, slowly but surely that can give us the confidence we need to tackle the larger obstacles we can face in our lives.
@Decentlady That's true. People will probably see me the same way I see them, so they probably won't remember me later or won't really care that much anyway. But being there in the crowd it can be hard to remember that. So many people, so much noise, it can be hard to be rational at times. Practice makes perfect I guess, just gotta try to remember not to overthink it.
@pwarbi That would probably help to be honest. Going with someone else for the first trip so I could get a feel of what to expect. Unfortunately I don't have any friends or family where I live right now, but maybe I can ask one of my supports to help me out. Thanks for the tip.
We often hear people saying that the only way to get over something is to do it yourself, you can't rely on other people to always be around for you. I've had that said to me many times, and while that IS true and eventually we will have to start doing things on our own, in the beginning there's no harm at all in asking others for help, and especially when it comes to something like this. You'll probably even find that you will only need them with you a couple of times before you do gain the confidence to give it a go on your own. Also try the services at times that will be less busy, that way you can then work your way up to dealing with more and more people gradually. Getting on a bus or a tam in rush hour when it's full and everyone is crammed in, is something that even people who don't have an issue using public transport hate and try and avoid, never mind those of us who are still trying to get used to it.
I'm pretty terrified to avail a public transport, especially after evening. There're safety issues when co-passengers are less. I'm now pretty acquainted with public stare and glare, and learned to cope up with. However, when a route is new, I feel pretty uncomfortable even today. But, then for the daily commuters public transport is still better than many of the other means of transport. You are comparatively safer in a crowed place rather then being alone in any other mode of conveyance.
Even people that don't actually FEAR using public transport still don't like using it, and probably for the same reasons as them that fear it but they are just able to cope with it a lot better. I've often found that when talking to people who supposedly don't suffer from anxiety and depression, they have the same feelings as I do but they are just more in control of their feelings than what I am, and it's there where the problem is. Most of us have the same thoughts and feelings about most things, but only some people can not let it get to them and carry on regardless whereas others...me for example, tend to let it get to them and then the worry sets in...the anxiety...and then the feeling down because you have let it get to you in the first place and it's a vicious circle that can be very hard to get out of.
As a child I was always afraid, and once I missed my stop. I survived, and now I always try to plan a route and sit near the front of a new route to make sure I don't miss my stop. I have traveled on public transport all over the world and each time I get a little scared in case I end up in the wrong place, and it's happened a few times, but I have managed to find my way back. Often it's when there are express trains or when the bus or train has the wrong destination on it, but it's okay as long as I am alert. Recently I had to get a bus in an area I hadn't been to for a long time and it was a little scary. It was a short journey and I I was fine, but anxious until I saw my stop. I think most people are anxious when they are in strange areas, but we should never let that stop us.
I'm not really scared of riding buses or taking car pools and I even sleep on the way to work. The buses and service vans are the most convenient and inexpensive means of transportation for me. However, I wouldn't dare to take a public train ride again! The trains are always full and on the two occasions that I was forced to take the train, I had to stand on the entire 45 minutes travel and that's after a long day at work. Moreover, I has this lingering fear that someone out there is planning to plant a bomb and kill hundreds of people in one go. Sadly, security is poor in my country's public trains,
