Our perception of a threat can be more terrifying than the actual reality. The primary reason something seems more frightening than it is, is a lack of complete understanding. When we can't interpret or understand a situation, our minds fill in the blanks, often with worst case scenarios, leading to heightened anxiety. This is what I went through when I decided to visit an Eye specialist. I never been to an eye doctor and when my neighbors asked me to consult my eye issue, I was quite frightened and many thoughts were striking my mind. But my experince with the doctor went far better than my imagination.
Visiting an eye doctor can be scary due to the fear of the unknown, the possibility of bad news like needing glasses or having an eye disease, anxiety about medical equipment. Till now I never used any glasses either for reading nor while using the computer / laptop / mobile. I never wanted to get into the habit of using glasses so early in my life. I read somewhere once that after 40 years our eye start creating problem with many person experiencing weak eye sight. So far in the 40's I never had any of such issues before but the "Red rashes" inside the eye was scary. It was quite visible, and people words made it alarming for me. The city is new to me and I am not aware of any better eye specialist. There were many eye clinic in the town, but being into a small town, I wanted to go for the best one to avoid any negative consequences. I took the help of my neighbors and they suggested me few names. The majority of votes were for "Muskaan Eye clinic" and I booked an appointment. *
There were already few patients waiting in the waiting hall. I was told that the doctor is very popular and usually there is rush in the clinic. The receptionist note down my name ask for the fee Rs.500. which is very nominal as compared to big urban cities and asked me to wait. I had many doubts about the eye check up process in the clinic. But she appears to be unfriendly. The doctor was not arrived yet and I was way before the time. But soon realized I was better to be early as with time the waiting hall started to fill in, with many other patients. The waiting game was getting interesting as the fear and anxiety started taking over my mind. Most of them were old than me. But I kept holding my fort, as I am the 9th on the list.
The doctor yet to arrived but the attendant called my name. I was feeling privileged among the crowd, when I heard the name. It was initial eye check done by the doctor assistant. The lady was quite simple and experinced. Seeing her actively and smoothly going to the process I feel bit confident. I sat on the reading chair, had to go through the alphabets at a distance. They have various machine inside the room. She queried my issue and then put some liquid in the eye. Her responce made me more confident. As she did not find any problem in the preliminary investigation by the assistant. She throughly checked just like an specialist. But wanted me to consult the main doctor for medication. I started feeling bit relived and confident. The doctor arrived later and his responce was too positive. He suggested me few eye drops. I enquired the causes and he reverted it as ageing factor.
After almost 3 hours of countering on with my feer and anxiety, I took a sigh of relief. I felt much better coming out of the doctor cabin. He appears to be in 50's but quite experinced and relaxed. He made his patients to ease and relax. But my experience does taught the important lesson.
Emotions like fear and anxiety can make it difficult to think clearly and objectively. This emotional response can inflate the perceived threat of a situation, making it seem much more significant than it might be in reality. Directly confronting something we fear can help us understand that it is less frightening than we anticipated.
In good faith - Peace!!
