Dealing with health concerns as a highly sensitive person can be incredibly difficult. Research suggests that many highly sensitive people experience pain to a higher degree than their peers, which means that having procedures like injections or visiting the dentist can be a lot more distressing. You are also more likely to worry about anxiety-inducing situations like visiting the doctor or dentist. 

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Often, highly sensitive people will avoid health screenings for this reason, but that is only going to cause more problems further down the line. However, there are some simple things you can do to manage your anxiety. 

Try To Change The Way You Think About Health

Highly sensitive people are prone to some negative thought patterns about health and it’s important that you try to change that. It’s easy to see things in black and white so as soon as you notice any symptoms, you automatically jump to the worst case scenario and assume that you are seriously ill. Magnification is another common pattern highly sensitive people fall into, so the smallest health problems suddenly become a huge deal. Emotional reasoning also comes into play, which is when something becomes true because you believe it is. So, you assume that the outcome of the screening will be bad because you are telling yourself that it is. 

It’s important that you try to change these thought patterns by writing down all of your thoughts and feelings about your health checks. You can then start to rationalize them and identify which ones are logical and which are not. Working with an HSP coach can be a big help as well because they can give you tools to manage your difficult thought patterns. 

Find The Right Health Professionals 

Highly sensitive people have much higher levels of empathy and their emotions often mirror the people around them. So, if you are being treated by a health professional that is very calm and collected, you will feel more at ease. Some places also have special measures in place to help people that are feeling anxious about their screenings. For example, the Longmont Dental Loft specializes in sedation dentistry to calm people and relieve pain during screenings and procedures. Spending time searching for different doctors and dentists and finding ones that make you feel relaxed will make it a lot easier. Look for clinics that specialize in helping people that feel a lot of anxiety about health screenings. Make sure that you speak to health professionals before your appointment too, so they can make accommodations for your anxiety.

Don’t Search Symptoms Online

If you are concerned about a health issue, you might be tempted to head online and search the symptoms to see what it might be. This seems less daunting than visiting the doctor for a screening, but it will actually make things worse. When you put your symptoms into Google, you will get a lot of scary results telling you that you could have a serious health condition. In most cases, it will be something minor and the chances of a serious problem are very minimal. But as soon as you see those results, your anxiety will hit the roof. It’s best to see the doctor and get a professional opinion instead of relying on the internet. 

Highly sensitive people often have trouble with health screenings, but if you make these simple changes, you can reduce your anxiety.