5 ways to get rid of the fear of doctors

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The entire life course of a person is directly or indirectly connected with hospitals and doctors. Medical examinations accompany people everywhere: at school, upon admission to a higher educational institution, during professional sports and when applying for a job. Recently, there have been frequent cases when a person suffers from nosocomephobia - fear of doctors and hospitals. Psychological illness manifests itself regardless of age and gender, crushing more and more people.

Description and mechanism of development of jatrophobia

Phobias do not develop out of the blue; for them to appear, hereditary factors are necessary that cause increased stimulation of the nervous system, or negative, traumatic experiences.

That is, phobias arise in people who have already encountered the adverse effects of a threatening factor on their own body. The inability to control the state of one’s own health, passivity during procedures accompanied by pain, is what causes fear among doctors. The possibility of developing a phobia is aggravated by innate suspiciousness, suspicion, and lack of trust.

The cause of the phobia is a kind of anchor and is deposited at the subcortical level. The less self-confident a person is, the deeper the problem that arises.

A phobia is not fear. Fear is a natural protective reaction of the body, in which the brain sends a signal to release adrenaline, a hormone that speeds up reactions. The person runs away, freezes, quickly calculates possible situations that help him escape from danger.

With a phobia, the same mechanism is activated - according to a signal from the central nervous system, adrenaline is released. But since the situation is imaginary, the risk is exaggerated, the body is not able to use up this adrenaline. Due to an excess of the anxiety hormone, symptoms appear that negatively affect health and cause a sharp deterioration in the condition due to disruption of the cardiovascular, respiratory systems and intestinal function.

This already requires treatment. However, with iatrophobia, the help of doctors is perceived as a threat, and therefore the condition worsens. A vicious circle arises: the need to see a doctor causes a deterioration in the condition, and the need for treatment leads to a deterioration in health.

Reasons for fear of doctors

How to get rid of the fear of doctors in each specific case can be understood only after the cause of the phobia has been identified. If you mobilize your own strength and concentrate on your feelings, apply methods of introspection, you can do this yourself. When the mere thought of encountering medicine makes you panic, in order to cope with your own fears, you should consult a psychologist. It is advisable to work with a private doctor who conducts consultations in his office and does not wear a traditional gown.

Causes of iatrophobia in children

Crying and increased moodiness when visiting medical institutions in children under 1.5-2 years old can hardly be explained by iatrophobia.
At this age, children are often simply afraid of strangers and unfamiliar surroundings, which may explain changes in behavior. Older children may develop a fear of doctors for the following reasons:

• The child “absorbs” the fear of “white coats” from adults. In the subconscious, conversations at home about how much you don’t want to be treated, a voiced reluctance to visit the dentist due to pain, and parents’ nervousness before injections or visiting a clinic are postponed.
• Individual characteristics of a developing personality. If the baby is afraid of blood, does not like the touch of strangers - especially those that seem intrusive to him - even a routine medical examination can cause panic.
• Low pain threshold - in this case, each manipulation causes pain that is remembered for a long time. After a one-time vaccination, it is difficult to persuade such children to go to the clinic in the future, even if they just have to undergo fluorography.
• Children are afraid of everything unfamiliar, they are accustomed to affection. An impersonal attitude, a lack of information - all this can cause them to panic.

In most cases, the parents themselves are to blame for children's iatrophobia. If the mother behaves insecurely when the baby is examined, “suffers” along with the child, and does not try to explain the need for this or that manipulation, the baby feels defenseless. In the future, in similar circumstances, he may panic.

Causes of iatrophobia in adults

Iatrophobia in adults cannot be explained only by childhood fears.
There are other reasons for the fear of doctors. Let's look at them in more detail:

1. Adults are used to controlling the situation, and when they fall into the hands of doctors, nothing depends on them. This situation causes fear, because you have to trust those you don’t know.
2. A medical error that was not necessarily experienced by the patient himself. It may be that someone you know was hurt, or someone simply told you about a similar situation. Stories have a frightening effect on overly impressionable people.
3. There is an abundance of negative information - movies about killer doctors, programs that talk about the mistakes of medical workers. Even if the stories are not confirmed by anything, the information is stored at the level of the subcortex of the brain.
4. Inferiority complex. A person is embarrassed by his body, imagines how repulsive he looks in the eyes of a doctor. It seems to him that because of this they are beginning to treat him negatively.
5. Bad habits - addiction to alcohol, drugs, overeating. The patient understands that doctors will talk about the harmfulness of such a lifestyle, and begin to avoid contact with official medicine, first consciously, and then on a subconscious level.
6. Fear of pain - unfortunately, most medical procedures are associated with causing pain or discomfort, and they try to avoid them.
7. Fear of death. The patient is afraid of dying on the operating table, from allergies caused by drugs, in the hospital ward, does not trust medical workers, and is sure that death cannot be avoided anyway. Treatment in this case is considered as an approach to death.
8. An impersonal attitude towards patients, negligence of medical staff, rudeness and rudeness in the hospital - all this forms a persistent negative attitude towards “people in white coats”.

Modern private clinics try to create conditions in which patients feel comfortable and treat people “like humans,” which allows them to cope with mental trauma.
Unfortunately, the goal of many private clinics is to make money - patients are given non-existent diagnoses and forced to undergo unnecessary examinations, which in the future can also cause a fear of medicine. All unpleasant sensations in combination associated with medical manipulations and the attitude of medical workers can cause the development of jatrophobia.

What is the fear of doctors called?

Iatrophobia is a patient's irrational fear of doctors and other medical professionals. The word comes from the ancient Greek words ἰατρός - “doctor” and φόβος - “fear”.

Often this disease is accompanied by other phobias:

• fear of medical institutions;
• fear of death;
• fear of taking medications;
• fear of needles.

Manifestations of iatrophobia in humans

If in children the symptoms of iatrophobia are often limited to increased moodiness, hysteria and crying, then in adults the signs of fear of doctors are much more severe.
In adults, in these cases, symptoms may develop that resemble those of a panic attack. Appears:

• Headache and dizziness;
• Nausea and vomiting;
• Intestinal cramps and diarrhea;
• Muscle tension, even to the point of cramps;
• Trembling in the knees;
• Speech disorders;
• Increased blood pressure;
• There is a haze before the eyes or flashing of flies.

Possible patients develop hypochondria, insomnia occurs, the perception of information is impaired, and it becomes difficult for them to concentrate on work.
Patients who are afraid of doctors delay treatment until they find themselves in a critical situation. If they are afraid of dentists, they bring their oral cavity to the point of complete tooth decay; if they are afraid of manipulations, they go to the doctor, when the pain becomes unbearable and oncological diseases cannot be treated.

Particularly severe forms of jatrophobia can cause death in the patient.

Symptoms of a phobia

A person who experiences panic fear of doctors prefers to self-medicate in any situation. Instead of seeking professional help, he uses traditional medicine, asks friends for advice, and uses unverified information from the Internet. As a rule, independent treatment does not lead to the desired result, and the circle closes: the patient is again overcome by anxious thoughts that he needs to consult a qualified specialist. In addition, in some cases, self-medication only aggravates the disease, which means longer observation by a doctor and, as a result, difficult memories. Physiological symptoms of the disease may begin to manifest themselves already at the planning stage of a medical consultation. Most often, jatrophobes feel:

1. trembling in the body;
2. nausea;
3. dizziness;
4. dry mouth.

We recommend reading: Where does the fear of being buried alive come from?

Also, a person who is afraid of doctors is worried about symptoms such as shortness of breath, increased sweating, and rapid heartbeat. An interesting fact is that a person suffering from iatrophobia increases blood pressure if the measurement procedure is carried out by a doctor (nurse). If the patient measures the pressure himself (or with the help of relatives or friends), the results correspond to normal values. This phenomenon is called “white coat syndrome.”

Ways to combat fear of doctors

Recommendations on how to overcome the fear of doctors depend on the patient’s age and state of mind. If she is so upset that no arguments work, then drug treatment will have to be carried out.

Actions parents can take to combat jatrophobia in a child

Parents of children who are afraid of people in white coats should take what is happening seriously and under no circumstances ridicule their behavior.
Features of adjusting children's behavior:

1. You need to tell your children in advance what will happen in the doctor’s office and how important it is. You should not deceive your child that “it won’t hurt.” Deception will negatively affect the psychological state of the future patient. If young children understand how important certain procedures are, they do not resist having them performed.
2. Before visiting the doctor's office, you should talk with your child, get him to voice his fears, answer all questions and give the correct information.
3. In a hospital for children, you need to try to create comfortable conditions. Children should know that while in line, if they want to eat and drink, their parents will feed and water them, and that there is a toilet in the hospital that you can always visit.
4. You should talk to your doctor with dignity. The child should see that his parents are talking to him as equals. Mom is not afraid - the baby is comfortable.
5. You can visit the doctor in advance and leave “gifts” for the baby. If after the examination the child is given a mirror, a piece of beautiful soap or even candy, he will even look forward to a second visit to the medical facility.
6. Under no circumstances should you frighten your child with injections, calling a doctor, or the fact that if he “does not take medicine at home, he will be sent to the hospital.”
7. It is advisable to plan a visit to the doctor in advance so that the child can ask his questions and formulate all his concerns.

If you don’t scare your baby with the hospital, play doctor and patient at home, treat toys - animals and cars, it is possible to overcome the fear of the doctor.

Fighting your fear of doctors on your own

To stop being afraid of a medical professional, you need to believe that the goal of every doctor is to create conditions under which communication with the patient can be reduced to a minimum.
And this can only be done if the patient recovers. You should trust the doctor. To do this, you need to find a professional whose actions do not cause rejection. Currently, all conditions have been created for this - reviews about the work of a particular specialist can be read on Internet sites, or you can ask relatives and friends. Now patients can choose the medical facility where they will be served.

In private clinics you can not only find your own specialist, but also choose the time and create all the conditions for comfortable treatment.

You must learn to trust yourself. You should voice the available information about your disease to the doctor, talk about your own feelings, and correctly formulate questions. A partnership between doctor and patient is the best way to overcome iatrophobia and speed up recovery.

You should get ready for the hospital in advance. Think about what to do if you need to go to the toilet or eat, take everything you need with you. In order not to be nervous in the corridor in line, it is worth preparing an interesting book, electronic media with games, knitting.

While staying in the hospital, you need to take a familiar thing from home - a pillow, a blanket. It is advisable to buy earplugs and an eye mask - at night they can put a new roommate in the room, turn on the light if someone becomes ill. Sudden wake-ups have a negative impact on the nervous system and prevent you from getting enough sleep. If the patient has a good rest at night, he is less nervous during the day.

Help from specialists in the fight against jatrophobia

If you can’t cope with your fears on your own, but you understand that treatment is necessary, you should contact a psychologist who sees you in a private office.
In this case, hypnotic influence can be used to get rid of fears and help in mastering the auto-training method. A frank conversation with a specialist will help determine the cause of fears and eliminate it.

Patients with jatrophobia often develop somatic diseases, the treatment of which is quite difficult. Consultations with a psychologist can help get rid of these diseases, and then the help of official medicine may not be needed.

In some cases, the use of sedatives will help maintain the stability of the nervous system. A psychologist, psychotherapist, neurologist has the right to prescribe them - some general medications can be purchased and taken by the patient himself in recommended doses.

For increased anxiety, which provokes disorders of the cardiovascular system, insomnia and symptoms of a panic attack, it is recommended to take mild sedatives: tinctures of valerian, motherwort, peony, Persen, Note, Herbion drops, Fitorelax tablets, Afobazol, Glycine.

If treatment is necessary, and each visit to a medical facility causes a worsening of the condition, sedatives and antidepressants are prescribed by the attending physician.