February 19, 2024 • 14 mins
Welcome to a special Inscape Quest podcast episode where we delve into the often-overlooked challenge of anxiety during medical appointments. Host, Trudi Howley, provides a refreshing perspective to deal with this issue. This unique episode is designed as a micro-therapy session where Trudi shares 14 powerful strategies that can help patients take control of their anxious moments during medical appointments.
The tips range from simple acts like bringing AirPods or a small audio player loaded with comforting music or podcasts to more mindful techniques such as practicing progressive relaxation and balancing sensory distractions. Trudi delves deeper into each strategy, creating a credible road map for successfully coping ahead with difficult or tense situations.
She further highlights the importance of connection, compassion, and reframing. She encourages individuals to navigate their patient-medical staff relationship according to their comfort, express their anxiousness openly, exercise self-compassion, and foster positive thinking. The episode wraps up in a motivational way, inspiring listeners to tolerate discomfort that might show up as they comprehend the challenges are momentary.
This Inscape Quest podcast episode serves as a valuable resource in transforming our approach towards anxiety during medical procedures. Join Trudi Howley in this insightful conversation and begin your journey towards conquering anxiety.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello podcast listeners, thank you for tuning in today to the InscapeQuest podcast show.
I am your host, Trudi Howley.
Here I am talking with people about how they engage with their relationships, work and passions.
Please subscribe and share this show with a friend.
(00:20):
And thanks to you, we can grow meaningful conversations together, one episode at a time.
This episode is a little different. Instead of sitting down with a favorite
We're going to take time out for a little micro therapy session.
(00:43):
So we're going to try something new today. We're going to do a micro session around anxiety.
And there's a tremendous amount of material out there about dealing with anxiety and phobias.
But we're going to focus on some tried and tested sedative-free ways that you
(01:05):
and patients can take control of anxious moments during medical appointments.
I'm going to run through 14 different things that can help you have an easier
time, whether it's going for a checkup, an ultrasound,
CT scan, preparing for an invasive procedure.
(01:29):
I'm going to share with you today, I'm going to help you successfully cope ahead
with difficult or tense situations.
So let's get started. The first one is to think about sounds.
Be great if you could have some AirPods that are charged and preferably wireless.
Have those ready to take with you with your smartphone or if you have a small
(01:55):
audio music player, you can use that too. make sure you have your phone on do not disturb.
The idea is that you're going to have one air pod in your ear while you're at your appointment.
You're going to have music ready to go and you can decide ahead of time if you
(02:16):
want to listen to something soothing, upbeat, or you might even even prefer a podcast.
If you're going to choose to listen to music, make sure you've got something
lined up that you've listened to at least once before and know that you can
enjoy for stress relief.
Now, by putting one AirPod in at a low volume, you'll be easily able to hear
(02:40):
and communicate with the medical professionals.
And there's a ton of research out there that shows that shifting your attention
away from unpleasant sensations is supported by listening to music.
And we're going to move on to some other ideas that are going to help you manage
(03:02):
unpleasant sensations.
So the next one is progressive relaxation.
The idea of this is something you're going
to practice ahead of time by doing little
brief body scans so bringing
your attention slowly up through
your body starting at the soles of
(03:24):
your feet and you're going to move your attention all the way up through your
legs and your torso and then up through your neck head shoulders and arms and
you're going to track for areas of tension.
So as you begin to easily recognize and quickly recognize where you're holding tension in your body,
(03:51):
you can then breathe into the area of tension and deliberately relax that area.
You can also layer this by if you notice a rigid or frozen area such as clenching your jaw,
making a fist, or noticing that a part of your leg is really tight,
(04:13):
you can actually bring some gentle
movement into those areas along with inviting that body part to relax.
Now, another great thing, number three, is distraction.
Wiggling your toes during anything Anything invasive such as getting a shot
(04:35):
or being physically touched or getting an ultrasound, for instance,
it helps you distract your brain.
So remember, wiggle your toes for as long as you have that short,
invasive action happening.
Now, number four is sensory play.
(04:56):
You might want to wear something around your wrist.
It could be a watch. It could be a little mala or some kind of beaded bracelet,
something that's easily accessible to you to fiddle with.
And five is touch in terms of you can squeeze something. You can hold on to something.
(05:20):
There are plenty of squeeze balls available. You can buy those in your local pharmacy.
You could also bring a small stuffed animal.
It might be yours. You might grab it from one of your kids.
Just hold it in your hand, and then you can squeeze as needed.
If you don't have something prepared and find that you need to release tension,
(05:43):
grab a piece of your clothing and squeeze that.
So number six is breathing. And breathing is really important.
If you need to be very still, you might want to practice deep belly breathing
or even block breathing.
So with block breathing, you can pick your favorite number, say for instance
(06:07):
four, and you can practice breathing in for four counts,
holding for four counts, and breathing out for four counts.
Additionally, you may play with extending your exhale for a couple of extra counts.
And you might also want to include a mantra that you could say in your head
(06:31):
whilst you're practicing different types of breathing, whether it's block breathing
or the deep belly breathing.
You could say, breathing in, I calm myself.
Breathing out, I relax. And that's based on an old Thich Nhat Hanh mantra that
he used to use saying, breathing in, I calm myself, breathing out, I smile.
(06:55):
Number seven, sometimes you have to be still. When you're trying to be very
still, say, for instance, in a scanner, it could be an MRI, and you can't move,
and there's obviously a great place to practice breathing.
You can also imagine putting all your tension in your little pinky finger and
(07:20):
make it really rigid and then relax it.
So you could hold that rigid finger for a count of four or five and then relax it and repeat as needed.
Number eight, we're going to think about smell, another great sensory distraction.
(07:43):
I love essential oils. So you can buy one ahead of time.
Time they're not expensive you can pick
your favorite smell and you can put that
on your wrist and smell it if you
need to relax or you could just have it in your hand and smell from the bottle
and that's particularly helpful as well not only to get into your body but if
(08:08):
you're in a medical situation and there's a triggering chemical or unpleasant
smell in the environment environment,
it can easily kind of override that by smelling an essential oil.
Number nine, taste.
You can have a little piece of candy, could be sugar-free or a peppermint,
(08:31):
and you can actually suck on that during the medical process.
Of course, as long as you're not having dental work or you're going to sleep,
taste aspect can also help if you're awake and you need another sensory intervention.
So number 10, sight, another hugely important one.
(08:54):
When you're in the room for your appointment, whether it started or not,
make sure you look around.
You want to try and And avoid having a fixed gaze because a fixed gaze is a
sign of a trauma response.
If you're in danger, you can have kind of tunnel vision. So you want to break
(09:16):
that by moving your head and neck around.
And you can play this little game with yourself.
What do you notice? Can you name at least five things that you see in the environment in the room?
You don't have to judge them or interpret them, just kind of track and name
to yourself what five things your eyes are drawn to in that moment.
(09:39):
Or you could pick a color or additionally pick a color.
You could find something green maybe.
How many green things or blue things or red things can you see in the room?
You might want to notice how the room is decorated or how it's set up.
(10:00):
Practice being an observer.
Imagine maybe you were an architect or engineer, designer, artist,
or medical professional.
How would you set things up differently in the room or would you keep them all the same?
Play, play with your sight.
Number 11 is connection. connection so this
(10:22):
is an important one if you're trying to relate
to the medical professional do you need to know what's going on step by step
or would you rather just have basic information about what's happening next
or do you need to do small talk chit chat with the medical staff Also,
(10:44):
if you're feeling anxious,
name it out loud to the medical professional.
If you are engaging busy people in small talk, it can help them connect with
you as a person and not just treat you like a patient.
So number 12 is compassion. Practice self-compassion and compassion for the
(11:07):
others who are working to help you.
It's important that you don't dissociate or freeze to get through an intimidating or scary experience.
And you might want to notice if you are dissociating or freezing.
And without judging that, just gently bring yourself back into your body, into the room.
(11:30):
And you can do that by completing any one of the 11 previous suggestions,
recognizing Recognizing what's going on in your mind and body without judging
yourself, without engaging in self-critical thinking, gently bringing yourself back to your senses.
So number 13 is reframing. If you happen to catch yourself ruminating on thoughts
(11:53):
or engaging in negative thinking, practice thinking about stop, pause and reframe.
So, for example, you could be looping and you catch yourself looping by going
over the same negative or anxious thoughts and interrupt that by thinking stop,
(12:15):
pausing and taking a moment and without self-critical thinking,
just reframe it.
You might want to think about, I may be afraid and I am brave,
or anxiety is just a feeling and it will pass.
I may be scared and I'm not in danger.
(12:38):
This may be uncomfortable and I have some things to help me.
I can do this and get through it.
I can choose to tolerate this. So you can come up with your own reframes.
So number 14, plan ahead. Practice coping ahead of time and then you can be
(13:03):
prepared for your appointments.
You might also want to listen to guided meditations or relaxation imagery in
the days or weeks before your appointments.
Do that as many times as possible. so
be sure to practice some of these 14 suggestions
for managing anxiety you can
(13:25):
practice them in other environments so they become
quick and easy for you to do good luck as you choose to tolerate any discomfort
that might show up during your appointments knowing that they will pass and
everything will be over soon enough take good care and good luck,
(13:46):
Thank you for listening to this InScape Quest podcast with me, Trudy Howley.
If you like this show, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Podbean and leave a comment.
You can also find me on Instagram at InScape Quest.
Thank you for listening and for your shares. Cheerio for now.
(14:08):
Music.
Hello podcast listeners, thank you for tuning in today to the InscapeQuest podcast show.
I am your host, Trudi Howley.
Here I am talking with people about how they engage with their relationships, work and passions.
Please subscribe and share this show with a friend.
(00:20):
And thanks to you, we can grow meaningful conversations together, one episode at a time.
This episode is a little different. Instead of sitting down with a favorite
We're going to take time out for a little micro therapy session.
(00:43):
So we're going to try something new today. We're going to do a micro session around anxiety.
And there's a tremendous amount of material out there about dealing with anxiety and phobias.
But we're going to focus on some tried and tested sedative-free ways that you
(01:05):
and patients can take control of anxious moments during medical appointments.
I'm going to run through 14 different things that can help you have an easier
time, whether it's going for a checkup, an ultrasound,
CT scan, preparing for an invasive procedure.
(01:29):
I'm going to share with you today, I'm going to help you successfully cope ahead
with difficult or tense situations.
So let's get started. The first one is to think about sounds.
Be great if you could have some AirPods that are charged and preferably wireless.
Have those ready to take with you with your smartphone or if you have a small
(01:55):
audio music player, you can use that too. make sure you have your phone on do not disturb.
The idea is that you're going to have one air pod in your ear while you're at your appointment.
You're going to have music ready to go and you can decide ahead of time if you
(02:16):
want to listen to something soothing, upbeat, or you might even even prefer a podcast.
If you're going to choose to listen to music, make sure you've got something
lined up that you've listened to at least once before and know that you can
enjoy for stress relief.
Now, by putting one AirPod in at a low volume, you'll be easily able to hear
(02:40):
and communicate with the medical professionals.
And there's a ton of research out there that shows that shifting your attention
away from unpleasant sensations is supported by listening to music.
And we're going to move on to some other ideas that are going to help you manage
(03:02):
unpleasant sensations.
So the next one is progressive relaxation.
The idea of this is something you're going
to practice ahead of time by doing little
brief body scans so bringing
your attention slowly up through
your body starting at the soles of
(03:24):
your feet and you're going to move your attention all the way up through your
legs and your torso and then up through your neck head shoulders and arms and
you're going to track for areas of tension.
So as you begin to easily recognize and quickly recognize where you're holding tension in your body,
(03:51):
you can then breathe into the area of tension and deliberately relax that area.
You can also layer this by if you notice a rigid or frozen area such as clenching your jaw,
making a fist, or noticing that a part of your leg is really tight,
(04:13):
you can actually bring some gentle
movement into those areas along with inviting that body part to relax.
Now, another great thing, number three, is distraction.
Wiggling your toes during anything Anything invasive such as getting a shot
(04:35):
or being physically touched or getting an ultrasound, for instance,
it helps you distract your brain.
So remember, wiggle your toes for as long as you have that short,
invasive action happening.
Now, number four is sensory play.
(04:56):
You might want to wear something around your wrist.
It could be a watch. It could be a little mala or some kind of beaded bracelet,
something that's easily accessible to you to fiddle with.
And five is touch in terms of you can squeeze something. You can hold on to something.
(05:20):
There are plenty of squeeze balls available. You can buy those in your local pharmacy.
You could also bring a small stuffed animal.
It might be yours. You might grab it from one of your kids.
Just hold it in your hand, and then you can squeeze as needed.
If you don't have something prepared and find that you need to release tension,
(05:43):
grab a piece of your clothing and squeeze that.
So number six is breathing. And breathing is really important.
If you need to be very still, you might want to practice deep belly breathing
or even block breathing.
So with block breathing, you can pick your favorite number, say for instance
(06:07):
four, and you can practice breathing in for four counts,
holding for four counts, and breathing out for four counts.
Additionally, you may play with extending your exhale for a couple of extra counts.
And you might also want to include a mantra that you could say in your head
(06:31):
whilst you're practicing different types of breathing, whether it's block breathing
or the deep belly breathing.
You could say, breathing in, I calm myself.
Breathing out, I relax. And that's based on an old Thich Nhat Hanh mantra that
he used to use saying, breathing in, I calm myself, breathing out, I smile.
(06:55):
Number seven, sometimes you have to be still. When you're trying to be very
still, say, for instance, in a scanner, it could be an MRI, and you can't move,
and there's obviously a great place to practice breathing.
You can also imagine putting all your tension in your little pinky finger and
(07:20):
make it really rigid and then relax it.
So you could hold that rigid finger for a count of four or five and then relax it and repeat as needed.
Number eight, we're going to think about smell, another great sensory distraction.
(07:43):
I love essential oils. So you can buy one ahead of time.
Time they're not expensive you can pick
your favorite smell and you can put that
on your wrist and smell it if you
need to relax or you could just have it in your hand and smell from the bottle
and that's particularly helpful as well not only to get into your body but if
(08:08):
you're in a medical situation and there's a triggering chemical or unpleasant
smell in the environment environment,
it can easily kind of override that by smelling an essential oil.
Number nine, taste.
You can have a little piece of candy, could be sugar-free or a peppermint,
(08:31):
and you can actually suck on that during the medical process.
Of course, as long as you're not having dental work or you're going to sleep,
taste aspect can also help if you're awake and you need another sensory intervention.
So number 10, sight, another hugely important one.
(08:54):
When you're in the room for your appointment, whether it started or not,
make sure you look around.
You want to try and And avoid having a fixed gaze because a fixed gaze is a
sign of a trauma response.
If you're in danger, you can have kind of tunnel vision. So you want to break
(09:16):
that by moving your head and neck around.
And you can play this little game with yourself.
What do you notice? Can you name at least five things that you see in the environment in the room?
You don't have to judge them or interpret them, just kind of track and name
to yourself what five things your eyes are drawn to in that moment.
(09:39):
Or you could pick a color or additionally pick a color.
You could find something green maybe.
How many green things or blue things or red things can you see in the room?
You might want to notice how the room is decorated or how it's set up.
(10:00):
Practice being an observer.
Imagine maybe you were an architect or engineer, designer, artist,
or medical professional.
How would you set things up differently in the room or would you keep them all the same?
Play, play with your sight.
Number 11 is connection. connection so this
(10:22):
is an important one if you're trying to relate
to the medical professional do you need to know what's going on step by step
or would you rather just have basic information about what's happening next
or do you need to do small talk chit chat with the medical staff Also,
(10:44):
if you're feeling anxious,
name it out loud to the medical professional.
If you are engaging busy people in small talk, it can help them connect with
you as a person and not just treat you like a patient.
So number 12 is compassion. Practice self-compassion and compassion for the
(11:07):
others who are working to help you.
It's important that you don't dissociate or freeze to get through an intimidating or scary experience.
And you might want to notice if you are dissociating or freezing.
And without judging that, just gently bring yourself back into your body, into the room.
(11:30):
And you can do that by completing any one of the 11 previous suggestions,
recognizing Recognizing what's going on in your mind and body without judging
yourself, without engaging in self-critical thinking, gently bringing yourself back to your senses.
So number 13 is reframing. If you happen to catch yourself ruminating on thoughts
(11:53):
or engaging in negative thinking, practice thinking about stop, pause and reframe.
So, for example, you could be looping and you catch yourself looping by going
over the same negative or anxious thoughts and interrupt that by thinking stop,
(12:15):
pausing and taking a moment and without self-critical thinking,
just reframe it.
You might want to think about, I may be afraid and I am brave,
or anxiety is just a feeling and it will pass.
I may be scared and I'm not in danger.
(12:38):
This may be uncomfortable and I have some things to help me.
I can do this and get through it.
I can choose to tolerate this. So you can come up with your own reframes.
So number 14, plan ahead. Practice coping ahead of time and then you can be
(13:03):
prepared for your appointments.
You might also want to listen to guided meditations or relaxation imagery in
the days or weeks before your appointments.
Do that as many times as possible. so
be sure to practice some of these 14 suggestions
for managing anxiety you can
(13:25):
practice them in other environments so they become
quick and easy for you to do good luck as you choose to tolerate any discomfort
that might show up during your appointments knowing that they will pass and
everything will be over soon enough take good care and good luck,
(13:46):
Thank you for listening to this InScape Quest podcast with me, Trudy Howley.
If you like this show, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Podbean and leave a comment.
You can also find me on Instagram at InScape Quest.
Thank you for listening and for your shares. Cheerio for now.
(14:08):
Music.
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