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Anxiety about upcoming Angiogram

Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: Mar 22 6:23pm | Replies (27)
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@naturegirl5

I'd like to share the words and phrases we tell ourselves affect how we feel. The goal isn't necessarily to make anxiety go away - thus the word "defeat" as if defeating an enemy. I'd like to suggest that we, and I include myself in this, learn what works best for us to manage our own anxiety. This means that the anxiety is still there and we can bring the anxious feelings down a notch or two by skills that we learn. Eventually, we can approach situations that bring us severe anxiety such as medical appointments and procedures by using the skills we've developed so we don't feel so strongly about avoidance or running in the opposite direction.

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Jennifer, Volunteer Mentor | @jenniferhunter | Mar 18 4:44pm

@naturegirl5 @gregy There is hope. I like the word "deprogram". None of us are born with fear and anxiety. It is something we learn. I say that if I learned this response, then I can "unlearn" this response. That was the day I began to ask myself questions to figure it all out, and find coping strategies in the interim, and it worked. This totally changed my life. I went from having daily panic attacks about having spine surgery to being calm the day of the surgery and having the same calmness for every additional surgical event thereafter. I was interviewed about this in a video podcast and you can find that at the beginning of this discussion.

"How can I defeat my anxiety about medical tests and surgery?"
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/how-can-i-defeat-my-anxiety-about-medical-tests-and-surgery/

I used to think I could not change my anxiety, but I did, and it doing that, I became so much stronger and confident. You can do this too.

Jennifer

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