Hi, I went through a similar thing, I went from driving up and down the m1 for work to barely ever driving apart from short trips that I considered my safe routes, mine came from health anxiety that I developed early peri menopause, I feared being unwell and being trapped In traffic, the anticipation of that happening caused me huge anxiety, I also developed a fear of motorways I don't know why, I still don't drive motorways, I became less anxious about shorter trips though and I now dont give that a second thought, I think your fear is different too mine, but avoiding it will reinforce the anxiety, keep doing the short trips, maybe take someone with you that can take over driving on longer trips, I actually think this is a common problem in mid to later life I know lots of women who will only drive certain routes, and lots who avoid heavy traffic areas, motorways seem to be a very common issue, I used to love driving, but now I get no pleasure from it, you shouldn't feel like a failure it's like so many things in life what we once could do easily isn't so easy now, if it's an anxiety issue maybe CBT will help you, I don't have an answer to completely resolving the problem, but you are not alone with the driving issue, but do try not to avoid it, maybe don't plan trips to avoid the anxious thinking, I did better just being spontaneous, I did have CBT, for my anxiety issues didn't cure it, but definitely helped me deal better with it.
Take care x
