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Irrational fears.

Something that's been puzzling me is my one fear, a very irrational one at that. Needles, to my vein to be precise. I don't mind needles, as long as they don't go into my veins. It makes no sense as i had no such fear in my teens but it manifested at around the age of 20 where i almost fainted when i went to a blood test.

I've jumped out of a plane without hesitation (skydiving is such a rush). I have no trouble with diving. I drive REALLY fast at times for the rush. No fear of the dark or "scarey" people.

Hmm... come to think of it. What is the state of fear? I get adrenaline from things like skydiving but no mental component. Needles is the only thing that makes me "squirmy". It's really baffling.

Re: Irrational fears.

I am Diabetic, so I have to have blood taken every month, I also have to have 4 insulin injections every day.
I f**king hate it.

I've jumped out of a plane without hesitation (skydiving is such a rush). I have no trouble with diving.


My God. I would be absolutely terrified, how on earth can't you be scared? :-)

Trypanophobia, a irrational fear of medical procedures, especially injections and needles.
I have a fear of large knives, I cant stand to see them in my kitchen, So I'll shut them in the draw so I dont have to look at them. People think I'm crazy. :-)

Did you ever have a bad experience with needles/injections? Or did it just suddenly start?
I wont post anymore ;)

Re: Irrational fears.

I'm also diabetic, it's just when someone else is sticking a needle into my vein that bothers me. Maybe it's Trypanophobia, i don't know. I've never had any bad experiences with medical procedures either, so i have no idea where it came from.

EDIT: I haven't had a blood test taken in years because of this. Last time they tried i kicked the nurse.

Re: Irrational fears.

Are you really diabetic? Or are you messing with me? :-)

I hate it too, If I look it freaks me out as I see the blood sucking up into the needle.
Usually phobias start with a bad experience, as far As I know. Phobia is a funny word, it means "irrational fear"... But people have Nucleomituphobia a fear of nuclear weapons.... How's that irrational?

Re: Irrational fears.

Why on earth would a lie about being diabetic? Paranoid much? :) It's no so much the blood being sucked out as it is the needle going in. Anyways, i was hoping that someone would have input into it, like where it comes from and how to get rid of it.

Re: Irrational fears.

According to our NHS the only way to completely eliminate a phobia is to "release the emotions" causing the phobia. There is also decondtioning which is a very succesful technique of eliminating phobias, there are many psychotherapy sites with details on how to decondition yourself to a phobia, I'm not going to waste your time writing the list of steps etc.

Re: Irrational fears.

toby why dont you just tell him how??? That's what he asked for....

Re: Irrational fears.

As a child I had an allergic reaction to something in the house that made my whole body break out. I had to keep going to the Dr to have blood drawn. But I have reclusive veins. So that **** nurse kept missing my vein. So my Mom did it as she was a nurse but you can see the scares on my arm where that nurse missed.

But then they made me go back to have more blood drawn...

At the doctors office I started fighting my mother, two nurses and a Dr. I refused to let them come near me with that needle. I fought my preteen butt off but after a few minutes I had no adrenaline or energy left. So I agreed to let them use a butterfly needle on me only if they gave me some water.

Turns out I was allergic to the new laundry detergent.

But for years I didn't want to get a shot or blood drawn. Needles that they pop in your upper arm don't bother me at all. I used to be unnerved by people trying to poke my veins. I guess it's mainly because there are a lot of incompetent nurses out there and I have reclusive veins. I can't stand it when they miss the vein and move the needle around in my arm looking for it.

I'm not afraid. I just don't enjoy unsatisfying pain.