Synopses & Reviews
Overcome Your Fear of Doctors, Blood, Needles, and More-You Can Do It!
Does even the thought of a visit to the doctor's office start your heart racing? You're not alone. Some 30 million of us have a significant fear of doctors, dentists, medical procedures, blood, needles, and so forth. These fears might already have inconvenienced you, but if you're avoiding necessary medical attention, you could be putting yourself in great physical danger.
But you don't have to live with these fears anymore. This book can help you overcome your medical phobia, maybe in less time that you ever thought possible. Start by learning about your fears, where they might come from, what factors influence them, and how you can best prepare to overcome them. Then you'll gradually and safely confront your specific fears. The book also includes information about avoiding relapse so you can maintain your progress, as well as steps for helping someone you care about who suffers from a medical phobia.
- Learn about your fears, how they may have begun, and the methods used to treat them
- Prepare for treatment, either on your own or with the help of a professional
- Explore exposure-based strategies for overcoming your fears
- Learn strategies to prevent fainting
- Plan relapse-prevention strategies to maintain your progress
- Engage your family and friends as sources of support
Review
"This book brings hope and help to a lot of peo ple who are suffer ing need lessly from fears of blood, injections, or medical procedures. It not only explains why these fears are there in the first place, but also gives the reader clear and solid solu tions to the problem.
Antony and Watling have done a tremendous job of synthesizing the best available scientific data and presenting it in a straight for ward, reader-friendly for mat. They take the reader step-by-step through the process, showing them why they feel the way they do and how to get better by facing their fears gradually."
—David F. Tolin, Ph.D., director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at The Institute of Living and assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine
“Of all phobias, medical fears are the most serious because they can stop people seeking life-saving medical care. Fortunately here is a book that outlines in a clear, stepwise manner a plan to help people with medical phobias. Drawing on the best available scientific knowledge of evidence-based therapies, the authors translate these treatments into a straight forward and potentially lifesaving program. In an easy-to-read style, the authors explain where medical fears come from and then what to do about them. For any one who avoids medical or dental care because of fear or because they may faint, there is no better place to begin treatment than with reading this book and then doing what it says. For psychologists and other mental health professionals, this book provides an excellent work book to use when work ing with people suffering from medical phobias.”
—Andrew Page, associate professor of psychology at the University of Western Australia in Crawley, Australia
Synopsis
Written by anxiety experts, Martin Antony, Ph.D. and Mark A. Watling, MD, this easy-to-read and practical guide will teach readers who experience extreme fear in situations involving blood, injections, surgery, physicians, and dental procedures, how to understand and overcome their medical phobia.
About the Author
Martin M. Antony, PhD, is professor and chair in the department of psychology at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. He is also director of research at the Anxiety Treatment and Research Centre at St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, and a past president of the Canadian Psychological Association. An award-winning researcher, Antony is coauthor of The Shyness & Social Anxiety Workbook, When Perfect Isn't Good Enough, and more than 25 other books. His research, writing, and clinical practice focus is on cognitive behavioral therapy and the treatment of anxiety disorders. He has been widely quoted in the American and Canadian media.Mark A. Watling, MD, is staff psychiatrist at the Anxiety Treatment and Research Centre at St. Joseph's Healthcare and assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University, both in Hamilton, ON.
Table of Contents