Overcoming Medical Phobias: How to Conquer Fear of Blood, Needles, Doctors, and Dentists

Description

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.

"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 "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" "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"