Minutus

Fascinating - I have had several people with 'white coat symdrome' and was concerned that 'fear of doctors' was inappropriate. Guess I always equate FEAR within the rep as a stronger and more pronounced expression. When I've asked people about a fear and they say 'well, it's a concern but I certainly wouldn't call it a fear', I have been reluctant to use those aspects as part of their case.

This has always been a difficult point for me. There is normal, appropriate fear that keeps us from doing something stupid. Then there is fear which is a level of concern that is brought on by a traumatic event - such as an earthquake, or neighborhood violence ( that again seems a normal and appropriate response ) that persists for some time then diminishes or dissapears. Then there is the unreasonable fear (or reasonable blown out of proportion). It's easy when you ask someone about fears and they respond with 'I'm terrified of snakes' and when they say the words their respiration becomes fast and shallow, they grip the chair, and become stiff as a board. That's clear enough. But when they say something 'is a concern' or 'well, I'm not fond of heights', it just has not seemed right to use the fear rubrics.

I would love to hear how others use fears in their analysis of a case - particularly those that are not 'extreme' expressions.

Generally, I wouldn't use those symptoms either, as cornerstones on which to build a case -- unless it's something that's really vivid and a central aspect of the patient's complaint. On the other hand, I would keep it in the back of my mind in the remedy differential, in that the person clearly has a slightly anxious tendency, so I wouldn't prescribe a remedy with no fears. It's also worth asking about such fears -- getting more details to find out what's behind them -- sometimes they then become VERY important, because their casual expression can be hiding a huge concern of the patient with very vivid parameters. Sometimes an innocent question of this type can bring up an element that turns out to be central to the case, and I'm sitting there trying to keep my jaw from gaping at the surprise revelation. ) (just joking).

Rosemary

One possibly related issue is the fact that panic attacks don't cause
fainting but the needle/blood phobia does - and presumably the "white coat
syndrome" involves at least elements of the latter, which can be very
extreme. The fear of "white coats" can be taken further and questions asked
to determine what aspects of their health or their potential treatment (or
past treatments) are the root cause, perhaps?

Dr Angela Blaen, BA, PhD, MBRCP (Energy Medicine)
Director
The Assemblage Point Centre Ltd.
The Assemblage Point Association
The Energy Medicine Association

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