medical anxiety
Healthcare appointment fear
Medical anxiety is fear or worry specifically related to healthcare situations—doctor visits, medical procedures, diagnoses, or health concerns.
It ranges from mild nervousness before appointments to debilitating dread that causes people to avoid necessary care: Her medical anxiety kept her from getting routine checkups.
The term encompasses both anxiety about one's health (similar to health anxiety or hypochondria) and anxiety triggered by medical settings themselves.
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- fight or flightThreat-triggered physiological state
- needlesSlender pointed instruments
- diagnosisIdentification of illness
symptoms · catastrophizing · what if · palpitations · heart pounding · sweating · nausea · phobia · doctor · hospital · second opinion · clean bill of health · WebMD · doom scrolling · worst case scenario · spiraling · racing thoughts · reassurance
- fears and aversionsphobias, needle phobia
- psychosomatic disordersconversion disorder, functional disorder, hypochondriasis, somatization, hysterical blindness
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