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Different take on the headline: when I was little and scared at the doctor, my mom would distract me from shots etc. by telling me about how they work and all t

Different take on the headline: when I was little and scared at the doctor, my mom would distract me from shots etc. by telling me about how they work and all the science behind them. I still do this at the doctor if I'm nervous about the procedure. Try distracting yourself by attempting to work through the details of what's going on. Even if you're wrong, it's a distraction and a good exercise, and maybe you can ask the doctor to clarify later. Never works at the dentist, though. I can never tell what the heck is going on in my mouth.

chairmanwow1 4y ago
I asked my dentist a lot of questions and had them give me a tour of the shop. I was getting a crown and they showed me their CNC machine that took a 3D scan of the original tooth and scan of the nub after eroding it down and just perfectly machined a ceramic replacement. Pretty fucking sick.
quartz 4y ago
I have a dentist who loves to use the little remote camera to show me everything about my teeth and let me tell you: it doesn't make it any better! Totally agree on the "understand to remove fear" side of things though. When I was learning stick shift I had a terrible time until, frustrated after I had stalled the car for the umpteenth time, my dad stopped the lesson on "what to do" and instead spent a few minutes explaining what was actually happening inside the clutch system. Suddenly it all made sense and I understood what I was actuating and why the feedback was the way it was. I became proficient quickly after that.
- teachrdan 4y ago
  My father in law was a tennis coach. When a kid kept screwing something up, he'd stop them and ask in quick succession: "What's the capital of Illinois? Texas? Vermont?" The kid would then, invariably, be able to hit the ball again. Sometimes all you need is a focused distraction to be able to perform.
swasheck 4y ago
i did this with air disasters. i'd been terrified of flying for many years so i immersed myself in every kinds of media i could find on the topic. i found it oddly comforting (though i definitely overthink things whilst in the air at times). geeking out has helped me navigate some tense moments.
- 1-more 4y ago
  The audio recordings of pilots and air traffic controllers doing their best Chuck Yeager voice during a malfunction and going through checklists and binders and clipboards is immensely reassuring to me. There's contingency plans for all the contingency plans. Everyone involved made their bed well enough to bounce a quarter off of it that morning and (where applicable) trimmed their mustaches to conform to some NIST standard. The drilling! Such drilling. The reenactment in Sully is pretty rad in that regard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6HYMpmxdaA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6HYMpmxdaA
  - throwaway049 4y ago
    A few years ago a passenger plane had a window blow out and some other problems. In the radio recordings the pilot, a former military flying instructor, sounded completely unperturbed.
JohnFen 4y ago
The best dentist I ever had was as much a geek about all things dental as I am a geek about all things computers. He would happily describe, in great technical detail, every aspect of what he was doing, why, etc. It was pretty awesome, and I left every visit feeling very positive about the experience.
- olvy0 4y ago
  There was this one time I had a prolonged dental operation, I was fully conscious, the dentist talked himself through a delicate situation while hunting in my mouth for the right angle to do it. And I thought suddenly, hey, it's just like me when I'm debugging! Cool!
  - JohnFen 4y ago
    Yes! What your doctor (and dentist, etc.) are really doing with you is exactly the same as what you do when you're debugging a program. Except that health care providers don't have the luxury of having a debugger or the ability to examine the "machine" state in accurate detail.
    - doubled112 4y ago
      For some extra perspective in the case of a dentist, there's also a live, breathing, feeling, conscious human they're about to drill into or debug on. No thanks!
      - JohnFen 4y ago
        Just consider brain surgery! Same thing applies, except worse.
thomastjeffery 4y ago
Objectivity is a totally different headspace. That's why critical thinking is so difficult. As unfamiliar and uncomfortable as it may be, it sure does have its advantages.
SillyUsername 4y ago
Not necessarily a good thing knowing the science - just off the top of my head... Topics I wish I'd never known about - General anaesthesia and low dose - General anaesthesia and the idea you are actually awake but forget. - General anaesthesia stats and possibility of being awake (moreso if you're anxious about not going to sleep - it's happened to me with gas). - Flying and why the plane needs to dive for certain scenarios. - Flying and tolerances for wings during a storm (they're good but still!) or lightning strikes (Faraday cage but...). - Flying and knowing about coffin corner stall limitations/margin for error. - Flying and survival stats if there's actually a serious incident. Probably a load more...!
- ambicapter 4y ago
  > Flying and knowing about coffin corner stall limitations/margin for error. Unless you're already one hell of a pilot you will never be anywhere close to coffin corner.
- VectorLock 4y ago
  >General anaesthesia and the idea you are actually awake but forget. This freaked me out as well. Wouldn't I know in the moment? Do we actually experience something if we don't encode memories for it?
  - gowld 4y ago
    > Do we actually experience something if we don't encode memories for it? It's not "don't encode memories"; it's "lose conscious memory". Your body still scars from cuts when you are unconscious. Your brain likely does too.
    - VectorLock 4y ago
      >Your brain likely does too. How does your brain "scar" from this? I wouldn't say that the experiences are at all traumatic.
- the_af 4y ago
  > General anaesthesia and the idea you are actually awake but forget Do you mean that this happens for some people? For me, GA felt like a very deep dream where I didn't notice falling asleep but I definitely remember what I dreamed.
kulahan 4y ago
I've heard that one of the greatest counters to fear is curiosity, and that people who tend to be more curious tend to also be less fearful. It makes sense when you think about it.
dclowd9901 4y ago
Ha, you reminded me of when I got my vasectomy. Naturally a bit nervous, I was asking about everything the doctor was doing as he was doing it. It actually did help me get through the procedure with less nerves (it’s really not a bad procedure at all, just for anyones edification).
pts_ 4y ago
I have dealt with the pandemic and wfh stress by immersing myself in science and technology.
ashleyn 4y ago
Sounds a lot like intellectualisation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectualization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectualization
- VyseofArcadia 4y ago
  Hm, maybe it is that for some people, but for me, another large component is that understanding the procedure makes it less scary. The doctor isn't doing these mysterious horrible things and you don't know what's coming next. You do know, or at least suspect, what's coming next, so the fear of the unknown/unexpected is mitigated.
mettamage 4y ago
I do this to get over my fear of flights :)
cramjabsyn 4y ago
> Try distracting yourself by attempting to work through the details of what's going on. This helped a lot with flying anxiety, once I could put a reason to most of the sounds and movements of flying I could relax a lot better. An unexpected one will get my attention though
tombert 4y ago
I'm 32 years old and I still have to do this whenever I get an injection. I have no idea what kind of trauma triggers this but I have an extreme phobia of needles, but I am a big supporter of vaccines. Every time I get a shot, I have to look away, and kind of go through the process of telling myself what the shot is doing and how it works.

chairmanwow1 4y ago

I asked my dentist a lot of questions and had them give me a tour of the shop. I was getting a crown and they showed me their CNC machine that took a 3D scan of the original tooth and scan of the nub after eroding it down and just perfectly machined a ceramic replacement. Pretty fucking sick.

quartz 4y ago

I have a dentist who loves to use the little remote camera to show me everything about my teeth and let me tell you: it doesn't make it any better! Totally agree on the "understand to remove fear" side of things though. When I was learning stick shift I had a terrible time until, frustrated after I had stalled the car for the umpteenth time, my dad stopped the lesson on "what to do" and instead spent a few minutes explaining what was actually happening inside the clutch system. Suddenly it all made sense and I understood what I was actuating and why the feedback was the way it was. I became proficient quickly after that.

teachrdan 4y ago
My father in law was a tennis coach. When a kid kept screwing something up, he'd stop them and ask in quick succession: "What's the capital of Illinois? Texas? Vermont?" The kid would then, invariably, be able to hit the ball again. Sometimes all you need is a focused distraction to be able to perform.

swasheck 4y ago

i did this with air disasters. i'd been terrified of flying for many years so i immersed myself in every kinds of media i could find on the topic. i found it oddly comforting (though i definitely overthink things whilst in the air at times). geeking out has helped me navigate some tense moments.

1-more 4y ago
The audio recordings of pilots and air traffic controllers doing their best Chuck Yeager voice during a malfunction and going through checklists and binders and clipboards is immensely reassuring to me. There's contingency plans for all the contingency plans. Everyone involved made their bed well enough to bounce a quarter off of it that morning and (where applicable) trimmed their mustaches to conform to some NIST standard. The drilling! Such drilling. The reenactment in Sully is pretty rad in that regard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6HYMpmxdaA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6HYMpmxdaA
- throwaway049 4y ago
  A few years ago a passenger plane had a window blow out and some other problems. In the radio recordings the pilot, a former military flying instructor, sounded completely unperturbed.

JohnFen 4y ago

The best dentist I ever had was as much a geek about all things dental as I am a geek about all things computers. He would happily describe, in great technical detail, every aspect of what he was doing, why, etc. It was pretty awesome, and I left every visit feeling very positive about the experience.

olvy0 4y ago
There was this one time I had a prolonged dental operation, I was fully conscious, the dentist talked himself through a delicate situation while hunting in my mouth for the right angle to do it. And I thought suddenly, hey, it's just like me when I'm debugging! Cool!
- JohnFen 4y ago
  Yes! What your doctor (and dentist, etc.) are really doing with you is exactly the same as what you do when you're debugging a program. Except that health care providers don't have the luxury of having a debugger or the ability to examine the "machine" state in accurate detail.
  - doubled112 4y ago
    For some extra perspective in the case of a dentist, there's also a live, breathing, feeling, conscious human they're about to drill into or debug on. No thanks!
    - JohnFen 4y ago
      Just consider brain surgery! Same thing applies, except worse.

thomastjeffery 4y ago

Objectivity is a totally different headspace. That's why critical thinking is so difficult. As unfamiliar and uncomfortable as it may be, it sure does have its advantages.

SillyUsername 4y ago

Not necessarily a good thing knowing the science - just off the top of my head... Topics I wish I'd never known about - General anaesthesia and low dose - General anaesthesia and the idea you are actually awake but forget. - General anaesthesia stats and possibility of being awake (moreso if you're anxious about not going to sleep - it's happened to me with gas). - Flying and why the plane needs to dive for certain scenarios. - Flying and tolerances for wings during a storm (they're good but still!) or lightning strikes (Faraday cage but...). - Flying and knowing about coffin corner stall limitations/margin for error. - Flying and survival stats if there's actually a serious incident. Probably a load more...!

ambicapter 4y ago
> Flying and knowing about coffin corner stall limitations/margin for error. Unless you're already one hell of a pilot you will never be anywhere close to coffin corner.
VectorLock 4y ago
>General anaesthesia and the idea you are actually awake but forget. This freaked me out as well. Wouldn't I know in the moment? Do we actually experience something if we don't encode memories for it?
- gowld 4y ago
  > Do we actually experience something if we don't encode memories for it? It's not "don't encode memories"; it's "lose conscious memory". Your body still scars from cuts when you are unconscious. Your brain likely does too.
  - VectorLock 4y ago
    >Your brain likely does too. How does your brain "scar" from this? I wouldn't say that the experiences are at all traumatic.
the_af 4y ago
> General anaesthesia and the idea you are actually awake but forget Do you mean that this happens for some people? For me, GA felt like a very deep dream where I didn't notice falling asleep but I definitely remember what I dreamed.

kulahan 4y ago

I've heard that one of the greatest counters to fear is curiosity, and that people who tend to be more curious tend to also be less fearful. It makes sense when you think about it.

dclowd9901 4y ago

Ha, you reminded me of when I got my vasectomy. Naturally a bit nervous, I was asking about everything the doctor was doing as he was doing it. It actually did help me get through the procedure with less nerves (it’s really not a bad procedure at all, just for anyones edification).

pts_ 4y ago

I have dealt with the pandemic and wfh stress by immersing myself in science and technology.

ashleyn 4y ago

Sounds a lot like intellectualisation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectualization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectualization

VyseofArcadia 4y ago
Hm, maybe it is that for some people, but for me, another large component is that understanding the procedure makes it less scary. The doctor isn't doing these mysterious horrible things and you don't know what's coming next. You do know, or at least suspect, what's coming next, so the fear of the unknown/unexpected is mitigated.

mettamage 4y ago

I do this to get over my fear of flights :)

cramjabsyn 4y ago

> Try distracting yourself by attempting to work through the details of what's going on. This helped a lot with flying anxiety, once I could put a reason to most of the sounds and movements of flying I could relax a lot better. An unexpected one will get my attention though

tombert 4y ago

I'm 32 years old and I still have to do this whenever I get an injection. I have no idea what kind of trauma triggers this but I have an extreme phobia of needles, but I am a big supporter of vaccines. Every time I get a shot, I have to look away, and kind of go through the process of telling myself what the shot is doing and how it works.