Avoids yearly physcials FEAR of Doctors

[Boozy]

Hi,
I am 43 years old.  Here is my issue, I am afraid to go the Docter.  I have such horrible ANXIETY that I just dont go!!  I know I need a physical, and a gyno" exam.  I just have a paralyzing FEAR  that stops me from going.  Is there anyone  out with the same fear, and could recomend are there Doctors who may specialize in people who have this problem???  It is horrible and I obsess about it.  I have this fear they are going to tell me I am dying or horribly sick..!  I am an educated professional woman.  A son going to College in the fall, and also in a great two year relationship.

Help!!
Thank You!

[B_Taylor]

I have the same phobia, B and my oby/gyn does offer a sedative for my gyn exam. There are doctors who will offer you 1-2 mgs of lorazapam beforehand.

I have dealt with the phobia in therapy and it has gotten easier..as I used to not see any physican at all...as it was too frightening...now I can go after I have doen some desensitization work but if an invasive exam is involved I will still  need a sedative.
   Good Luck!

[kristiemichelle]

good ps annie....listen to her, shes right....those exams are very important, and for me, have found problems in me that i did not know were there, not life threatening ones, ones that could be fixed...your prob. goos and healthy...do it, after the first time it would feel so bad, take someone you trust with you, for moral support, it works better than you think...good luck and get to a doc :)

[Boozy]

Hi,
Thank You for your response.  I do not have a fear of psychologist.  I actually see a psychologist every month or so and have for the past 10 years.  I never really got into this subject.  I do know there are Doctors who specialize in phobia, what I meant by Doctors who specialize in this fear is : Are there medical Doctors who are trained to see" people as there primary doctor.  There are a lot of ads"about Dentistry and the fear there of.  How Dentists are sympathetic to the fear people have with Dentists.  Different approches such as 'sedation dentisty"  

I guess what I want is to find:a Dr. who deals with Nervous Nellies such as myself.  

If this makes any sense?
Thank you again

[AnnieBrooke]

Hi, if your fear of doctors does not extend to fear of psychologists and psychiatrists, I would find a phobia specialist and go see him or her about the issue.  Usually a phobic response is a way of encapsulating a more general sense of fear into a small symbol, so we don't have to cope with the larger fear all the time (and instead just fear the one smaller thing some of the time).  It can be VERY helpful to talk this over with someone trained in the analysis of why we feel this way.  Obviously you know intellectually that fear of docs is unfounded and unproductive, but that doesn't change how you are feeling emotionally.  A therapist who knows lots about phobias could help you get past this.  Good luck.

[AnnieBrooke]

I guess nobody needs to talk to their dentist through their procedure, so they can be knocked out, but generally doctors count on the information you are giving them when they do an exam, so "sedation pelvic exams" are something whose time has not yet come. LOL  (Give it time, someone will do it.  I wish they would give nitrous oxide during pelvics, myself.)  I suggest talking over this phobia and its associated catastrophic thinking about your health with with your own therapist, that may help enough to get you to an exam.  And the therapist, if he or she thinks it's a big enough issue for you, might suggest further steps or know a doc who treats nervous Nellies.  :)   Good luck, don't sit on this -- doubtless if you were really suffering from an ailment you would know, but it's like preventative maintenance to have your checkups, and you aren't helping yourself to let this go unhandled.  Annie

ps -- I've heard that the best cure for catastrophic thinking is to see the humor in it, because anxiety increases if you try to fight it, but humor defuses it.  Imagine yourself going into the doc's office for a standard checkup looking normal and coming out covered with bandages, on crutches, and you'll see why it works.  Your mind laughs at the image, and relaxes about the original thought a little.