[2ap]

Part of my job, is that I design protocols to help young children lie in MRI scanners for a living. We have all sorts of techniques to help with this.

However, for each new scanning protocol, I like to have had it myself - so I know what the children go through. And, at times lying inside a MRI scanner, detached from the world, with only the noise of the scanner (very reduced with our new noise cancelling headphones), is almost meditative, and a welcome escape from the constant connection and pressures of being immediately available at work. Sounds like the writer achieves something similar in the coffee shop.

[hliyan]

This reminds me: I experience a similar "welcome escape" sensation when I'm hospitalized. My work responsibilities are manifold and tend to intrude into my thoughts even when I'm at leisure. But when I'm in the hospital, there seem to be some sort of physical and psychological clean break. Hard to describe.

[Cthulhu_]

That's basically a vacation, or what it should be. I feel sorry for US people who, at best, get two weeks of paid time off a year, which they'll often need to use up throughout the year for other reasons. Everyone should be able to take a two week uninterrupted break at least once a year, ideally more often than that (two weeks around the holiday season, two weeks in summer, another week at another point, a long weekend on occasion, etc).

[cm2012]

Yes, it makes me not feel guilty for not thinking about work. I love being super sick lol.

[BrenBarn]

I was a subject in an fMRI study when I was in college and I found the experience quite tranquil (although this was before smartphones). The hum of the machine was kind of calming. I felt I probably would have fallen asleep if not for the sense of responsibility required to pay attention to the task.

[normie3000]

I absolutely love going in the machine. Highly meditative and usually I fall asleep by the end. You can get the soundtrack on YouTube too, but it's not quite the same.

What works to get children to stay still though?

[2ap]

Ah, depends on the child!

But for kids over 8, a nice long form video works well. That, and having enough time so that they don't feel like we're in a rush, but also not taking to long to load them onto the scanner...

For the younger ones, it's very much dependent on the child. So we take a bit of time to get to know them before we get them to attend. We have videos to prep them, and can follow a script when loading them (e.g. becoming an astronaut and blasting off into space...).

[0_____0]

Doing something where you get to say "bugger everything" and just do what you're doing for a while is amazing. It's one of the things I actually like about the (otherwise not very relaxing) ultra-distance racing.

2-6 days of just riding your bike, eating, sleeping outside. Yeah it can be hard but nothing makes the MS Teams chime in the woods.

[BoxOfRain]

Part of why I like sailing is for a similar reason, beyond a certain range the only people who can bother you electronically are other people at sea (and you actually want to listen to them).

[NGRhodes]

I had a very different experience with my last MRI. I had brain slices (temporal lobe Epilepsy) and my head buzzed/vibrated and could not relax.

[jddj]

Fascinating. How many MRIs have you had?

I get a break from constant availability from air travel, but that's slowly eroding as it becomes more connected.

[2ap]

I'm not sure I know (but the database keeps a record - I'll have to look it up!). A couple a year for sure a few years.

Yes, my last transatlantic flight I caught up with a stack of email.

[johnisgood]

What keeps me from going claustrophobic inside an MRI is the sound. It is very loud, yes, but at least I have that to focus on.