DeeTales I can only share my recent experience - I was recently referred for an MRI (--I don't think I am ill-- I am not ill but the doctors are interested in monitoring the "benign lesions" on my liver that they think is probably a legacy from taking the contraceptive pill in the 1970s. But as you say, that's another story. And thanks for nothing, The Pill.
So, happy happy I skip off to the MRI appointment, only to discover once I am there that it is the "tunnel" variety (for some reason I thought it was going to be a "doughnut" and my head would stick out). So I panicked a bit because I don't like small spaces. I panicked even more when they told me that I would be in there for "up to 40 minutes".
So I said to the lovely staff "Give me a minute to consider please". In that minute I told myself that lots of people have to do a lot worse than this, basically told myself to "get a grip" "it's not as if you're going underground in a gold mine" etc. etc. Then I tell myself "Flick that calm switch on".
Up I hopped on to the table, didn't panic when they strapped me in, had a momentary panic about 20 minutes in when I need to cough and had to fight an urge to sit up (but I just bit really hard on the tip of my tongue which distracted me). Long story short, when I came out, the staff were swooning all over me, telling me what a great patient I was. I told them about the "calm switch" and I could see they thought I was a little bit mad .
Can you find a "calm switch"?