Here’s a story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about a woman whose phobia of doctors and “medical settings” caused her to overlook the growth of a uterine fibroid, a “benign [tumor] composed of muscle and connective tissue that develop within or along the uterine wall.” Her tumor had grown so large that she appeared to be seven months pregnant.
Interestingly, her phobia doesn’t seem to have been directly connected with a fear of disease. Rather, it was doctors, hospitals and the like that caused her anxiety, which manifested in the form of a panic attack. Most of us deal with a fear of disease, which in turn often translates to a fear of death, and this usually have two outcomes: 1) We seek a doctor’s assistance more often in the hopes that it’ll allay our fears; or 2) We avoid doctors because the thought of discovering illness is enough to provoke anxiety.
If you fall into the first category, here’s a bit of advice: You should always see a doctor when you’re concerned about serious health problems, but once you’ve done so, you have to let it go. You can visit a doctor every week and your fears would still not be contained. Constantly seeking reassurance only encourages anxiety and allows it take root. You have to find the strength to resist the urge to run to the doctor every time you sneeze. Try to be rational about it by explaining your symptoms to an unbiased third-party.
If you’re a member of the second category, try to keep regular doctor’s appointments regardless of how you feel. This allows you to experience the doctor’s office without the fear of discovering a terrible illness. If you were to visit only when you’re experiencing high anxiety, then you’ll quickly associate the doctor with high anxiety.
3 comments
Comments feed for this article
May 3, 2007 at 9:49 pm
HSP Woman
Hi again, Josh.
So sad because I can totally relate. I also have medical phobia, not of getting ill but really just the hospital itself, doctors, the smell, the linoleum floors…
But, I have to propose a third category! No matter how I feel before going, high anxiety or not, I always experience high anxiety once there. Always.
Actually when I am really ill, the anxiety is somehow less. I think I have less energy to focus on the actual medical phobia then.
Luckily now I do go whenever I have even the slightest doubt about my health. But, a few years ago, I was just like the woman you write about. I went for a looong time without seeing the dentist. Now, I go every 6 months even though I panic the whole time.
I’m really working on it…
May 3, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Stef
There are also some doctors/dentists that when you contact their office and explain your anxiety with coming in, they can make special arrangements.
I once worked with a woman who actually would pass out once she got there, out cold.
They knew it was going to occur and were always ready. As a matter of fact they even did a bit of research with other doctors and found that it occurs more often in natural redheads.
She was a redhead, very light skinned.
They made special arrangements when she was pregnant and in delivery too.
Sometimes just being upfront and honest with the office can reduce your anxiety and panic levels.
May 3, 2007 at 11:04 pm
HSP Woman
Stef,
Thanks for your reply. That’s so cool that there are actually doctors who “get it.” I have red hair, but it’s not exactly “natural” so what’s my excuse?
The one time I told a dentist I was panicking, HE panicked. He tipped me upside down on the reclining chair and yelled for his assistant to “Bring the oxygen tank!” Oh my, what a way to escalate my panic attack! Then he proceeded to put that oxygen cannula (?) into my nostrils. What a scene I was involved in.
Thanks for sharing with me.