Getting over medical phobia (sort of!)

barbiedoll

Desensitising yourself can be a good way to treat phobias yourself. We are doing this with my mum and her very strong aversion to spiders!

You start in very small stages, firstly by writing down the word of the thing that most bothers you. (e.g. injection/needle/blood etc.) Do this once a day for 3 days, then twice a day for 3 days then 4 or 5 times a day for 3 days, until you feel comfortable writing out the words. This is to ensure that you "think" about your fear...it is very helpful if you can also apply some relaxation and breathing techniques whilst you do this.

Next, you draw a picture of what you fear. Again, you do this every day until you feel comfortable.

Next step is to look at photographs, then videos, and graduating to actually handling equipment (or boobs!) and so on. You train your brain and your nervous system to gradually slow down and eventually stop your extreme reaction to your phobia

Desensitising technique here...
http://www.simplypsychology.org/Systematic-Desensitisation.html

Relaxation breathing technique here...
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/pages/ways-relieve-stress.aspx

I take blood samples at work and you'd be surprised at how common this phobia is. I use the breathing techniques with my patients a lot, it can be very helpful.

Nomoonatall

Hi kitrat,

I feel your pain!

I always faint when I have injections and bloodtests! I'm not scared of them...it just happens! Even my docs don't understand it.

Hope you work it out! x

kitrat

DomRavioli wrote: »

Sounds very similar to anxiety what you have described. Have you spoken to your GP about it? There's usually a lot of help out there (and many people with specific issues such as yours).

No I haven't. It seems hard enough these days to get help from the GP with glaringly obvious medical problems never mind more subtle one so I admit I haven't bothered.

kitrat

theoretica wrote: »

If you are going to try exposure, it might be worth doing it lying down so you get used to the stimulus without the vasovagal symptoms (if thats what you think they are).

Mm absolutely! I was sitting in bed when I wrote this yesterday, just before I'd looked at a few still pictures and it definitely helps keep my blood pressure up!

kitrat

Person_one wrote: »

If you don't want to go for CBT sessions with an actual counsellor, how about a book that can help you learn the basic techniques? I found 'CBT for Dummies' actually very useful and still use some of the methods occasionally now nearly 10 years after I first read it, I used it for a phobia too, and also for some intrusive horrible thoughts after a bereavement.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cognitive-Behavioural-Therapy-Dummies-Branch/dp/0470665416/ref=sr_1_1/253-3301415-7038044?ie=UTF8&qid=1474192795&sr=8-1&keywords=cbt+for+dummies

Thanks I think I'll take a look at that

kitrat

barbiedoll wrote: »

Desensitising yourself can be a good way to treat phobias yourself. We are doing this with my mum and her very strong aversion to spiders!

You start in very small stages, firstly by writing down the word of the thing that most bothers you. (e.g. injection/needle/blood etc.) Do this once a day for 3 days, then twice a day for 3 days then 4 or 5 times a day for 3 days, until you feel comfortable writing out the words. This is to ensure that you "think" about your fear...it is very helpful if you can also apply some relaxation and breathing techniques whilst you do this.

Next, you draw a picture of what you fear. Again, you do this every day until you feel comfortable.

Next step is to look at photographs, then videos, and graduating to actually handling equipment (or boobs!) and so on. You train your brain and your nervous system to gradually slow down and eventually stop your extreme reaction to your phobia

Desensitising technique here...
http://www.simplypsychology.org/Systematic-Desensitisation.html

Relaxation breathing technique here...
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/pages/ways-relieve-stress.aspx

I take blood samples at work and you'd be surprised at how common this phobia is. I use the breathing techniques with my patients a lot, it can be very helpful.

Thank that's helpful I can try saying the words out loud too.

JP08

Will have a look at those links too. Needles just freak me out utterly.

It's not the pain, they don't really hurt. Just makes the little part of my brain that we got from our small rodenty ancestors run round in little panic circles [Palms are sweating just due to the thought of it typing this ...]

Came of the bike a few years ago. Quite happy to sit there whilst they cleaned and stuck my chin back together again ... took 20 mins and gas and air to get the tetanus jab in.

The dentist is a similar problem - I make sure I go to every checkup just so he can see and deal with problems (he's aware of my issues - quite hard to ignore the white knuckles as a I grip the armrests, and I haven't found a way to stop my left leg jiggling) before the 'anaesthetic required' point is reached.

Mrs_Imp

JP08 wrote: »

The dentist is a similar problem - I make sure I go to every checkup just so he can see and deal with problems (he's aware of my issues - quite hard to ignore the white knuckles as a I grip the armrests, and I haven't found a way to stop my left leg jiggling) before the 'anaesthetic required' point is reached.

I had 2 fillings without anaesthetic because I can cope with pain better than I can cope with needles! Dentist was a bit disbelieving and said 'tell me when it hurts and we'll stop and give you the anaesthetic' It actually didn't hurt at all, although I got the feeling he was concerned about his fingers!