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Are there Therapists who deal with fear of surgery and pain?

Posted by annie1 @annie1, 1 day ago

I wish there was a "hotline" or some other way to talk to someone besides a surgeon about the fears and realities of spine surgery and stenosis pain. Does anyone know of such a thing? Does Mayo have anything like that?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Spine Health Support Group.

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Susan, Volunteer Mentor | @grammato3 | 1 day ago

@annie1: There are some psychologists or therapists who are trained in this speciality of this issue known as tomophobia which means the intense fear of sugery or medical procedures. This type of fear is usually accompanied by somatic (body) reactions such as rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness or avoiding going to doctor appointments.

While I don't know if there are hotlines per se, there may be a list of providers one can contact for sessions on a pay for service schedule. This article may provide some help in locating such a professional: https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/tomophobia.

There was also a post about this form of anxiety earlier this year in Connect: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/tomophobic/

Have you ever felt any of the symptoms I listed above; if so, does it help to know that you're not alone in feeling this way and there are outlets for you to discuss these concerns?

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annie1 | @annie1 | 1 day ago
In reply to @grammato3 "@annie1: There are some psychologists or therapists who are trained in this speciality of this issue..." + (show)
Profile picture for Susan, Volunteer Mentor @grammato3

@annie1: There are some psychologists or therapists who are trained in this speciality of this issue known as tomophobia which means the intense fear of sugery or medical procedures. This type of fear is usually accompanied by somatic (body) reactions such as rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness or avoiding going to doctor appointments.

While I don't know if there are hotlines per se, there may be a list of providers one can contact for sessions on a pay for service schedule. This article may provide some help in locating such a professional: https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/tomophobia.

There was also a post about this form of anxiety earlier this year in Connect: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/tomophobic/

Have you ever felt any of the symptoms I listed above; if so, does it help to know that you're not alone in feeling this way and there are outlets for you to discuss these concerns?

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@grammato3
Oh I haven't had those symptoms. And I think it's pretty common to be afraid of spines surgery especially in my case I was told by a surgeon last week that he couldn't guarantee helping me more than 15% and I had another surgeon telling me she didn't think I should have fusion surgery at all. She didn't really explain why. So I'm still pretty up in the air even though my pain is always there after I walk. And probably no therapist really understands that much about spine surgery. I think a support group would be really fabulous not just online but in person.

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