How To Overcome Blood Pressure Phobia?

Fear of Blood Pressure Readings

Are you anxious about blood pressure? Perhaps you get higher readings because you are anxious and you are looking for a way to overcome this problem. If you think you might have high blood pressure then you should of course go and see your doctor. But what if the issue is that you have a fear of high blood pressure the anxiety may be causing your blood pressure to go up temporarily? If this is the case, of course you might be concerned about rushing to get diagnosed and go on powerful medication if it is simply an intermittent issue. Read on for some ideas on how to tackle blood pressure phobia and anxiety.

Health Anxiety & Blood Pressure Phobia

You may be anxious about your blood pressure check ups because of fear of illness. This is often referred to as hypochondria, an irrational fear that you’re seriously ill and is often accompanied by anxiety and panic attacks. It’s known that some hypochondriacs are “always at the doctors” but this issue can also cause people to avoid medical care altogether, which in turn can lead to serious problems.

A common anxiety is the fear of high blood pressure. This anxiety and fear is sometimes so strong that it causes high readings at the doctors, even though at home you may get normal readings. This is known as white coat syndrome. This can lead to absolute terror at the thought of having your blood pressure checked. Avoidance can be the result. How do we resolve this?

Blood Pressure Phobia: “Good” or “Bad” Numbers

Think of it like this, if you have a bill that arrives in the mail and you know it might be a big bill, perhaps you are nervous about opening it. You know that the quicker you open the letter and see the figure, the faster that anxiety will be relieved. It might be that you find it is a lot lower than you thought. Even if the bill was huge, you could deal with it, you could pay in installments and gradually bring it down for instance. As you did so, your anxiety would reduce and you would also no longer be afraid of the bill or the letter because you faced and opened it straight away.

Not opening the letter at all would also be an option but the numbers inside that envelope are already determined. Not opening it would mean simply not knowing what the numbers are but your anxiety would be unresolved. Your inaction would solve nothing and could worsen the situation. So which is best? Opening the letter or leaving unopened?

Home Testing Kits

If you are building up to testing your blood pressure you could buy a home blood pressure monitor so you can test it at home with less pressure and stress than at the doctors office. Naturally, if you have a blood pressure phobia and are anxious about what the numbers will be this is still not going to be easy. However, building up to using it will pay off, once you have taken a couple of readings you just need to maintain it, keep doing it daily or more often initially.

After a time you will be getting readings where your anxiety has reduced as it feels more ordinary to take a reading. At this point you will be able to see whether your readings become normal when you are calm. If they are high, then a trip to the doctors will be then best next step. Often simple changes can reduce it easily.

Get Ready

Prepare to take the first reading. If you find the buzzing sound these gadgets make anxiety inducing, try playing relaxing music, ideally through earbuds or headphones. Next put the cuff on and sit and relax. Take some deep breaths, try to do this for 3 or 4 minutes getting plenty of oxygen in your lungs. This will help to calm you down if anxiety affects your readings it should help reduce them.

When you are ready, take a reading, you don’t need to look at it until it has completed, just breathe slowly and gently and try to relax. If the first reading is a little higher than it should be, try again. Using the blood pressure kit will acclimatize you to the sounds and feelings, it will eradicate the fear of doing the test, and it will help you just accept the numbers. If blood pressure phobia causes you to get higher readings then as your anxiety comes down, so will the blood pressure readings.

Do you really have to check your blood pressure?

Ideally yes. The key thing to overcome the fear is to test it, take a reading or go and get one done by a medical professional. Maybe you have an extreme blood pressure phobia anxiety and if you do, the answer is you still need to get readings, to find out what your blood pressure is so that if it is too high you can take the positive actions to lower it. If you are extremely anxious, facing up to taking the readings will free you from that fear, even if the readings are less than ideal.

Like any fear or phobia, hiding from it and not facing your fear will leave you trapped in a state of anxiety. Remember the numbers are what the numbers are, there’s no point hiding from it. If it is anxiety making it high, facing your fear will resolve it. Imagine how good you will feel once you have faced this fear.

Overcome Blood Pressure Phobia

To overcome it requires a greater degree of control over your fear and anxiety. When looking for how to overcome blood pressure phobia, just practicing meditation or using self hypnosis on a regular basis can help you with this. With practice you will be able to calm yourself down even in the doctors office or with the nurse.

What if your blood pressure is slightly high and the anxiety causes it to rocket when you get a reading taken at the doctors? Under this circumstance you may want to make some small changes that will lower your blood pressure such as walking more, adjusting your diet or losing a bit of weight. If you have been taking blood pressure readings at home, you will be able to share this information with your doctor, helping them to see what your usual blood pressure is.

Anxiety about Doctors

Hypochondria may mean that you feel anxious when you go to see your doctor, and you may fear that you have various illnesses and conditions from time to time and seek out reassurances, perhaps tests too. With (Hypertension) blood pressure phobia it is a fear based only on if your blood pressure is out of range. If you are very anxious about even the thought of having a blood pressure reading done, then you may have blood pressure phobia.

How Common is it?

Hypochondria is an anxiety disorder characterized by excessive fear of having a serious medical condition. It usually begins during adolescence or early adulthood. People with hypochondria often worry excessively about minor illnesses and injuries. They may avoid doctors and hospitals, fearing that they will be diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Or they may seek the reassurance of test after test.

With hypertension phobia it is something that sometimes develops after getting a reading that is out of range and this may have occurred because of stress or illness at the time. Then the fear of it happening again can develop, and sometimes avoidance of having those checks can occur. Many people have this experience but the way forward is to test the blood pressure.

The Causes of Phobias

If you feel anxious about visiting the doctor, there are several reasons why you might be feeling this way. You may believe that you have a serious illness, such as cancer when in fact you don’t. Or you may be worried that you have a more common problem, such as high blood pressure or asthma.

All phobias start with an over reaction where the mind and body go into fight or flight mode. The situation at this time of this tends to because the focus and a connection is formed. The anxiety is connected with the thought and a phobia is created. The more avoidance is practiced the worse it can get. Facing the fear can ultimately free you from it completely in many cases

Hypochondria and anxiety about blood pressure being too high is a common fear. People who suffer from these issues often worry excessively about minor illnesses and injuries. This anxiety can lead them to avoid medical care until they become seriously ill so take action and you will feel much better. You can overcome blood pressure phobia simply by taking blood pressure readings every day. It then becomes routine and ordinary, no longer something that frightens you.

Talk to your doctor

It’s important to talk with your doctor about any concerns you have regarding your health. They will help you determine whether you need further testing or treatment. You may find out new ways of how to overcome blood pressure phobia if you talk to the nurse or doctor. If you have a condition that requires regular visits to the doctor, you may find it helpful to make an appointment before you start worrying about it. If you want to read about ways to lower your blood pressure click here to go to the nhs website

Checklist

Remember: The numbers are what the numbers are
Facing your fear will free you from it
Your blood pressure reading might be normal
Face it and let the anxiety go
Take a blood pressure reading today