Aspects Of Living With A Disability - PART 4 Doctors/Doctors appointments

 Well well well...when it comes to doctors and doctor's appointments when you have a disability, there is usually an overwhelming amount of them. So much so that they normally start their rounds not long after you were born, as you are almost immediately taken care of by the doctors who are in NICU (Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit) or up on the ward. And then for the rest of your life, you deal with an onslaught of varying degrees. So much so that there are a few breakdowns along the way. But, there are some ways you can deal with them.

Number 1, which I do not recommend, is to not deal with your feelings surrounding these appointments. 

Number 2, try as best as possible to deal with the anxiety when you are in the waiting room. Otherwise, it will want to come out of you in various forms afterwards. And if you are anything like me, you'll be running out the door as fast as you can. But the thing to remember here at the end of the day is that, as much as they can be very annoying, they do serve a purpose. And that purpose is usually to help you. Although for me this was partially due to the fact that I was afraid of doctors until the age of fifteen. And then, funnily enough, I ended up going the other way and wanting to become one in high school. But believe me that this did not come without its ups and downs. 

Now, as for doctors themselves, if you are taking a person with a disability to a doctor, depending on what they specialise in and what they are doing, I will try to keep them to the same doctor so that it gives the disabled person enough time to build up a rapport with this person/medical professional. Over time, the more they go to the same person will reduce anxiety, at least this is what I have personally found. Using my most recent doctor as an example, I go to a female psychologist; which I have been seeing now since the middle to the end of 2020. Before I started going to psychologists,, my perception of them was that they dealt with a  lot of drugs and alcohol. So therefore for me, this type of potential environment would be very confronting as I grew up with minimal exposure to this type of stuff in my early life. But the more I went there, the more I realised my original perception of these types of doctors was completely off course. And now I actually have a fantastic rapport with my psychologist. And I now go to her on a consistent basis. Sometimes I want and sometimes I don't. With the increase in mental health these days, I do see the need for them. 

Anyways, back to strategies! 

My best advice here, and this is for anyone with a disability, or someone taking someone with a disability to the doctors, is to come up with your own coping strategies that will work or may work for you. This is not something I can teach you. This is something you have to come up with yourself. 

So in conclusion, doctors really ain't bad people. It is just when you are younger, they seem like they are very scary. Which then held of course a lot of anxiety in itself. And with this, I will say goodnight!

Thanks,

Stephanie ;)