Before you start

This is a short book and you can read it in two or three sittings. It's about one habit. You notice something about your body, or a letter arrives inviting you for a test, or you realise it's been four years since you saw a dentist. You think, "I should get that looked at." Then you don't. Weeks go by, and then months. The thing stays at the back of your mind, and now and then, usually at night, it comes to the front.

I'm going to argue three things. The first is that putting it off makes sense from the inside. Not knowing feels safer than knowing, and the feeling is strong and common. Researchers have found it in every group they've studied. The second is that the safety is an illusion, because the appointment doesn't change what's there. Whatever the mole is, it has been that since March, whether or not anyone looks at it. Most things people put off turn out to be nothing, which means the usual reward for going is relief. For the few that turn out to be something, earlier is nearly always better. Putting it off doesn't help in either case. The third is practical. There's a simple rule and a way of making the phone call, and chapters 12 and 13 cover them.

This book is not medical advice. I'm not a doctor and I can't tell you what your symptom means. What I can do is help you get it in front of someone who can. Where I say anything about health, I've taken it from the NHS or from published research, and the notes at the back say which.

Three cautions.

If something is happening right now that might be an emergency, don't book an appointment and don't finish this book. The NHS says to call 999 for sudden chest pain that doesn't go away, chest pain that spreads to your arm, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or chest pain with sweating, sickness, light-headedness or shortness of breath. If you're not sure how urgent something is, NHS 111 will tell you where to go.

If your trouble is the opposite of this book's subject, it isn't written for you. Some people worry about their health constantly, check their bodies often and go back to the doctor again and again for reassurance that doesn't last. The NHS calls that health anxiety. Chapter 14 says where to get help with it. Being told to get things looked at would make it worse.

And the services I describe are those in England. Screening ages, how you book and what things cost differ in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and other countries.

Where I'm giving my own reasoning and not a finding, I'll say so.