I have never been fond of going to the dentist. When I was in my twenties I simply avoided going from an irrational fear that was spawned when I was an infant. We had a family dentist that was akin to Steve Martin in the following clip…
Yesterday, I went for a post and crown and spent about an hour and a half in the Dentist’s chair. I use some progressive relaxation techniques to go to sleep at night. I am not fond of needles nor the sound or feeling of a drill in my mouth, so I thought that the dentist’s office would be as good a location as any to deploy those techniques. Apparently, I fell asleep for a brief period during the procedure. 🙂 Dr. Reed was quite surprised and was flattered that someone could be so relaxed during a dental procedure. I will say that he is quite competent and puts many of my old fears at ease.
So there you have it, Progressive Relaxation has been stress tested and it works.