Have Trauma, Will Hover: The Dentist

We went to the dentist yesterday. This wasn’t the kind of dentist appointment with a cleaning and a sticker. This was the kind of dentist appointment with sedatives and drills. Unfortunately, my daughter was blessed with my tooth genes, and that means she will be forever traumatized by the world of floss and fluoride. As a parent, there is nothing worse than knowingly putting your child in a position where she will feel pain, and not having a choice. Until now, I have always been in the room when a doctor was with my children. It never occurred to me there would be another alternative. Imagine my surprise when I picked up my purse to go back to the exam room with my daughter, and I was told that I wasn’t allowed. My daughter started crying at the thought that I would not be with her, and I could feel the volcano starting to erupt from the pit of my stomach. The feeling is very familiar to me. Some might refer to it as “mama bear.” Some might refer to it as a protective instinct. But I know what it really is: fear. As I went over the scenario in my head, I had more concerns than I could count. I knew the dentist was male. I knew the dental hygienist was male. Both of them were relatively attractive, which I illogically associate with sexual aggressiveness. (Unfortunately, my father was an attractive man.) My daughter was fully sedated and could not even walk. I had 5,000 thoughts in a second and a half. My first thought was that I still had time to grab my daughter ...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Tags: Anxiety and Panic Brain and Behavior Children and Teens Disorders General Memory and Perception Parenting Personal PTSD Attractive Man Daugh Dental Assistant Dental Hygienist Dentist Appointment Dentist Office Dentures Door Source Type: blogs