The Fear Of Doctors & Hospitals
Got Hospital Anxiety? Read This!
Hospitals are great places of healing, and many would say that miracles of health and science occur at these places every day. But for many, hospitals are a place of anxiety. They can only think about the coldness of machines, the sharpness of scalpels, the profit-hunting of insurers. It makes them think twice about ever stepping foot in a hospital.
But if your state of health unavoidably requires going to a hospital for a major procedure, then you’re going to have to find ways to battle your anxiety, even though the fact you need a major procedure is probably going to, if anything, exacerbate those fears!
So if you’ve got a big hospital appointment coming up – be it a particularly important consultation or even surgery – then here are a few tips for making sure your nerves stay with you!
Keep Your Mind Busy
There’s usually a pretty long wait between the arrangement of, say, a surgery, and the actual surgery itself. It places with free and highly regulated (extremely overworked) healthcare, the wait can sometimes be months. That’s a long time for your imagination to wander! So the best thing you can do is try to keep your mind off of it altogether. (I know, much easier said than done) Read more, focus on work, see some movies, play some games, do some exercise, do whatever works for you to find some distraction.
Find Out More About the Procedures
Having said that, it may be worth spending some time researching the procedure. This may seem contradictory to keeping your mind off of it – but one of the reasons your imagination will get the better of you in situations like this is because you may not know many of the facts about the procedure. When it comes to the fear of doctors and hospital anxiety, much of it has to do with uncertainty. So think of all the questions that the procedure triggers in you and find ways to answer them. For example, if you’re getting Lasik surgery, you may wonder “how long does Lasik surgery last?”.
Think About Alternatives
While it may cost more, you may want to check with your doctor that there isn’t some less fear-inducing alternative! It’s possible you could find equally beneficial alternatives to your procedure. Take Lasik again, for example – many choose it because it’s laser surgery, as opposed to open surgery. This can be applied to many procedures, they do laser surgery for eyes and even ‘smooth’ spine laser surgery nowadays, all performed without what we call traditional “open” surgery. Ask about the alternatives and see if there are any that make you feel a bit calmer. Remember not to shun procedures that will do you the most good, though.
Have Trust !
Remember: doctors spent years – often even decades – learning how to become a doctor, and by the time you work with them they’ve probably been on the job for much longer. They know what they’re doing. They will probably also know much more when it comes to how to overcome fear and anxiety and comforting you about the fear of doctors and hospital anxiety! Don’t be afraid to speak frankly with your doctor. They deal with anxious patients all the time, and won’t (or shouldn’t, at least!) take it as an insult that you’re worried about the upcoming procedure.
Take good care of your health!
so far … Klaudia