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Thread: Agoraphobia, Social Anxiety and the Dentist

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    348

    Agoraphobia, Social Anxiety and the Dentist

    I have agoraphobia and rather severe social anxiety. I hadn’t walked in a town in five years and had avoided all busy places up until last week. I was aware that my teeth needed professional cleaning but just couldn’t force myself to make an appointment. For me, the waiting for the appointment to come around is the hardest part. The anxiety tends to build to an unbearable level and this is followed by a stint in a tiny waiting room full of people. The actual treatment doesn’t scare me, funnily enough; just the idea that I might have a panic attack in the consulting room and end up running out with a filling half drilled.

    Well, fate took over in this case. I jabbed my gum while eating crisps and it became very sore, so that I was fairly certain I had an infection. I knew it couldn’t be left like that. I wished I could just go straight there and get it over with but having made the phone call I still had to wait four days to be seen.

    During that time I went through the whole ‘what if’ scenario. What if I had a panic attack in the street walking from the car to the surgery door? What if I freaked out in the waiting room? What if I ran out of the treatment room?

    When the day of my appointment came last Monday, I got into the car with my partner feeling like I was going to my doom. We had to park quite a way from the surgery and walk over a footbridge and up a street to get there. I coped with this by imagining I was walking in the wood near my house. It wasn’t as bad as I expected and the people in the street took no notice of me. The waiting room was empty and as soon as I sat down the nurse called me through to the treatment room. I had a rush of panic as she asked me if my phone number was still the same as five years ago. The numbers wouldn’t come to mind at first, but after a few seconds it came to me.

    The treatment session was more relaxed than I expected. By concentrating on the instructions the dentist gave me and staring into the light I found I was no where near as worked up as I expected to be. The key seems to be staying in the present moment and during the quiet moments I mentally reassured myself as I would do a nervous friend that it would all soon be over. It was too! I had to come back on two more occasions. Once I was left sitting in the dentist’s chair alone for 25 minutes and I felt panic coming on. I had nothing to distract me but I managed to calm myself by picturing my dog’s face and wondering what he was doing waiting for me at home. My last session for the time being was today. All in all I have now completed 3 deep cleaning sessions and my teeth feel brand new!

    I feel an enormous sense of achievement that I have managed to do something to make my life better. I wanted to post about it here to reassure anyone in the same boat that it wasn’t nearly as scary as I imagined, and although I was aware of panicky feelings, the huge flip out that I am always dreading just never happened.

    So if you have been putting off a visit to the dentist due to agoraphobia or social anxiety, the answer is to do what the No More Panic wristband says and Just Flipping Do It! You are stronger than you think. Stay in the present moment and it will all be over before you know it. You will be back home with a huge healthy smile and feeling more confident for the next hurdle In your life.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    4,843

    Re: Agoraphobia, Social Anxiety and the Dentist

    Well done rain,

    You must be feeling so chuffed with yourself, the fact is the thought is always worse than the deed, and you did so well on making the appointment and going for it.

    Onwards and upwards now hun.

    well done you

    di xx

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