Is Your Pre-Surgery Anxiety Normal or Extreme?
Receive free personalized tips from an expert to manage your surgery fears.
Are you facing a surgery that’s crucial for your health, but fear is keeping you up at night?
Imagine your fear as a light switch.
When it’s on, you’re in the dark, overwhelmed by worry and worst-case scenarios. Flipping the switch floods the room with light, bringing a clear and calm perspective.
Hypnosis helps you flip this switch by accessing your subconscious mind. It reprograms your automatic fears into calm responses, guiding you to face your surgery with confidence and ease.
How to stay calm before your Surgery
Table of Contents
1. Understand Where Your Surgery Fear Comes From
What Is Pre-Surgery Anxiety?
Feeling nervous before a planned surgery or procedure is normal. But if you find yourself excessively worrying about aspects like anesthesia, potential pain, or complications—and losing sleep over it—you might be dealing with pre-surgery anxiety.
Physical Symptoms
- Increased heart rate
- Sweaty palms
- Nausea or upset stomach
- Trouble sleeping
Psychological Symptoms
- Constant worry or racing thoughts about the surgery
- Difficulty concentrating
- Feeling overwhelmed or on edge
Physical Symptoms
- Increased heart rate
- Sweaty palms
- Nausea or upset stomach
- Trouble sleeping
Common Thoughts and Beliefs
“What if the anesthesia doesn’t work, and I wake up during the procedure?”
“What if something goes wrong, and I have complications?”
“What if the recovery takes forever, and I can’t get back to my normal life?”
“What if I don’t wake up at all?”
SOS: Your Surgery is Tomorrow?
Download our calming breathing techniques and guided self-hypnosis recording to help ease your mind and prepare for tomorrow. Tell me moreWhy Do I Feel This Way?
Your brain can’t always tell the difference between real and imagined dangers.
Even though the surgery hasn’t happened yet, your mind reacts to fears as if they were already happening.
It’s like sitting in a dark room, imagining monsters under the bed—your brain gets overwhelmed by threats that aren’t really there.
But when you turn on the light, you see clearly and realize there’s nothing to fear. We can help you flip that light switch on your anxiety.
2. Learn three Powerful Ways to Manage Pre-Surgery Anxiety
If you’re unsure which method is right for you, take our Surgery Anxiety Assessment Quiz.
1. Breathing Exercises for Moderate Anxiety
Breathing can be one of the simplest yet most effective ways to calm your nervous system.
Slow, deep breaths can shift your body from ‘fight or flight’ into ‘rest and digest,’ bringing back control and calm.
Shall we try this together?
I’ve recorded a guided breathing video for you to watch right now.
First, I’ll explain what’s happening in your brain that triggers the fear of surgery. Once it becomes more logical, it will no longer feel like an unknown threat—just something you can manage.
Then, I’ll guide you through two easy-to-do and easy-to-remember breathing exercises. Anytime the fear arises, you’ll be able to calm yourself down quickly.
2. Self-Hypnosis Download for High Surgery Anxiety
Hypnosis is like a spa for your mind—calming your thoughts, relaxing your body, and helping you visualize a smooth outcome.
I’ve designed a self-hypnosis recording to ease your mind and help you get better sleep, so you’re well-rested and energized for your surgery day.
3. Hypnosis for Surgery Phobia
Hypnosis helps address the root of your fears by accessing your subconscious mind. It helps you reframe your thoughts and feelings about surgery.
After 3 sessions, you’ll be able to approach surgery with a sense of calm and confidence. If you’re interested in this approach, request a quote to get all the details.
3. Overcome Surgery-Related Phobias
Is Your Fear a Phobia?
Surgery anxiety is normal, but sometimes it turns into a phobia, leaving you paralysed.
Phobias can stem from various sources, including:
- A bad previous experience with surgery
- Watching a loved one go through a challenging surgery or show their fear –
- Excessive exposure to medical dramas or media, like “Grey’s Anatomy”
Phobias can be specific, such as fears of needles, anaesthesia, hospitals, or dying.
Surgery-Related Phobias I Can Help With:
Fear of Needles
Fear of Anaesthesia
Fear of Hospitals
Fear of Losing Control
Fear of Needles
Fear of Complications
Fear of Dying
3 Signs You Need Professional Help
You’re stuck in fear and can’t make decisions, maybe even avoiding setting a surgery date.
You keep obsessing over what could go wrong, and it’s keeping you up at night.
You’re having panic attacks or physical reactions and feel like cancelling everything.
Meet Sharon – Your Therapist for Surgery Anxiety and Phobia
After a 30 year career in Health and Social Care – including 10 years as a Registered Nurse (Learning Disabilty) and 23 years in Social Care – I have seen the impact that a lack of health care can have on both our physical and mental well-being.
Sometimes healthcare access can be due to underfunded services but, sometimes it can be driven by our own fears and worries. I believe that good health is essential for a balanced life & when one area suffers, it can throw everything off balance.
As a Clinical Hypnotherapist, I remain driven by my passion for helping people to achieve their best possible quality of life.
The 3 Session Surgery Phobia Treatment
This program is designed to help you overcome surgery phobia and feel calm, prepared, and confident by the time your surgery day arrives.
The sessions are conducted online via Zoom, allowing you to participate from the comfort of your own home.
Here’s what each session includes:
Session 1: Understanding Your Fear
In the first session, we’ll explore your fear of surgery in detail. Your therapist will explain how the brain works and how surgery phobia develops. Understanding the root of your fear will give you confidence in the treatment process.
This session combines talking therapy with hypnosis. Hypnosis is a natural state of focused relaxation, similar to daydreaming.
You’ll be guided to relax deeply, close your eyes, and find your inner safe space. In this calm state, you hold the key to overcoming your fear of surgery.
You’ll also receive a bedtime audio track to listen to nightly throughout the program, which will support restful sleep and help ease anxiety.
Duration: 80 Minutes
Session 2: Rewiring the Fear
Session 2 uses the ‘rewind’ method to help reprocess past negative associations with surgery.
While you are deeply relaxed in your safe space, your therapist will guide you through past thoughts or experiences related to surgery, but in a detached, dissociative way—like watching a movie of yourself.
This technique confuses the brain, making the old fear patterns unreadable and weakening their hold on you.
Duration: 50 Minutes
Session 3: Reframing Your Response
In the final session, we focus on creating a new, positive response to surgery.
Through hypnosis, you’ll be guided to visualize a calm, confident version of yourself before and during surgery.
This helps create an automatic, positive response when you think about surgery in the future.
You’ll leave this session feeling empowered, with a new mindset that enables you to face surgery without fear.
Duration: 50 Minutes
Duration: The sessions are ideally spaced out over 2-3 weeks before your surgery date.
Benefits of Your Surgery Phobia Treatment
- Feel calm and clear-headed as you approach your surgery, ready and confident.
- Tackle your fears now so you don’t delay the procedure and can move forward with a positive mindset.
- Staying calm helps your body heal faster after surgery.
- By addressing your fears, you’ll feel empowered and prepared for the best outcome.
- Learn simple strategies to manage anxiety, making the process smoother and less scary.
FAQs: Everything You Need to Know
When should I start mentally preparing for surgery?
As soon as possible! Even if your surgery is months or weeks away, don’t let fear drain your energy. Start with a free breathing exercise or download the self-hypnosis recording today. Even if tomorrow is your surgery, it’s still not too late to feel better.
This session combines talking therapy with hypnosis. Hypnosis is a natural state of focused relaxation, similar to daydreaming.
You’ll be guided to relax deeply, close your eyes, and find your inner safe space. In this calm state, you hold the key to overcoming your fear of surgery.
You’ll also receive a bedtime audio track to listen to nightly throughout the program, which will support restful sleep and help ease anxiety.
Duration: 80 Minutes
Most common Myth: Will hypnosis make me lose control?
No, Hypnosis actually gives you more control. It’s not like what you’ve seen in movies—it’s a highly focused state of calm. Think of it like turning off the outside noise and focusing on the present moment only. You’ll be fully present and remember everything afterwards. You can even have a recording of your hypnotherapy session to listen to later.
Can Self-Hypnosis help me avoid panic the night or morning before surgery?
Absolutely. Self-Hypnosis is an excellent tool to calm last-minute jitters and ensure a restful night’s sleep before your surgery.
You can use my Self-hypnosis recording both in the weeks leading up to your surgery and the night before to promote deep, restorative sleep.
If you have surgery phobia, I recommend the 3 Session Surgery Phobia Treatment. Start ideally 2–3 weeks before your surgery date for the best results.
What if I need help for my teenager having surgery?
I also offer treatments tailored to teenagers, as well as support for parents. Surgery Anxiety affects the whole family, and I can help address this together. Please reach out if this is what you’ve been looking for.
How much do your services cost?
Self-Hypnosis Recording:
You can listen from the comfort of your home to ease your surgery anxiety. Get it here for £25.00.
The 3-Session Surgery Phobia Treatment:
Each session is £75.00.
Your Next 3 Steps
1. Take the Surgery Anxiety Quiz if you haven’t yet
Answer a few questions and get a personalized plan to ease your surgery anxiety from home.
2. Listen to the Self-Hypnois Recording
This recording is designed to be listened to at bedtime, helping you sleep better while subconsciously working to bring you greater calm.
Make sure to use it, especially if your surgery is tomorrow.
Request a 5-Minute Callback for Questions
Feeling extremely anxious about your surgery? And have questions about 1:1 Hypnotherapy to overcome Surgery Phobia? Let me help you determine if this is right for you.
Quick Links:
How to Stay Calm Before Surgery?
Free Guided Breathing Exercise – Watch Now
Plan SOS Anti-Panic Session for the day before Surgery – Check Availability
Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult with a healthcare provider for personal medical guidance.
