I have a phobia of hospitals; please help me overcome
Needle Phobia
Askm!
I have never written to anyone... this will be my first time. I have a phobia, which I developed I think from my first prgnancy. An uncontrollable fear/phobia of hospitals/doctors/BP apparatus. Im now carrying my second baby, and it is required to visit the doctor and check for BP.
I spoke to some of my spiritual friends, and come to an understanding that I need to feed my soul, look for answers in the Quran. I am otherwise a cheerful/sensible person except when it comes to hospital visits. This fear shakes my entire body, gets my pulse and BP high which is so unnecessary.
I desperately need a dua to calm myself, i don't know what Im lacking in me... to releive me of this fear. Inshallah, I beleive that all this is a work of shaitaan, keeping me away from Allah swt.
Help me, guide me with a special dua/prayer through this.
Inshallah!
- Parveen
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Salaams,
Phobias like that can develop if you had a traumatic or negative experience in a particular environment or near certain objects. I've heard of people having phobias of coins, nail polish, and other common items!
The most effective way to overcome a phobia is exposure. You have to continue exposing yourself to the thing that is feared most. In your case, you could overcome your fear of hospitals by going there, and if you have specific phobias to the equipment then you could repeatedly expose yourself to that.
Therapists use a technique called "progressive desensitization". What that entails is putting the thing you fear near by (or going near it, if that happens to be the case) but still remaining at a certain distance. When you start to feel anxiety, you practice relaxation techniques like slow breathing and muscle relaxation. Then when you can handle whatever distance you are, you move closer and do the same thing. This continues until you can be around the "stimulus" (what is feared) with no anxiety at all.
So for you, what you could do is go to a hospital and park across the street where you are comfortable. Look at the hospital from there, and if you get anxious work on calming yourself. Do that several times a week, or every day. When that doesn't bother you, you can park in the hospital parking lot, and look at the hospital building from there, doing the same thing. Then graduate to the hospital entrance, the lobby, a doctor's office waiting room, an exam room, etc. I'm sure if you tell the doctor what you're doing and why they will be more than happy to help.
I grew up in a place where we had a lot of earthquakes. I used to get really nervous any time I had to use an elevator while I lived out there. Then I moved to a part of the country that didn't have earthquakes at all, but I still felt just as nervous if I had to get in an elevator. However, it was unavoidable in some cases so I just did it anyway regardless of how I might've felt. Over time, the elevators stopped bothering me. I ride in elevators several times a day now and don't even blink an eye. I'm sharing this with you to assure you that success by exposure is very, very possible.
-Amy
IslamicAnswers.com Editor