Anxiety and the Doctor
My child has always been a little trepidatious when it comes to the doctor’s office and it got progressively worse until about the age of 4. The big trauma with the doctor’s office came after she fell into a coffee table and had to get stitches. The process of getting the stitches in a hospital was entirely overwhelming and getting the stitches removed didn’t help things.
With that being said, there were several things that I did to help ease her anxiety.
We watched shows about the doctor’s office
Daniel Tiger has a great episode about going to the doctor’s office and promotes having conversations about what to expect. I did my best to find YouTube videos that showed kids going to the doctor’s office so that my daughter could see other kids happy and doing well.
We practiced going to the doctor’s office
If you have a play doctor kit this works great! (You can also order cheap ones off Amazon or pick one up at your Target). We played with stuffed animals and used all the tools on one another. We talked about each tool and what it’s used for and got familiar with what’s used at the office. This also provided more conversations about what to expect and provided reassurance there’s nothing to be afraid of.
We brought a doctor kit with us to the doctor’s office
This was incredibly helpful! When it was time to use the stethoscope, the doctor had my daughter use her play stethoscope on him while he checked her heart beat. He repeated this when it came to checking reflexes and he even showed her other tools he had and let her use them on him.
The overall goal is to provide positive experiences associated with going to the doctor. The more we talk about it, the more we answer any questions or provide any reassurances, the less there is to be scared of. My daughter gets so in her head and is more anxious about the idea of the doctor than the experience itself.
What we also learned in therapy was that it’s incredibly important to let your child know their fears and anxieties are valid. Using phrases like, “It’s okay” or “You’re alright” can be dismissive and actually heighten their anxiety (this is something we’re all guilty of as it’s such a normal automatic response). Instead, let your child know it’s okay to be anxious and you understand why it might be a little scary. Then, walk them through the facts that you already know and what they can do when they feel themselves getting nervous (take deep breaths, hold your hand, bring a stuffed animal with them, shake out the energy… whatever works for them).
With enough practice and exposure, these experiences become less scary. The more positive experiences they have, the higher the likelihood their brain will retrieve a happy memory about the doctor rather than a scary one.
