| |
| |
|
Positive Attitude Information |
|
|
|
Anger And Your Driving
Are you driving under the influence of impaired emotions? Dateline: December 4, 2002. Orange County ,California. A 29 year old man was shot to death, an apparent victim of road rage. According to newspaper accounts, he had a reputation for never backing down from a fight. The man and his half brother were heading home from a plumbing job when the trouble began. Apparently, three men in another car zoomed in front of their car. These men started hurling profanities and flashing obscene gestures at the brothers, who returned the insults. Things escalated until a gun was pulled. Rather than backing down, the man got out of his car and began walking toward the gunman. Two shots rang out, missing the man who then continued to walk toward the gunman until he was shot and killed. While this tragic incidence is illustrative of an extreme case of aggressive driving, there are thousands of lesser cases in the United States yearly. According to he AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, incidents of aggressive driving have increased by 7% every year since 1990; however, few courts mandate anger management treatment for traffic offenders. FIVE ZONES OF AGGRESSIVE DRIVING Research by Dr. Leon James at the University of Hawaii reveals five categories of aggressive driving. Which zone do you or a loved one fall in? THE UNFRIENDLY ZONE - Example: closing ranks to deny someone entering your lane because you're frustrated or upset. HOSTILE ZONE - Example: Tailgating to pressure another driver to go faster or get out of the way. VIOLENT ZONE- Example: Making visible obscene gestures at another driver. LESS MAYHEM ZONE- Example: Pursuing other cars in a chase because of provocation or insult. MAJOR MAYHEM ZONE - Example: Getting out of the car and beating or battering someone as a result of a road exchange. DO AGGRESSIVE DRIVERS SEE THEMSELVES AS SUCH? According to Dr. James and his research team, drivers who consider themselves as almost perfect in excellence (with no room to improve) also confessed to significantly more aggressiveness than drivers who see themselves as still improving. What this means is that despite their self-confessed aggressiveness, 2 out of 3 drivers still insist on seeing themselves as near perfect drivers with almost no room to improve. These drivers see "the other guy" as the problem and thus do not look at their own aggressive driving behavior. WHAT CAUSES AGGRESSIVE DRIVING BEHAVIOR? While there is no one standard definition for aggressive driving, many psychologists see anger as the root cause of the problem. Regardless of the provocation or the circumstances related to problems on the road, it is ultimately our emotional state, our stress levels and our thinking patterns that either cause us to drive aggressively or lead us to be the victims of others. In short, many of get us get in trouble because we are driving under the influence of impaired emotions, especially anger. Like drunk driving, aggressive driving is more than a simple action or carelessness; it is a behavioral choice that drivers make. It is normal and natural to feel angry when certain events frustrate us on the road. But, how do you deal with these angry feelings to cope with the situation more effectively? TWO WAYS TO COPE WITH IMPAIRED DRIVING EMOTIONS: Research clearly shows that reducing stress and changing your self-talk can help you cope. 1.REDUCE YLUR STRESS. Driving is emotionally challenging because unexpected things happen constantly with which we must cope. We often drive under the pressure of time, or the pressure of congestion and delays which add to our general stress level. Suggestions include listening to relaxing music or educational tapes on the road, leaving 15 minutes sooner, and getting up earlier so you are less rushed. 2. CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE with different self-talk. As a result of earlier life experiences, we all have "automatic" thoughts that are generated by our mind when certain "triggers" occur when driving. We can change our perspective and thus our angry feelings by consciously changing this "self-talk." For instance, if cut off in traffic think something like ?that "jerk" may actually be a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children." CONCLUSIONS: If driving under the influence of impaired emotions, you can make a personal decision to cope with your angry feelings in a more effective way. This will help you avoid aggressive driving or becoming the victim of another aggressive driver. Reducing your stress level and learning to change your self-talk are effective and powerful tools to cope with the challenges of driving in our fast-paced society. About The Author Dr Tony Fiore, The Anger Coach, is a psychologist, and anger management trainer in Southern California.To subscribe to his free newsletter, "Taming the Anger Bee" visit his website at http://www.angercoach.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Positive-Attitude - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Enlarge Your Vision Millions struggle through life barely earning enough to survive. Many are trapped in a job they hate, but are making just enough that they think they can't afford to start at the bottom in something else. The Inner Dialogue Do you talk with yourself? When we hear people talking aloud with themselves we consider it weird. But have you noticed that all people, with no exception, talk silently with themselves? This, we do not consider odd or weird. Community After Tragedy One Friday in November, I began a journey from New Jersey to downtown New York City to visit old work friends. It was my first visit since the tragic September 11th attack. Big Move to a Small Town I'm getting calls from folks who say, "I hear you moved to a very small town. I'm thinking of doing the same. How I Make And Save Thousands Of Dollars Using Only My Subconscious Mind-You Can Do The Same! Thousands of dollars will be yours, just by using your subconscious mind.You get a very good feeling when you make new money. Lunacy at its Finest ... Crazymakers and Intimidators In Your Life! Did you ever run into that person that just nags and picks and scares you into submission? How about that person that appears to turn your world upside-down? What about that person that literally sucks the energy right out of your soul? Believe it or not, these people do exist and they can affect you in ways you never thought possible.--- Crazymakers ---A Crazymaker is someone who feeds on negative energies and tends to pull everyone around them into major melodramas. Top Three Secrets To Becoming A Better Thinker We all know there are ways to become a better thinker. We should read more books. Self-esteem: Who Do You Think You Are? Are you the kind of person who dwells on your strengths, or the kind obsessed by your weaknesses? It's been said that you become what you think about most of the time. Continually pondering your strengths therefore makes you become stronger, enhancing self-esteem. The Power of Passion Improving this single attitude makes your days fly by. You wake up excited to work. Mindfulness and Money: Monkeying Around Kasia is a talented landscape designer who speaks several languages, and when she jokes about being a "Polish princess" it's because she actually has the pedigree to support that claim.That's not why she's amazing. Important Days Ahead Humans tend to categorize things by large or small, bright or dull, special or ordinary, and so on. We like to bring order and structure, but sometimes our efforts to place things into neat little slots can blind us to the little moments of joy we could be experiencing every day. My Sunshine "You Are My Sunshine My Only Sunshine You Make Me Happy When Skies Are Gray"(I remember this song from my childhood)"You Never Know, Dear, How Much I Love You Please, Don't Take My Sunshine Away"And, doesn't that insinuate someone or something makes you happy? So, from a young age, we were fed the ideas it took something outside ourselves to see sunshine and be happy. We didn't just receive that message from one song. How Our Thoughts Create Mental Bugs Our thoughts define who we are. They can make us instantly resourceful or plunge us into the depths of despair. Mastering Your Moods: How To Take Charge Of Your Feelings John Ryder awakens feeling rested, refreshed, and sensing a calm vibrancy surging all through him. Hopping eagerly out of bed, he showers, dresses, and with a gleam and sparkle in his eye, goes downstairs to his kitchen and puts on some coffee. Do You Believe What You Think? If you work toward what you dream, the dream can come true. You can achieve success. Optimism: The Tremendous Benefits of a Positive Attitude How many times have you heard someone say, "Hey, cheer up!" or "Turn that frown upside-down!"? Unconsciously we all seem to know that optimism is a virtue and that a negative outlook is something to be concerned about. And did you know that there are actually a host of concrete reasons why this is so?Medically speaking, anxiety, anger and stress can all do a lot of damage to the body. Managing Your OCD, Panic Attacks, and Obsessive Thoughts There are times that we encounter fearful thoughts that can be difficult to manage. For some people, the more they try to get rid of the thoughts, the stronger the thoughts become and the more difficult they become to manage. Courtesy In The Workplace -- Can You Say, Thank You? Thank you is such a beautiful phrase. When you say, thank you, it makes a world of difference. Business Career, Executive Coaching - The Top 10 Tips to Begin the Practice of Positive Affirmations Positive Affirmations are things we say to ourselves that build us up and make us strong. They empower us to take chances and to be our best. 5 Tips To Keep Happy... Even In Wartime The world is going downhill faster than an Olympic skier. Terrorists lurk around every corner.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
