Still severely stressed several hours after an event...

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I was thinking of this the other day, and I have advice from my psych about it, which helps but I just wondered if there was any real-life advice from anyone who feels the same thing, instead of a professional who got it from a textbook.

When I have to go and have things done in a hospital such as having stitches removed, blood taken etc, small things like that, I am fine at the time, as I can tend to hide how I feel at first, to get acknowledged as being there and sat in the waiting room.
However, when a doctor starts to touch me, or ask me questions I get stressed especially if I am on my own and there is no-one to speak for me if I stammer or if I almost lose the ability to speak altogether. This is all documented now, so doctors know how to handle me a little better which is helpful.

The problems really start though, once I get home. As soon as I shut the door and am on my own I keep going over what happened again and again in my head, thinking about how I could have done better by talking more clearly or being more co-operative even when I know i've tried my best and couldn't be any more co-operative if i've tried. Then I start tapping and think of cutting (which i have a problem with when stressed) and shut down to anyone who tries to help me.

Anyway, what I think i'm asking is, are there any ways which help anyone to deal with all of this - especially the aftermath?

I can't understand the doctor problem because I've never had it - although someone with your past trauma I can understand why you would find it difficult.

You can try and think of it this way. When you go over it in your head, think that they've probably forgotten about it, and would have dealt with several patients by the time you've left and gotten home.

Don't be hard on yourself. Doctors see hundreds of people every week, and I'm sure you aren't the worst of them.

They're probably more concerned about what they're having for dinner, Em.

I know nothing I say can really help, as it's not my head. But I'll still try.

If you really want to be crude about it, you can just think they're another ant crawling around on this rock. That's all they are. They are insignificant in the big picture of things.

I have similar issues when doing conversations. Not doctors but for example interviews, trying to chat someone up, etc. Just focus so much after the fact of what i did wrong that i end up in a depressive mood. Not sure if my way of getting over it is the best as i try to pick fights/arguments when in that mood instead of harming

Ah, I know! That's the annoying thing. I can think now 'they wont give it a second thought' but at the time, i'm just trapped in my thought process.

It's so distressing at the time, but the next day, when i'm over it, I know i'm overreacting.

ETA; i prefer not to pick fights, because i'd pick them with the boyfriend and that'd end up harming us too.

I get into obsessive anxiety cycles too. I don't take medication, and I don't want to, so what I do most often is stress-release activity. Currently my thing is to play Modern Warfare 2, because for some reason the action of the pump action shotgun, or the precision of the sniper chill me out. Perhaps it's because that although my adrenalin levels are higher, I have to concentrate or my stats go down. I'm an otherwise non-violent person. I know xbox games aren't everyone's cup of tea, so you may need to experiment.

Meditation does not work for me, at least not 'traditional' meditation, and I end up obsessing again. I've tried walking, and here's the thing: although I do obsess while I'm out, it ebbs so that when I'm done I've returned to normal levels. Two or three miles usually does it. Since I fidget, or can't sit still, I occasionally just lie on the floor. It may sound odd, and I don't do it in public, but for me, it works. I don't know why. Have you tried martial arts?

i do not think i understand exactly what you are saying, but i have extreme reactions when it comes to going to the doctor.
i am a hypochondriac (when nothing else is going wrong (when other things worry me i am not a hypochondriac)) and i over analyze what my symptoms are and what they indicate, and i think carefully about how i will describe them to the doctor.

when i see the doctors, i start talking to them as if i am the expert and they get sh***y with me and tell me that i have no qualification and i should not try to second guess them.

i will tell them of a symptom, and then i will immediately try to tell them what i think about that symptom, and they say things like "mark. if you're not going to let me do my job, then perhaps you should not consult me", and i go quiet because i understand that they are qualified and i am not. but also i know that i can describe in detail my symptoms and they do not want such detailed descriptions.

they may say "are you in pain?", and i have to say "no", but i experience a very unpleasant feeling that feels like i am ...." and they again cut me off.

eventually i have to submit to getting tests done, and i am terrified about what the results will be.
i had a very bad respiratory infection last year, and it was so bad that i could climb no more than 3 steps at a time before i was winded.

to scrub a saucepan was too much for me to do even. i reported my distress, and the doctor wanted to x-ray my lungs to make sure i did not have lung cancer.

i told him that i have never coughed up blood, and i do not have lumps in my armpit lymph nodes, and and i do not have clubbed fingernails and that it came on in only 1 week, so i could think it was not cancer, but he hot angry and said to me that he was qualified and i was not.

so i got my chest x-rayed (i was extremely resistant), and i could not think correctly for the 4 days until i got my results. i could not relax and i did not want to find out if i had lung cancer because if i found that out, i would be a basket case until i died.

i am terrified of a doctor telling me that i have a terminal illness, and if i found out i had lung cancer and i had say 1 year to live, then i would prefer not to know that, and i would prefer to keep thinking it was an infection so at least i had some hope. if i knew i was going to die, i would die as soon as i learned it because i would be overcome and not be able to breathe or function in any way due to terror.

i think that what i said does not relate to your predicament however but i will post it so you can see another persons angst from the other side.

I think hale_bopp is right. The doctors see a lot of people everyday and you are just another patient. I used to get into that self-analysing circle quite a lot. One way I can stop it or reduce the effects of it is using perspective. I'll try and be as clear as I can.

So let's say that particular doctor sees 10 people per day, that's 50 people from Monday to Friday (I'm probably underestimating here). By the end of one month, he/she has seen 200 people. Therefore, as long as you haven't done anything extremely silly (e.g. started throwing stuff around), the likelihood they will remember you in a negative way is very low.

Also if you have done your best to helpful and polite, then no fault can be attached to you, therefore there's no need to stress about it.

I kind of know how you feel, I have had bad experiences with doctors. Hope this has helped a bit though.

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