Penelope Cruz suffers from Amaxophobia: What is the psychological disorder?

International star Penelope Cruz has revealed to the world that she she suffers from amaxophobia, but what exactly is it and how does it impact her life?

There are many phobias that people are able to live with, without ever really encountering the issue, but what happens when your phobia is related to something you need in your day-to-day life?

This is the case of amaxophobia, the fear or anxiety caused by driving.

Cruz has confessed that she has suffered from this disorder since she was a child after witnessing a traffic accident involving her sister. Since then, she feels anxiety every time she has to get into a car.

The actress revealed in a new interview with ELLE that a scary experience from her childhood has left her with a "fear of driving."

"My sister was run over by a car in front of me when I was eight or nine," Cruz, 49, recalled of the moment as she said "time stopped."

"It's a great trauma, because I saw her losing consciousness. And I was numb in the hospital, telling people, 'Oh, my sister just got run over by a car.' "

She admitted that if the incident had happened in her adult life, she imagines she "would have been hysterical."

As the psychologist Ignacio Calvo, an expert in anxiety disorders and author of the CEA Foundation's document Study on Anxiety in Driving Amaxophobia in drivers explains, amaxophobia is not an isolated problem.

"Driving anxiety could be affecting one in four drivers in most countries, with various studies showing figures of between 22 percent and 33 percent of drivers".

It is a problem suffered more by women, although the percentages are very similar: "55% of women compared to 45% of men".

What causes amaxophobia?

The most common causes for acquiring the problem are:

• Suffering post-traumatic stress, either because they were involved in or witnessed a serious accident
• Being naturally stressful in the first place
• Being prone to panic attacks
• Having been ill-advised whilst originally learning to drive and realising later in life

Treatment of amaxophobia

A psychological approach is essential, and there are various ways of dealing with the problem, including the following:

• A change in mindset towards the fear of driving
• Gradual exposure to driving
• Relaxation techniques that help to control anxiety, as well as the stress and tension that the patient feels in the vehicle