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How can I defeat my anxiety about medical tests and surgery?
Just Want to Talk | Last Active: Nov 20, 2023 | Replies (35)Comment receiving replies
@gingerw-I do not like to be confined. I also find that I am not able to rely on myself for "self-hypnosis" or putting myself in a trance. So I have chosen to use valium for MRIs. Medicine has given us so many options to use, so many choices. When I find myself in a situation that places importance on good pictures like scans they outweigh any wish to be brave and suck it up. I like to reserve the use of my anxiety and fear for other uses. Unfortunately, there has been too much focus on being brave at times when there are other alternatives. It gives pain a bad rep. 🙂
I am always very polite and it goes a long way!
Replies to "@gingerw-I do not like to be confined. I also find that I am not able to..."
Brave? I agree. There is so much emphasis on being brave, and "biting the bullet." Sometimes, all that does is give you broken teeth and some wet pants....!!!-LOL
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@merpreb I like that you can reserve and schedule your fears for other times. Gosh, why waste that on something that doesn't need it so much? I never thought of that. Although there were some dental procedures when I was kid that medication was used to calm me down. My first experience getting a cavity filled was a bad one when I was 6 years old and I always had that fear inside of me.
We all fear the unknown, so learning as much as you can helps remove that obstacle. For years, my fear was in control driving the bus that I was getting on. Now I'm driving, and I left that fear at the curb and drove away. I guess in a situation that I get through and complete like the surgery that fixed my broken ankle, I consider it to be over and done. In the future I could develop arthritis, but I'm not going to believe that IS going to happen. Instead, I move a bit more carefully and avoid pounding my joint so I can at least think I am preventing wear and tear. With MRIs, I've always been intrigued about feeling the sensation of it passing through me in the different planes. They say that you can't feel this, but I have and asked the technician afterward about the order the machine moved and I was right.