Go out often on to the balcony

Under certain circumstances doctor’s consultations can be demanding. Perhaps because we as the patient are plagued by worry and find it difficult to concentrate; or perhaps because we feel overwhelmed by all the medical terms and information that rain down on us.

In many cases it can come to the point where we get annoyed – for example because we feel we are not being taken seriously or because we are unable to ask the questions that we would like to ask.

If the doctor’s consultation does not go as we would wish, we should do something about it; the consultation will not improve by itself.

Try to gain some mental distance to the situation. What can help is to take a breath of air and imagine that we are standing on a balcony. The helpful feature of a balcony is that we are able to look down on a scene from above. And from a higher position you can often gain surprising insight into a matter. That will help you to discern why a consultation is not going well.

Then you can decide calmly what you would like to say (and how you should say it) to improve the course of the consultation.