Well it must be all of 2 weeks since the Emergency Dental team contacted me....which means that they will be sending for me in a couple of weeks.
So what have I been doing to come to terms with my fears about this appointment.......?
A few years ago, when I was still part of the NHS workforce, I was sent on a confidence boosting study day.......anyone who knew me from then didn't think that I needed to go on a confidence boosting study day.....but this study day was part of a bigger managemnt course that I was doing....so I had to attend. To my mind confidence is all smoke and mirrors....well, it is in my case. There was absolutely no substance to it at all. Many people found this hard to believe. I think that if you act confidently then you will appear confident, and in turn your confidence WILL actually become a reality.
I attended the study day and we were given scenarios that we found challenging....interviews...presentations....public speaking etc.
The lecturer told us to rehearse in our minds what we would do in such events......and to do this over and over again, so that when the inevitable tense situation was thrust upon us we would have rehearsed it so many times that we would feel confident in our ability to cope.
Now, I can't tell you why my mind dredged up this bit of my past....but I am trying to use it every night before I settle down to sleep.
I imagine I am being driven to the dental appointment....and to be honest the first few nights I could get no further than this....and my sleep was a bit disturbed by strange dreams.......though none were related to dentistry....they all involved running away from something that I couldn't identify.
I have got to the point now where I get to the hospital and find the dental suite, but can't quite picture the scene inside.......I am not calm about it.....but neither am I paralysed with a fear that I can't rationalise.
I keep asking myself 'what is the worst thing that can happen?' and my answer is that I will make a fool of myself by shaking all over the place...or worse peeing myself.......I know that a visit to the dentist is not going to kill me.....but not visiting the dentist may do.
I won't know if any of this strategy has worked until I finally get the call to go. I DO hope that I am on the right track. Watch this space.
So what have I been doing to come to terms with my fears about this appointment.......?
A few years ago, when I was still part of the NHS workforce, I was sent on a confidence boosting study day.......anyone who knew me from then didn't think that I needed to go on a confidence boosting study day.....but this study day was part of a bigger managemnt course that I was doing....so I had to attend. To my mind confidence is all smoke and mirrors....well, it is in my case. There was absolutely no substance to it at all. Many people found this hard to believe. I think that if you act confidently then you will appear confident, and in turn your confidence WILL actually become a reality.
I attended the study day and we were given scenarios that we found challenging....interviews...presentations....public speaking etc.
The lecturer told us to rehearse in our minds what we would do in such events......and to do this over and over again, so that when the inevitable tense situation was thrust upon us we would have rehearsed it so many times that we would feel confident in our ability to cope.
Now, I can't tell you why my mind dredged up this bit of my past....but I am trying to use it every night before I settle down to sleep.
I imagine I am being driven to the dental appointment....and to be honest the first few nights I could get no further than this....and my sleep was a bit disturbed by strange dreams.......though none were related to dentistry....they all involved running away from something that I couldn't identify.
I have got to the point now where I get to the hospital and find the dental suite, but can't quite picture the scene inside.......I am not calm about it.....but neither am I paralysed with a fear that I can't rationalise.
I keep asking myself 'what is the worst thing that can happen?' and my answer is that I will make a fool of myself by shaking all over the place...or worse peeing myself.......I know that a visit to the dentist is not going to kill me.....but not visiting the dentist may do.
I won't know if any of this strategy has worked until I finally get the call to go. I DO hope that I am on the right track. Watch this space.