*Extreme* fear of medical personnel

[xec1224]

I have the WORST fear of doctors and the medical establishment.

My main issue is the possible loss of control in the name of "it's for the best and you don't know any better." I fear that I'll develop something serious, it will need long and painful treatment that could kill me, and that if I refuse, they'll do everything in their power to stop me from doing so because I'm a minor.

Seeing news stories about people my age being arrested (yes, arrested) for refusing things like chemotherapy kind of exacerbated my fear. That's exactly what I fear. The reality that that could happen to minors (older minors, not 6 year olds who really can't make that decision) like you and me.

When it's time for the yearly physical, I have mild panic attacks, so afraid that they'll find something, force on me what I don't think is best and I end up dead or injured from iatrogenic causes.

Everytime I come out with a clean bill of health. I feel as happy as a cancer patient in remission; as if my life was just saved.

I don't fear pain brought about by doctors per se; I fear having control ripped away from me unscrupulously because I'm not an adult. That if I say "no more" they'll tell me "you're too young to make that decision" and I'll end up disabled or dead.

I guess it would also be worth mentioning that I have an extreme fear of dying. I won't fly or take big risks because I'm afraid an accident would happen and I'll die. Perhaps this is related.

I suppose we can make this a legal question as well. In Pennsylvania, does anyone know how much control minors are afforded with regards to medical procedures? I'm going to be 17 in a month.

The bottom line is that either being 18 or finding out I can stop or change treatment at will at my age would lift the burden of the world off my sholders.

I do not have any health problems, so I'm not facing anything of this nature. I'm afraid I would someday..just because I committed the unforgivable sin of asserting complete control over my body.

Yes, I get the whole "they're there to help" and all that jazz; that's what bugs me. They wouldn't see anything wrong with forcing treatment on a 16 year old who doesn't want it.

Can this even happen? Are my fears realistic? Do you fear the same thing?

[Hauptmann Kauffman]

umm, wtf?

[Maverick]

Don't post any links. Members with less than 10 posts can't post links.

[Hauptmann Kauffman]

You post whoring?

[Whisper]

You post whoring?
Excuse me?
Dont talk like that
thats unacceptable

[Hauptmann Kauffman]

Why? It is not a swear word. it wasnt meant in a demeaning fashion. (not trying to challege your authority. Feel free to delete that post)

[Maverick]

xec1224 you need to speak to a therapist. Thoughts like that are not normal. This is something that you need to talk about with a counselor that can help you overcome your fears.

Medical doctors are here to help us. There isn't any reason to be afraid. People see doctors everyday and they're fine.The fact that you aren't in any health danger and are fearing this means that you need to go talk to a counselor. Talking to a professional can solve this - you just have to make the effort to do it.

[Antares]

Also I dont believe it is legal in the United States for someone to be arrested for refusing therapy. I dont know where you heard that from but I can assure you its not true. UNLESS that disease can threaten others lives then proper action would be taken to quarrentine that person and then I think it would have to go through the judiciary system in order for something like that to happen.

[byee]

xec1224 you need to speak to a therapist. Thoughts like that are not normal. This is something that you need to talk about with a counselor that can help you overcome your fears.

Medical doctors are here to help us. There isn't any reason to be afraid. People see doctors everyday and they're fine.The fact that you aren't in any health danger and are fearing this means that you need to go talk to a counselor. Talking to a professional can solve this - you just have to make the effort to do it.


Yeah, i agree with this.

I live with doctors, and i can tell you they don't 'force' anything on anyone. This has less to do with doctors or health care (or control, for that matter), but rather on vulnerability (yours) and perhaps being taken advantage of or hurt in the past when you've been in those situations by people with more power or authority than yours.

You seem to be having an extreme reaction to alot of things that leave you vulnerable, and these issues won't go away when you're 18. I think some therapy is in order to help you better understand and respond to these issues so they don't get in the way so much.

[xec1224]

Also I dont believe it is legal in the United States for someone to be arrested for refusing therapy. I dont know where you heard that from but I can assure you its not true. UNLESS that disease can threaten others lives then proper action would be taken to quarrentine that person and then I think it would have to go through the judiciary system in order for something like that to happen.

There have been at least a few news stories of teens (legal minors) who had cancer, wanted to pursue alternate remedies along with their parents, and ended up having their parents charged with neglect. I know there is no specific charge for refusing treatment but if your parents decide to honor your wishes, there have been cases where the state took the child into custody and if they refused even further would be sent to jail for disobeying a court order. If I link to one it will get marked as spam, so Google it. I've only seen three or so news stories over the course of a few years, but it really rattles my nerves. Then again, I do have to consider the possibility that perhaps the news media was just spinning it and being sensationalist and in reality the parents were actually witholding treatment from the teen. I don't fear this because it wouldn't happen to me; my parents aren't hippie-dippie alternative medicine freaks. You know how the mainstream media is. I thought about how many adults would refuse and change treatment per their request and thinking how many teens would do the same. I don't see those on the news wire everyday.

But, I digress.

Maybe I'm being misundertood: My primary concern is that they can possibly, legally force treatment on me because I'm a 'minor', should something come up that I don't want or want done differently. This wouldn't happen to adults. This has left me with a strong distrust and apprehension of doctors, despite the fact that I haven't actually experienced it firsthand. Rather, I fear it will happen.

If I knew tomorrow that I could walk into a medical office, and they find something is wrong with me, and they would honor my wishes to a T and ignore everybody else, my fear would vaporize. If I don't want it, I'm not getting it and if I want it this way, this is the way I want it. There should be no reason to think otherwise because this only concerns me and my health (unless it was a communicable disease). The doctor should work for me. This is my health here, not something I could go into a store and buy another if it breaks.

I don't have a problem with being worked on; I have a big problem with people making important life-or-death decisions for me...on the pretext that I'm "too young". I'm afraid that I'll end up dead or disabled from what someone else thought was "good for me".

I knew that if I were 18 and didn't have a communicable disease, I could adjust every last facet of my treatment plan. No one would force me to do anything against my will. I suppose this is where I got the idea that this would stop if I were 18.

What I fear: Getting something like a benign tumor, me stating that I don't want it removed, and they go ahead and try to do it anyway. I'm very afraid of anesthesia and if it's not doing anything, leave it!!

What I don't fear: Having something like cancer, and them doing whatever it takes to save my life, as long as I agree with it.

It's not going under the knife; it's involuntarily going under the knife.

In a nutshell: I don't trust other people with big decisions. I don't want them making decisions for me when it's my health, and I fear that through the grave misconception that teens can't think for themselves, that doctors would dismiss my preferred treatment path as one of somebody who doesn't know any better.

Keep in mind that there is actually nothing wrong with me and I'm not going through this. I fear it direly. It's a complex phobia.

[RaisingSand]

I have *sort of* a similar issue (I'm almost 17 as well, btw) ... I get scared of panic attacks whenever I know I have to go into a hospital or doctors office or anywhere where there are sick people, because I have an extreme phobia of illness, esp. people vomiting in front of/around me. :(
It really sucks ... :(
If you ever feel like talking, just send me a PM and we can chat over MSN if you want. :hug:

*crosses out "of" and replaces it with "and have"* XD

(Sorry for double post, mods!)