When it comes to anxiety about having an MRI scan, some people choose the option of avoiding thinking about it at all. Not thinking about it can of course bring relief.
The problem with this approach is that while not thinking about the MRI scan may bring relief in the short term, it does little to help one cope with the anxiety one may develop as the day of the MRI scan gets nearer.
A different approach could be to, over days, gradually mentally “expose” oneself to the idea of going through an MRI scan. As I will explain, this can be done slowly and in small steps in your home. The human brain gets “bored” if it is repeatedly exposed to the same thing over and over again. So if one repeatedly, mentally goes through the process of having an MRI scan, eventually one’s brain will start getting used to the thought of having it. This “mental practice” will over time reduce one’s anxiety about having an MRI scan and one will be less stressed on the day.
A mental practice session could consist of you, lying flat on your sofa or bed, being motionless, keeping your eyes closed and imagining that you are in the MRI scanner. As you start to do this, your mind may jump all over the place and you may feel waves of anxiety. You can then practice managing your mind, using techniques from the previous section (“managing your mind”). Initially, you may be successful only for a few minutes, but hopefully, as you keep doing this over and over again, you will be able to keep your mind occupied longer while putting anxiety to a side. With mental practice, over time, the waves of anxiety will lessen.
When you do your mental practice, use a timer such as a kitchen timer or phone timer, to set an alarm to tell you when to stop your practice. Alternately, as I will explain later, you can use the free practice videos on this website, to time your mental practice sessions. Start with a short time and slowly build up your mental practice duration to equal roughly how long your actual scan will take. If you do not know how long your MRI scan will take, call and ask the staff at the place you are going to have your scan. Alternatively, you might prefer to practice say for 10 to 15 minutes, which will give you an idea of how to manage on the day.
It is crucial that you progress at a gentle pace so that you do not get overwhelmed. In the beginning, you may manage for only a few minutes. That is okay. Over time, you will be able to slowly increase the time you can manage your mind. When you do a practice session, after a while, you may find that the method you have chosen to manage your mind is no longer working well. When that happens, practice switching to another method. As you gain experience, you will find yourself able to use the methods more effectively and also find it easier to switch between them.
The purpose of the practice sessions is not to fully replicate the MRI experience at home, as this is not possible. Rather, it’s about practising keeping your mind occupied so that there is no room for negative thoughts.
At this point, I must warn you that this way of preparing for your MRI scan may not be suitable for everyone. Some of us may have complex mental health issues and it is entirely possible that practicing this way will not suit your mind. I am not a mental health professional, so I cannot advise you on this. However, if you have a therapist, do tell him or her about this website. Perhaps you can practice using the information on this website along with the guidance of your therapist.
Let’s now summarise how to do a mental practice session:
- At the start, do mental practice only for short periods. As you get more comfortable managing your mind, you can increase the duration very slowly over days.
- Lie as motionless as you can.
- Keep your eyes gently closed
- The most important thing is to practice the various methods you can use to keep your mind busy (“managing your mind”). As one method gets boring, practice switching to another method.
It is common when one starts to practice, that one will feel some increased anxiety. Do not feel dejected as over time, this anxiety should reduce, as your brain starts to get used to the idea of having an MRI scan. It is important to understand that the change may not be immediate. However, if you find that after a few practice sessions, your anxiety is not decreasing or perhaps even increasing, please stop immediately. As mentioned before, mental practice may not be suitable for everyone. If you are in that category, it may be better not to practice and you may find the scan ok without practice.
If you find it too tedious to practice for the full duration that your scan is expected to take, that is ok. Some practice is better than no practice!
An important aspect of MRI scans is that it can have lots of various noises. Once you have done some metal practice without noise, as explained above, you may wish to make your practice more realistic by adding MRI sounds. The next section has free MRI sounds that you can use for this purpose.