Is it possible to have panic attacks over driving?

[catzies]

Last September, the boss moved the company 30 miles north to be closer to his house in Santa Barbara. None of the employees live up here (we're all from Ventura County), and we all have 30-mile plus commutes now. It used to be the reverse; our commutes were less than 10 miles one way, and his was 40 miles one way. He loves it. We hate it.

I hate driving. I really really do. I dread the drive so much, I wake up tense and with headaches that never go away. I used to never have road rage; now I get it every day.

The La Conchita mudslide really exacerbated it (it's 5 minutes away to the south). The drive to and from work last Monday, the first day the freeway was open, was so bad I woke up Tuesday morning and literally could not face the drive. I called in sick rather than deal with it.

The thought of driving to work every day in non-stop, bumper-to-bumper driving makes me dizzy and nauseated, even before I leave the house.

What do I do? Please don't say, "Get a new job," because I'm already working on it.