Going to the doctor is definitely not a pleasant experience. After all, you visit a physician when you have a health complaint or concern and are looking to get reassurance or start a treatment course. However, you may notice that your apprehension about doctors may be more pronounced than that of other people. If you’re struggling to get an appointment fixed and every check-up is a hassle, your problem might be more serious than that of other people. While appointments can be inconvenient, if you dread yours and feel significant anxiety as they’re approaching, you may be dealing with white coat syndrome. This response means your blood pressure levels spike the moment you are in a doctor’s office. Sometimes, the symptoms are so severe your vitals may read like a heart attack is imminent. It is, however, a panic response.
White coat syndrome can happen independently of your medical history. You don’t need to have experienced severe disorders, complications, or pre-existing conditions, in order to experience the syndrome. Nevertheless, it is uncomfortable to experience anxiety attacks anytime you need to see a physician, which is why it’s important to try and keep it under control.
Bring someone along to the doctor
One of the easiest ways to avoid panic and fear is to bring someone else with you when you’re scheduled for an appointment. It can be a family member or a friend, but the important thing is to not be alone in the waiting room. It’s helpful to have someone to talk to while you wait. Not only does it make the time flow faster, but it also helps avoid intrusive thoughts. When you’re apprehensive about something, it’s easy to start digging a hole and imagine the worst-case scenario. This only fuels your anxiety. If you’re very stressed, you may also struggle with remembering all your doctor says, or you may even forget your prescription. Having someone else by your side helps avoid mistakes like this.
Mentally prepare
When you know you have a tendency toward panic before visiting your medical practitioner, you should try to develop strategies that help you reduce your anxiety levels. For example, you may want to consider the time of the day during which you feel your anxiety is likely to be highest and avoid making an appointment during that time. You may feel more apprehensive at the beginning of the day and more relaxed towards the end of it, so schedule your appointment in the afternoons. Even if an earlier position is open because someone else cancelled, you shouldn’t take it yourself and risk putting yourself through an uncomfortable situation.
Before your examination, take the time to focus on your breathing and stabilise your heartbeat. Even if you’re not aware of it, when you’re dealing with anxiety, you start hyperventilating, meaning that your normal breathing patterns are disrupted, and you start taking rapid, shallow breaths. This is due to the fact your body feels placed under imminent threat. In order to calm down your nerves, focus on taking large, deep, and slow breaths. You’ll notice that your panic levels begin to decrease, and you’ll feel more relaxed after.
Be confident
When leaving for the appointment of doctor, your main concern is probably related to receiving a frightening diagnosis. It’s understandable to be apprehensive, especially if you’ve been dealing with a particular health problem for a while. If you’ve been seeing many physicians and none of them could adequately diagnose you, it can be even more uncomfortable trying to find treatment again. However, excessive worrying only succeeds in disturbing you even further. So since fretting and agonising will not help in any way, it’s better to put them away.
One of the most effective ways to do this is to focus on the present moment. Try to concentrate your mind on current feelings, thoughts and sensations, such as what you can hear, see or smell, in order to ease your worries about a hypothetical future.
If you are worried about receiving a misdiagnosis, negligent advice, or experiencing symptoms due to prescription errors, it’s important to know your legal rights. The specialists at Medical Negligence Law are always prepared to provide you with free advice on claims. The No Win No Fee system guarantees that you don’t have to pay any commissions unless your case is successful. Getting a professional to work on your case can ease many of your apprehensions since you can be sure they’re doing all that can be done so you’ll receive the compensation you are owed.
Be honest with your Doctor
It can be difficult to talk about mental health concerns. You might be worried about being stigmatised, labelled or judged. You are probably dreading a dismissive “Get over it.”- type of response. This is completely understandable. Nevertheless, unless you talk about your problems, those who care about your well-being won’t know how to help you.
The next time you step over the threshold into the doctor office, let them know how you’re feeling. An adept medical professional will know how to manage the situation and help you feel as relaxed as possible. If they don’t understand what your mental health needs are or are disdainful or downright rude towards your concerns, you should probably consider changing your physician. Discussing your anxiety can help put your worries at ease and may even help the examination be more successful.
If you believe anxiety is affecting your quality of life, don’t be afraid to discuss it with your family, or friends. You can even discuss with a counsellor. It’s never a good idea to suffer in silence, and if you feel like there’s a problem, you must never forget that there are people out there who want to and can help. A therapist can help you navigate your anxiety, find its root cause and work to eliminate it. It is hard work that won’t be achieved overnight, but with perseverance and the desire to change, you’ll begin to notice progress in yourself. The day you can go to the doctor completely anxiety-free is closer than you imagine.
