Long Distance Lorry Driving - The Perfect SA Job?

[Sir Real]

I should imagine driving an HGV would be stressful, but not in an SA way, and obviously you'd have to deal with people at either end of your journeys, but only for short periods of time.

Anyone ever thought about it, or who currently does it for a living, or knows someone who does?

[infinite baffle]

If you fancy it, go for it but I dunno if it would be the perfect job for my SA. Being stuck with my own thoughts without anything to really engage with can make negative thoughts build up.

For me, the best jobs are those where you have something to do, and where there is some contact with other people, but not forced to constantly interact.

[english-ice]

I thought about it when I was younger,maybe 18 or 19 but not now. My only reason for thinking about that as a job was because of the non SA side of the job.

I'm currently only qualiftied to ride a push bike, and thats got a flat tyre at the mo,so theres another reason why I'm not interested in that as a career path right now.

[mico]

Originally Posted by infinite baffle

If you fancy it, go for it but I dunno if it would be the perfect job for my SA. Being stuck with my own thoughts without anything to really engage with can make negative thoughts build up.

For me, the best jobs are those where you have something to do, and where there is some contact with other people, but not forced to constantly interact.

Originally Posted by Jack

The point of most behavioural therapies that I've looked into is that anything that avoids tackling your SA issues will ultimately exacerbate them. So while it may seem great at first it is 100% counter-productive and will more than likely lead to an even lonelier existence.

Completely agree.

[John]

I thought about doing this a while back until I realised it costs about £1200 to do the HGV1 licence and you have to be over 25. I had a job as a van driver before going to uni, which was great. Hardly any contact with people, maybe 30mins in a 10 hour shift.

[Annie]

My Dad is a long distance lorry driver, he is a little SA too. I worry about him as he has no friends of his own but likes to socialise with my Mum's friends, she is 11 years older than him though and has just turned 70.

He has been doing the lorry driving for over 20 years now and he seems to like work, he spent his redundancy money from a warehouse job on his liscence. It is VERY long hours though and he is often away Monday to Friday sleeping in the cab.

My nephew who is two and a half is very impressed with his lorry!!

A good career if that is what you really want but I can see the logic in what Jack said, do you really want more social isolation?

[Innerspace]

Originally Posted by Jack

The point of most behavioural therapies that I've looked into is that anything that avoids tackling your SA issues will ultimately exacerbate them. So while it may seem great at first it is 100% counter-productive and will more than likely lead to an even lonelier existence.

Jack hits the nail squarely on the head!

Seeking out such jobs just because they are thought to be easier on SA is no more than an avoidance strategy which is guaranteed to maintain stagnation or further increase it.

I suppose it depends whether or not we are wanting to tackle SA or simply hide from it. To tackle it we need interaction that takes us out of our comfort zones, but if we merely want to maintain the way things are we could I suppose look for jobs that help us hide away... although as Jack states, these ultimately make matters worse because the less we get away with interacting, the harder and more fearful it is when it eventually and unavoidably happens.

My cousin used to drive lorries for a living. Driving off early morning and picking up produce before returning home late the same day. The only interaction was at either depot. I went with him a few times. At the time I felt that if I had a HGV licence the job may have suited me, but in hindsight it would only have been a case of running away for me. If we don't push our comfort zones then we are going to stay in the same place, and looking at it now, all driving would do for me is maintain an unhappy situation.

If it suits others though, good on them.

[karl61]

have to agree totally with jack and inner.i used to drive for my brothers furniture company in london.i got all the long distance work because of my anxiety.so there was less interaction with the public(fewer deliveries).

my thoughts were always internal,as i drove from place to place.at the end of the day i was knackered.not with driving but by my constant assessment of myself.

so i changed to local deliveries(bout twenty a day),i was still knackered at the end of the day but at least i had met some very interesting people amongst the haze of anxiety.it made me feel at least on the fringes of normality.

so,i agree,avoidance leads to stagnation.it may be a temporary solution but avoidance, like quicksand, will drag you under eventually.unless you have a grasp on 'normal'/mainstream living.of course some people like solitude which is perfectly fine too.

[the goalie]

That's what i'm doing now actually. I sat the drving test for the class 2s and failed it, i'm re-sitting it in 2 weeks. The training costs a bomb so make sure it's what you really want.