How to Mentally Prepare for a Medical Appointment, Surgery, or Procedure from a Seattle Anxiety Therapist

It’s normal to feel nervous or stressed before a medical appointment, surgery, or procedure. These emotions can be heightened if you’ve had negative experiences in these spaces previously or you struggle with increased levels of anxiety. If you are part of a minority group including but not limited to being a person of color, living in a fat body, being queer or living in a disabled body, interactions with the medical system can be complex and challenging.

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Before You Go: Tips from a Seattle Anxiety Therapist

Get Information:

Know before you go about the accessibility of the building and the equipment available to you. Ask about parking, building entrances, bathrooms, blood pressure cuffs and exam tables. Of course, this doesn’t magically fix such barriers, but it can help you be more informed about what to expect and what challenges you may encounter or help you decide to seek out another clinic.

Create a Self-Care Kit:

It can also be helpful to have a kit ready beforehand for you to grab so you don’t have to think about gathering what you need that day. This kit can include a variety of things, but some examples are:

·      a water bottle

·      snacks

·      notepad and pen

·      extra clothes

·      soothing items like a stuffed animal, soft sweater, or a fidget gadget

·      You might also bring headphones so you can listen to soothing music in the waiting room or possibly even during the procedure.  

Self-Soothing Through Breath:

The most accessible way for any of us to calm our nervous system is through breath. It’s never too late to work on breathing deeper into your diaphragm and get away from chest/shoulder breathing which can lead to heightened anxiety. Try this exercise:

1.     Put one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly.

2.     Breathe normally and notice where your breath is going.

3.     Follow your breath with awareness, noticing the inhale and exhale.

4.     As you mindfully follow your breath, start to deepen it into your belly, feeling it expand with your hand and deflate as you exhale.

5.     Continue with this deepening for ten more breaths.

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Address Scary Thoughts:

As you practice calming your body down, it can also be helpful to notice ways that you may be signally to your nervous system that there’s a threat from the inside. This happens when you fuse or buy into thoughts right away without perspective. Some scary thoughts I common see with folks: “I might die.” Or “This won’t work.” Identify these as scary thoughts and remind yourself you don’t have to buy into these thoughts just because they’re showing up. You might ask yourself what other possibilities could happen?

Address Sensitive Areas:

If there’s a specific part of your body that is sensitive or that makes you feel unsafe, it can be helpful to work on building safety around this specific area. Such work often needs therapeutic intervention, but a good place to start is with making sure there’s open communication with a trusted provider. If a provider isn’t open to listening about your history and concerns, they probably aren’t the doctor for you. Ideally, with knowledge of your history, they can work from a trauma informed perspective, highlighted by consent and collaboration. You might also ask about sedation options if not being awake for a procedure is ultimately what’s best for your mental health.

Distinguishing Type of Anxiety:

One way to distinguish different kinds of anxiety is through labeling of ‘clean’ versus ‘dirty’ anxiety. Clean anxiety is considered a typical emotional response that most people would have to a situation. Medical stuff can be scary, and most people feel anticipation before an appointment, surgery, or procedure. Dirty anxiety is considered the ways your brain might make things worse in an effort or unwillingness to experience the clean anxiety. It’s ironic, but the more open you are to feeling normal anticipation and concern and can sit in that discomfort, the less likely you are to pile on dirty anxiety. Dirty anxiety can be seen through negative self-talk, avoidance of the inevitable, trying to change what you can’t change, denial, harsh judgement, and psychological inflexibility (amongst others).

Create a Mantra:

I don’t buy into toxic positivity; however, it is important to try to see things as they are, not more or less. A neutral mantra can help during times like these. Some examples are: “I can advocate for my needs.” “I am open to my experiences.” “I am safe.” “My body is working to take care of me.” If you don’t feel like you can honestly say you’re there yet, a mantra can state your progress, “I’m working on advocating for my needs.” “I’m practicing opening up to my experiences.” “I’m building safety.”

Visualize Things Going Well:

Before your appointment, surgery, or procedure it can be helpful to visualize your experience going well. This could mean visualizing being heard, validated and cared for. It could mean visualizing a specific outcome or event. You’re opening your brain’s possibilities to positive outcomes, rather than only focusing on the possible negative outcomes. If you feel safe, you can really commit to visualizing the environment and identifying experiences of your senses. What do you see, hear, smell, touch, and taste as the situation is going well? Then at your appointment, see if you can pick up any of these cues.

Managing Anxiety During an Appointment, Surgery, or Procedure

Support Person:

Have at least one support person who clearly understands your needs and desires. It’s always a good idea to have a buddy when navigating an appointment, surgery, or procedure. Discuss beforehand with your support person how much you’d like them involved with the care team. Possibly have a signal that you can send your support person when you need them to intervene if you’re feeling flooded or overwhelmed. Double check appropriate releases of information are signed so the flow of communication isn’t prohibited.

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Utilize tools you’ve practiced:

The tools addressed in the above section come into play when you’re at the appointment, surgery, or procedure.

Anxiety Therapy Tip: Learn From Your Experience

Process afterward:

It can be helpful to intentionally process your experience after the appointment, surgery, or procedure. Take some time to either talk with your support person about your experiences or write down your experience. Identify ways the experience surprised you, what you learned, and what you can take away from your lived experience. You might also use this experience to inform preparing for other incidences with the medical system.

Reach Out to Schedule Anxiety Therapy in Seattle!

Facing stress, anxiety, and life transitions is difficult and no one was meant to do it alone. Imagine having the support you need to move forward and meet your goals. Schedule a free consultation today and get tailored care focused on your needs.

Learn more about Chelsea’s specialties: grief, anxiety, infertility, pregnancy loss, chronic illness, menopause, medical trauma

Learn more about Chelsea

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