Is it normal to be afraid after a car wreck?

Is it normal to be scared to fall asleep when it is dark after you have been in a wreck? Let me tell you the story. I went up into the city for my b-day. It was just a normal Saturday. Well at 8:00 we left the city and started to head home, well it is a...

two and a half hour drive and my mom and dad were onary. Well at 10:30 we were coming up to Fayette which is only five miles from Gunnison, i was asleep in the back by boxes for our New Years Eve party which was two weeks away. i woke up and two seconds later we hit something, at first i thought is was one of the tires, but after i saw the way my mom was acting i new we hit something and that thing was big. we went to the hospital to see if i had any internal injuries. i didn't but i had glass all over in my skin. My parents both had whip lash and glass in their eyes and mouth and ears i mean it was everywhere. That happened two years ago, and i still am scared to fall asleep in a car at night and sometimes in the day time. Is this normal?

this all happened at night

Yes...I can understand why you have these feelings cuz you can not relax to the point of falling asleep in a car cuz you're afraid that if you do sleep you might get into an accident again...very normal and this will take time just like any other issue in life where your trust for something has been stripped. BUT.... you need to view the positive not just the accident outcome when you feel asleep. Look back and think about this.... How old are you? you have been sleeping in a car since you were an infant coming home from the hospital..right? Now of course the number of times you have fell a sleep in you life time under safe relaxing conditions is countless right? So you have to look at it this way....This one time you fell asleep you were in an accident.... that is 1 in how many times.....? My point is simply this, the odds of such a thing happening to you again is very...very...high... and you need to tell yourself to let go of the one time this happened and let yourself feel like that little baby/child who enjoyed all those wonderful naps in the car....you need to simply relearn to close your eyes and visual yourself as that child who is safe and relaxed in the car and its time to take a nap... If you keep reminding yourself this.. you will adventually regain your security.... Look at it this way.... how many people win the lotto two times? So close your eyes once again day and night and become that small child again... Take care!

Dear sassy007,
Of course it's normal. When ever we are faced with a shock such as this the mind associates both events...in your case sleeping in a car and the accident. With counselling you can help with this. There are several methods that deal with this very type of problem...If you would like to feel comfortable again sleeping in a car see a therapist they can really help.
Sue...good luck

I belive junior means the odds are low, not high. Yes it is normal, but we need to move on in life.