Every so often we get a post or even a thread about PSA testing anxiety. How it can dominate our thinking, control our emotions, especially during the days surrounding testing. I guess we can all relate to that a bit, but some of us more than others.

I don't know why, but for some reason it all reminds me of an old Twilight Zone episode, "Nick of Time" (November, 1960). That's the one where William Shatner is a young man on his honeymoon with his bride, and they have a bizarre experience with a penny-operated fortune telling machine in a diner. The machine seems to be able to answer their every question and even predict the future. But when on the verge of being seduced by the machine into staying in the town (really, being held captive) by the lure of the machine, he and his wife break free, and drive away from the place.

Then as the episode closes, an older couple enters the diner, and desperately puts one penny after another into the machine, hoping it will give then a reply that they can leave the town.

Here's a quick Youtube summary of the episode:

/www.youtube.com/watch?v=405IKLIMvJo

Here's the humor angle. Think of the story as a kind of allegory for PSA testing fear. The fortune telling machine is a PSA testing machine, and the people putting their pennies into it are getting their blood tested. And they say, nervously, "Is my PSA going to be okay this time?" "What do I do if it’s gone up?" "What happens next test?" They wait for the PSA testing result in almost the same way, and with the same fear, that the older couple in the story waits for the machine's answers.

Like the older couple in the episode, some people become slaves, as someone in another thread put it, to the machine, except it's a PSA testing machine in this case. The PSA testing machine has come to dominate their lives, just as the fortune telling machine had done for the older couple in the story.

At the end of the episode, Shatner's character decides his own destiny, and it is one not to be dominated by a machine. He drives away and leaves the machine behind him.

In real life, maybe that would be a useful thought, along with thinking of the allegory of this Twilight Zone episode, when it's PSA testing time.

(P.S. This thread is in no way meant to be critical of anyone and their attitude toward getting the PSA test. It's just a thought that a good way of looking at it is to not let the PSA test become the devil machine on the diner table)

I'm a new (relatively) member here, and have only been seriously watching my PSA for a couple of years. That said, I am far from new to "test result anxiety" as I have been a heart patient for over 15 years. The heart condition I had/have is one that starts out as just being detected, then being watched for a period of time (in my case, 11 years) and then requiring some very aggressive surgical intervention.

Over all the years I have survived by using the technique and accepting the fact that "There is nothing to worry about until there is actually something to worry about." In other words, I trained myself not to worry (or to worry just a little bit) about my condition until my doc said "it is time to act" and then I went into action, devised a plan and got it resolved. By doing this, I was able to "back burner" it until I really did need to decide what to do. I saved myself the high anxiety of deciding over and over again before the decision was really needed.

I understand that not everyone can discipline their minds this way, but if you can, it works.

and becoming thus empowered, Shatner goes on to become the Captain of a starship. Yeah, living in a constant state of fear over an imagined future can suck the joy out of everyday living.

Redwing57 said...
I like it. Quite an apt metaphor. It can become a sort of obsession for sure.

There's another one somewhat similar titled "The Fever". A guy becomes obsessed with an old-school slot machine. He sees it, even when it's not there, like it's haunting him, following him, calling his name. Really, he's visualizing, hallucinating, his own obsession.

Here's a link to a 2 minute youtube version:
Franklin Gambles -- The Fever -- 2 Minute Twlight Zone

Exactly Mr. Gables....Meet Mr. Cate.

Love the music....it's gotten to where I hate who I've become over this crap.

People hear that music when they see me comin'.

I've had it.