Rolled our car on the highway last winter and I still can't drive on the freeway

I could have written this post a year ago, I swear. After my wreck I was the same way — couldn't even watch a car commercial without my heart rate spiking. What helped me more than anything was a therapist who specifically did EMDR for trauma. It's not magic and it takes a few sessions to kick in, but it was the first thing that actually made me feel like my brain wasn't permanently broken. Please look into it if you haven't.

What you're describing — the chest tightening, hypervigilance around vehicles, getting triggered by things that are near cars but not even dangerous — that's textbook PTSD response, not you being dramatic or weak. Your nervous system literally learned that cars equal life-threatening danger and it's just doing its job now. The good news is that with the right support (EMDR and somatic therapy are both well-studied for crash trauma specifically) your brain can rewire. Please don't just white-knuckle through it and hope it fades on its own — the longer it sits untreated the stickier it can get.

Oh man, reading about you calling out for him and not getting an answer... that part gutted me. I'm so sorry you went through that. I hope you're being gentle with yourself. A year might feel like a long time but that was a serious traumatic event.

Two things: Get yourself into trauma therapy, not just regular talk therapy — there's a difference. And separately, did you ever settle your insurance claim? A collarbone fracture and cracked ribs from a highway accident is not a "here's your deductible back" situation. Just making sure you didn't leave anything on the table.

Not legal advice, but I'll echo what the person above said — injuries like yours typically have ongoing costs that people underestimate at settlement time. Future physical therapy, the mental health treatment you clearly need, any lost wages. If you already settled and it's been less than a year check whether your state has any provisions around that. If you haven't resolved the claim yet, don't let them rush you while you're still in active recovery. That's a really common pressure tactic.

Spent years on the other side of these claims. Psychological injury after a rollover is 100% compensable but it's the first thing that gets undervalued because people don't document it the way they do broken bones. Start seeing a therapist NOW even if you're not sure you "need" it — having documented treatment creates a paper trail that matters enormously if your claim isn't closed yet. Speaking from experience watching files where people had zero mental health records and got lowballed hard.

I know it doesn't feel like it when you're mid-panic-attack at a drive-through, but the fact that you recognize what's happening and are naming it and reaching out? That's actually huge. A lot of people just stuff it down and it comes out sideways for years. You're already doing the harder thing by facing it.