Motorists stuck in traffic may suffer from road rage depression doctors

26 August, 2018

Thane : The long wait in traffic and bad roads has lead to a rise in irritation and anger among motorists which could lead to road rage, anxiety and in some cases also depression, claim mental health experts.

Psychiatrists have said that the continuous traffic jams, late working hours leads to frustration and irritation. Anger keeps building up as the person feels helpless.

"People come to me complaining of anxiety and anger as they spend most of their time in manoeuvring their cars through the traffic and eventually get delayed to reach their destination. These people keep thinking about getting up early, worrying if they would reach on time to work; due to this, anxiety starts building up. Also, if the anxiety disorder continues then there is a possibility a person may suffer from depression," said Dr. Shailesh Umate, consultant psychiatrist and secretary of Thane psychiatric society.

The mental experts also claim that the built up anger could lead to road rage as there could be high possibilities of a person to get into quarrels on the street.

This can affect work and personal life and can also reduce productivity and hamper relationship due to outburst of anger.

"When a person's emotion levels go up, their attention decreases. This could lead to accidents as the person will not be attentive and won't have complete control of the vehicle while driving. Due to which his response will also not be quick. The built up frustration can lead to fatigue and tiredness, which can hamper their productivity. Also, there are high chances of venting out anger on their near and dear ones, which can affect relationships," said Dr. Anand Nadkarni, psychiatrist and founder of Institute of Psychological Health (IPH).

Docotors have advised citizens to exercise, meditate and keep control of their emotions so that they are not in a bad mood while at work or at home. Doctors have also asked people to give suggestions to friends and traffic authorities if they have anything in mind so that they can find some peace.

Sneha Raikar, a resident of Brahmand, has found her own way of staying calm in the congestion. "It takes me around two to three hours to reach Mira Road and there is no way out of the congestion. At this point, instead of spoiling my mood I switch on the music and groove to songs while I am on my seat. I literally dance all my way till work which helps me stay peaceful and cheerful," Raikar said.

People come to me complaining of anxiety and anger as they spend most of their time in manoeuvring their cars through traffic and eventually get delayed to reach their destination. If the anxiety disorder continues then there is a possibility a person may suffer from depression

 

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com