I have dealt with intense anxiety and phobias. Have you heard of exposure therapy and the exposure hierarchy?

I am not a therapist so take all of this with a grain of salt but here is what I was taught and works for me.

Talking about things helps in one way but to redo the subconscious programming, the body/brain needs to be exposed to the situation in a controlled and limited way over time.

It is important to expose yourself to the situation in a small way and slowly increase that exposure time or intensity.

The keys to making this work are 2 fold.

1. Consistency. Try to expose yourself daily for very small amounts of time
2. Make sure that you are exposing yourself slowly and not overdoing it each time. Don't progress to the next level of exposure until the current level no longer triggers you. This is important as it will send the messages to the brain that you're safe.

When I did this for my fear of heights i would walk out onto a bridge but only a few steps to where i felt fine and I stayed there for 5 minutes and breathed. Then I got off. I did this again the next day and if i could i took one or 2 more steps, but only until I still felt relatively comfortable. Stayed there for 5 minutes and went home. I repeated that daily or every second day and at some point i was able to walk across the bridge and my brain stopped complaining. The key was to never push myself to hard since we are trying to build a sense of security and safety for the brain. No big deal, just walking across a bridge. All is good. I'm happy, relaxed and safe. Once the icky feelings start, that's a good place to stop and breathe. Maybe take a couple of steps back into a more safe zone and stay there and breathe and smile.

Oh one last thing. I was shown this technique where after i would do the exposure and i was back off the bridge, i would stand there and let the satisfaction of success fill me. The recommendation is to adopt a power pose and let the good feelings in and congratulate myself each time with a great feeling of "i did it!" Not just when i was able to cross the bridge fully, but even when i just took 3 steps. Every time. Train that brain to feel great in that situation.

I hope that helps in some way and feel free to DM me any time.

I’m so sorry to hear that. That’s always a fear in the back of my mind when I am walking around but fortunately I’ve only had close calls, no actual contact. I suppose it happens to fully sighted pedestrians sometimes too so sadly there’s no 100% way to avoid it, but I think the odds are in your favor that if you are out there and being careful as I’m sure you were anyway it’s an unlikely event

If you're a mobile app user you could try the Be My Eyes app if you're ever in a situation where you're too uncertain to feel comfortable. It connects you with sighted operators who can assist with whatever sighted thing you may need assistance with.

I'm very sorry that you experienced that. The poster below has some excellent advise, and it may be difficult, but taking those steps will help you to improve your life.

(When I first lost my vision, I was crossing a road, and suddenly there was honking and a stranger pulled me back. It was a bit of shock to realise that I was suddenly in more danger than before, and had to learn new methods)

Hoping you can get some good advice here, and regain your confidence and more of life. But you obviously have the desire, so you are already on the path.

I was impacted by the accident of a friend. I lost confidence because a better traveler than I got ran over when crossing a parking lot. He helpped me when he explained that because of the situation, anyone blind or sighted could have gotten ran over, he took the needed precautions but the driver was intoxicated.

Hi, not being able to walk long distances may be holding you back from crossing streets with confidence. Take time to continue working on the rehabilitation of your leg. The more sicure you take a step with your leg, the more confident you will be about walking across a street safely.

Certainly sorry to hear.