196

Disassociation maybe?

I used to think my hearing loss and visual impairment was the reason I got so stressed walking through a car park - I can't hear cars and I can't always tell if a slow moving car is indeed moving.

But that made no sense because I have no issues getting around a bus depot and public transport interchange. I'll be fine navigating the streets with buses, trams, bikes and pedestrians, but as soon as I step into the parking lot I suddenly can't detect obstacles properly.

My partner pointed out thatI very clearly dissociate when I'm in a car park. I've conditioned myself to feel anxious in car parks (from when I was younger before I learned to navigate with my disability, the fear of car parks did not make sense) so now I pre-emptively check out and try to navigate on autopilot, which makes it more dangerous and anxiety inducing, making me dissociate more.

As soon as I realised that I was dissociating and that was the problem, I started working on it and now I have no greater level of disorientation in a car park than anywhere else.