July 26, 2010
What are the treatment options for someone who suffers from blood-needle-injury phobia?
I saw a documentary on phobias and this one guy had a phobia of all the above and when he came into contact with these triggers he would faint. The doctor taught him to tense his muscles at the sign of an impending faint and this would help raise his blood pressure and abort the fainting episode. Does applied muscle tension (as this technique is called) actually work? Thank you
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Comments on What are the treatment options for someone who suffers from blood-needle-injury phobia?
It seems logical, because relaxation techniques reduce blood pressure. ~~~ Aichmophobia (Fear of Needles) It sometimes develops into a phobia, often from seeing a hypodermic needle as a child, before vaccinations/dental procedures, then experiencing pain, and coming to associate the sight of needles with pain; wanting to avoid the pain, resulting in the development of a phobia. Examine the http://1-800-therapist.com/ and http://www.metanoia.org/choose/ websites, and use the locators at http://your-mental-health.8m.com/index.html and phone book (but only if necessary) to find a suitable therapist, preferably a clinical psychologist. Systematic Desensitisation Therapy is known to be an effective treatment.
I am informed that children are less likely to complain if they are given something sweet (it probably helps them get their mind off it). Some people ask to lie down for their shots. Others ask where it will be administered, and to be told just before, so that the person about to have the needle can smack that place, after which that tiny pinprick has considerably less effect: (the nerves which transmit pain have already started work, from over a considerable area, and the pain messages of the small additional amount of pain, from a very tiny area, tend to get flooded by the others).
Obviously this can’t be used for dental procedures, but you could explain your phobia, and ask that they touch the sites for the injections with a tool, and you could could jab them lightly with the top of a pen, or pencil, to desensitise yourself. It may help to look away, and think of something pleasant, and promise yourself a nice reward, once it is over. As someone who doesn’t like them, either; I consider that it is mostly the anticipation of pain, which is the problem, and once you take that away, by inflicting a little bit on yourself, the "shock value" is gone, in a similar way to how you can’t tickle yourself.
Read: "Overcoming Medical Phobias: How to Conquer Fear of Blood, Needles, Doctors, And Dentists", by Martin M. Antony and Mark A., M.D. Watling (Paperback – Mar 3, 2006), from your bookstore, or Amazon.com also has various other media about overcoming fear of needles. Most people are suggestible, to some degree, so you could either seek professional hypnotherapy, or more along such lines is at your-mental-health.8m.com/blank_20.html about phobias.