By Jean
Sometimes I experience flashbacks during medical procedures. It helps when medical personnel are aware of this fact, so they know what’s happening and how to best help me. So I wrote the short script below to share with medical personnel before I had a procedure. Please feel free to use it as a starting point for your own personal script, if you find it helpful.
My script:
I experienced abuse as a child at the hands of medical personnel or people pretending to be medical personnel. Therefore, I sometimes have flashbacks during procedures.
I have learned that I can avoid flashbacks or come out of one if I can hear people talking. It’s as if I use their words to anchor myself in the present. It helps if I am told what will happen during the procedure so that I am not taken by surprise. Otherwise, the content of the conversation doesn’t matter.
I understand that it can be difficult to work and talk at the same time, and so I hope there will be one person in the room that can talk me through the procedure. It is easier to prevent a flashback than stop one once it has started.
My biggest fear today is that I will jerk involuntarily and break the needle. This has never happened, and I doubt if it will happen today – I believe my fear is irrational.
I’m happy to answer any questions you have, and I thank you for your understanding.
Jean Riseman
9/14/1937
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