How To Make Doctors Appointment For Anxiety

Dont Be Afraid To Ask For Help

Anxiety is a very common condition thats estimated to affect around 40 million Americans, so theres no need to feel embarrassed about asking for extra help. The staff at your doctor or dentists office will have dealt with many, many people who are anxious about their appointments, and theyll often have procedures in place for nervous patients. Whats important is not to put off the appointment, as the longer you leave it, the worse your anxiety is likely to become. Dont let anxiety stop you from getting a healthy smile with the Dentist in Houston.

Coping Support And Resources

In addition to your prescribed treatment, you may want to join a support group. It can be very helpful to talk with other people who are experiencing symptoms similar to yours. Its good to know that you are not alone. Someone else with similar symptoms can understand what youre going through and offer support and encouragement. Being part of a group can also help you develop new social skills.

Your community will likely have several support groups, either for your specific disorder or for anxiety in general. Check with your medical professionals to learn what resources are available in your area. You might ask your:

• mental health provider
• primary doctor
• county mental health services agency

You can also participate in support groups online. This may be a good way to start if you have social anxiety disorder or feel uncomfortable in a face-to-face group setting.

Treatment of diagnosed anxiety is often multi-disciplinary. This means you may see one or all of the following medical practitioners:

• primary care physician

Things To Tell Your Doctor

This information will help your doctor make an accurate diagnosis of your condition.

• Make a list of your symptoms and when they began. Note when your symptoms occur, how they affect your life, and when theyre better or worse.
• Write down any major stresses in your life, as well as any traumas youve experienced, both past and present.
• Write down all of your health conditions: mental and physical.
• Make a list of all medications and supplements youre taking. Include how much you take and how often.

List any other substances you use or consume, such as:

• coffee

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How To Talk To Your Doctor About Anxiety And Depression

Before you go, the first step is to prepare yourself for your upcoming appointment. You can do this by writing down what youd like to speak about, so you dont forget anything important. If you already know you have specific signs of anxiety disorder, write them down. These could be some notes about how you have been feeling day-to-day and critical points about your personal information. This may include any stressful life events you have experienced, anything upcoming, or anything from a previous experience. Be sure also to note any current medication you are on, including the name and dosage. Dont forget you can also take a close friend or family member with you to your medical appointment if it makes you feel more comfortable.

You can also prepare some questions beforehand, such as what the doctor thinks is causing your anxiety, why a specific treatment plan is being offered to you, and what other things may support you. You might want to ask if you should see a psychiatric doctor, psychologist, or any other mental health professional, and if so, which they recommend. You can also ask for any pamphlets or support website recommendations that may help you digest all the information. All of these steps will help you with how to talk about depression, anxiety, and social anxiety with your doctor and find the right support and care for what you are going through.

What To Expect From Your Doctor

Seven Steps To Lessen Anxiety At Your Next Doctor Appointment

How many times have you walked out of the doctors office only to realize you forgot to ask something while you were there? It happens, but there are some easy things you can do before the appointment to help to make the next one more successful.

Patients can be anxious when they come to the office and can overlook certain things, said Cindy Nunan, DNP, FNP-BC, Nurse Practitioner at Shore Physicians Group. I completely understand it. That is why I try to take the time to understand their concerns and put them at ease, but I need a little help from them as well so that we can have the most successful outcome from the visit. If they could bring in a list of the current medications they are taking or bring in the medications themselves, either is a great start to the office visit. I need to know what they are currently taking before I can fully assess their health care needs. With the senior population, that information is vital.

Nunan said she tries to learn something about her patients background, like the foods they eat and what is important to them. This helps her understand the patient as an individual and not just their symptoms.

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Be Honest About Your Anxiety

Like Ive stressed time and time again, anxiety is a normal feeling. Be real with yourself and explore what it is that makes you feel this way. You dont have to hide your anxiety from your doctor. This honesty promotes a healthier relationship with your physician. Being honest about your worries with your doctor will only lead to less anxiety and better care down the road.

How To Treat Anxiety: The Options

After your doctor has seen you, youll have a clearer idea of which treatment you need to move forward with, and any decided treatment depends on the severity of your anxiety or if you have an anxiety disorder. A medical anxiety disorder is when the symptoms persist for weeks or months. The two most common treatment plans are psychotherapy and medication. However, these arent the only ways to manage your condition theres plenty of self-care strategies you can pick up too.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is also known as psychological counseling or talking therapy. Theres also a vast range of mental health therapies available depending on your type of anxiety. Sessions involve talking things through with a trained therapist to minimize your symptoms. One popular treatment you may have heard of is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, often known as CBT. Its widely recognized as one of the most effective therapies for anxiety disorder, and whats more, its a relatively short-term treatment. CBT involves teaching you specific methods to cope with your symptoms and gently returning to activities you may be avoiding.

Medications

Your appointment and consultation with your doctor are both essential, as it will help them decide with you if you need any medications and the level of you may require. Many people may need a possible combination of medication and talking therapies to help them tackle any problems, and your doctor will prescribe these, if needed, in your appointment.

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Tips To Curb Your Anxiety Before A Doctors Appointment

For some people, going to a doctor isnt a walk in the park. Their stomach starts to churn, and cold sweats begin to appear when they think about their doctors appointment. If thats you, we have 5 tips to overcome this anxiety so that you can better take care of your health.

1.Schedule a Suitable Time

Before setting a time, look at the ebbs and flows of your anxiety levels during the day or week. For instance, if you feel more anxious in the morning, taking a morning appointment will only make it worse. Consider taking an afternoon or an evening appointment instead.

2.Go with a Family Member or a Friend

Going to a doctors appointment with a friend or a family member can placate your anxiety in myriad ways. While theyll be a comforting presence in the clinic and distracting you with friendly conversation while you wait, they will also be attentive to catch important details about your treatment that you may miss in an anxiety-ridden state.

3.Manage Your Breath

While we arent conscious about it, our breathing becomes shallower and shorter when we are stressed out invoking a cycle of anxiety. To relax yourself, its best to perform different breathing exercises. The most common of them is the 4-7-8 technique. In this, you inhale as you count till four, hold your breath as you count till seven, and exhale as you count till eight. While you do this, try filling your belly and not your chest.

4.Mentally Prepare Yourself

5.Have Your Vitals Noted at the End

What Questions Do I Ask When Choosing A Gp

If you dont have a regular doctor already, you can find one by speaking to your local pharmacist and look at websites of practices in your area. You can also ask family and friends for GP recommendations, though they may not have a mental health focus. Your local mental health community centre can suggest suitable doctors in your area.

You can then call a general practice to ask:

• how to make appointments
• what is their billing policy
• if the practice is easily accessible in terms of location and opening days and hours
• if the practice meets any special needs or preferences you may have, such as language, culture or gender of the doctor

You might want to ask your doctor if they have an interest in mental health, and about their qualifications and experience in mental health. Even if your doctor does not have an interest or skills in mental health treatment, they can suggest other doctors who do.

Ask yourself if you feel comfortable talking to your doctor about how you are feeling. It is normal to be nervous or embarrassed about a mental health appointment. It may help to choose a clinic that has features such as:

• friendly staff
• clear contact information and arrangements
• the option of long consultations
• follow-up arrangements
• remote and face-to-face appointments

These things may make your visit smoother and help you feel more comfortable. The easier it is to speak with your doctor, the more you will get out of your visit.

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How To Get A Quick Appointment With A Doctor

This article was medically reviewed by Luba Lee, FNP-BC, MS. Luba Lee, FNP-BC is a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner and educator in Tennessee with over a decade of clinical experience. Luba has certifications in Pediatric Advanced Life Support , Emergency Medicine, Advanced Cardiac Life Support , Team Building, and Critical Care Nursing. She received her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Tennessee in 2006.There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 159,982 times.

If you are sick or have a medical condition that requires a doctors attention quickly, you may find it difficult to get an appointment. Doctors are often very busy and can usually only see scheduled patients or those with serious conditions or injuries, but by calling your doctor and considering alternatives such as a walk-in-clinic, emergency room or another doctor, you may be able to get a doctors appointment quickly.

Dont Delay Talk Today

Common patient concerns include:

• Fear of being labelled and judged by their GP,
• Fear that information will then be on their medical record and that other people will read it and gossip,
• Fear that a future employer will be able to access the information about their condition.

For many of the common mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression, these feelings can actually be part of the condition themselves:

• Feelings of lack of self worth,
• Doubts that one will be listened to,
• Doubts that anyone cares,
• Fears that one will not be able to explain what is wrong,
• Fear that ones problems would not be understood.

All too frequently used in self justification for avoiding the subject.

Many of us find it difficult to find the words to explain what it is that we are feeling, often not recognising that or not wanting to acknowledge that our problems have an element of mental health involved and instead insisting that they have some undiagnosed physical problem that is causing all of our distress.

As a consequence, many people suffer unnecessarily by delaying talking to their GP until they reach a real crisis point.

Getting help rapidly is the best way to manage mental health difficulties and to reduce the suffering that a mental illness causes. As GPs are normally the first medical professional we do talk to, theyre used to dealing with all mental health issues. Around third of GP appointments involve some discussion of ones mental well being.

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Telemedicine Is Your Friend

Even if you havent seen your doctor in over a year, Savoy said, you can resume your connection through telemedicine. In the 15 to 20 minutes allotted for a telehealth visit a video chat with your doctor you can discuss your concerns and any changes youve noticed in the last year. From there, the doctor can order blood work and the necessary screenings for cancer like your mammogram, colonoscopy, and prostate or cervical cancer tests. Your doctor will consult your records and make sure you are up-to-date with your vaccines and other routine maintenance, like an eye exam or a dental appointment.

Then when you visit your doctor to check your vitals, you wont have to explain so much. This way the patient isnt spending so much time explaining themselves, they can get in and get out, and we can do whats most important start a plan to get you back on the road to good health, Savoy said.

Make A List Of Concerns

Prior to your appointment, make a list of everything you are feeling and any questions you have for your doctor or healthcare professional. You will also want to write down any details about triggers, as well as how your life is affected by each item.

For example, if you’re feeling paranoid, you need to list not just the feeling but what you feel paranoid about and how it affects your life. List exactly what you are feeling and experiencing and how your life is affected.

When you break down your feelings and how they are affecting your daily life, you paint a very clear picture for the doctor. It’s very difficult to do that on the spot in a short visit when your brain is spinning and you aren’t prepared, so make the list ahead of time.

Try to avoid putting labels on your feelings or triggers as you talk to your therapist. Let the doctor do that. Therapists could inadvertently be influenced by your labels, affecting their diagnosis or treatment recommendations.

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Why Do Some People Fear Doctors

In an effort to understand more about this pervasive issue, I took to social media to ask others about their experiences.

Like me, many pointed to negative incidents in the past as the reason for their anxiety around doctors, from not being heard to receiving the wrong treatment.

I worry that doctors will brush off my concerns, reports Jessica Brown, who experienced narcolepsy for six years before a doctor took her symptoms seriously.

Says Cherise Benton, Two separate doctors in two separate facilities read aloud off my chart that Im allergic to sulfa and went ahead and prescribed it to me. Benton landed in the ER after dangerous allergic reactions to her prescriptions.

Sadly, some folks also face fears based on statistics about the level of care people in their demographic receive.

As a black woman in America, I often worry that I wont have my medical concerns listened to fully, or that I may be given a substandard level of care because of implicit bias, says Adélé Abiola.

Another common thread among respondents was a feeling of powerlessness.

Those in the white coats hold our medical fate in their hands while we, the non-professionals, await their expertise.

They know this secret about you that could change your life, says Jennifer Graves, referring to the acute unease of waiting on test results.

And when it comes to our health, the stakes are often extremely high.

Path To Improved Health

Sometimes it can be hard to start a conversation with your doctor about your mental health. Here are some tips that can help you before, during, and after your appointment.

Before your appointment:

• Your symptoms. These could be physical, mental, emotional, or behavioral changes that youve noticed in your life.
• How your mood affects your everyday life.
• Key personal information, such as traumatic events in your past, or current stressful situations you are facing.
• Your medical information, such as other physical or mental conditions you currently have. Also write down all medicines you are taking, including over-the-counter medicine and herbal supplements.
• Questions you want to ask your doctor.

During your appointment:

After your appointment

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