Fear of Needles and Injections – Hypnotherapy Ely & Newmarket

Do you struggle with a fear of needles and injections?

For many people, the thought of having an injection or a blood test can cause an immediate wave of anxiety. It’s something they actively avoid. Even the mention of injections and blood tests can create anxiety. Yet, you know that sooner or later you’re likely to need to have a jab, blood test or injection of some kind. And that’s when the worry and fear really accelerates.

The other day, I headed to my GP surgery for my annual flu jab. I’d barely taken off my hoodie when I was called into a consulting room.  The nurse took out the needle, and I saw it there in his hand. I lifted my sleeve, felt a little sting and it was all over. From arrival to departure took a total of only about five minutes. In fact, I was going to ask if I could take a photo of the injection to show future clients, but it was all over too quickly!

Recently I was working with a client who had a fear of needles and injections. She told me that she couldn’t even look at a picture of a needle, or anything hospital related, without a surge of fear and anxiety. If other people started talking about injections or blood tests then she had to shut them down straight away because she couldn’t stand it. On the rare occasions in her life when she’d had to have an injection, she’d had panic attacks that led to crying, feeling sick and passing out. Even though it was for her health, just the thought of needing another one was overwhelming.

A picture, a movie, a conversation, even a thought of an injection or blood test. Anything associated with needles and injections can be enough to cause your heart to start racing, your temperature to rise, and your nausea to start. You feel tense, restless and on edge. Long before you come anywhere near your appointment, your imagination is racing through worst case scenarios.

The fear of needles and injections (trypanophobia) is a pretty common phobia that I help people with. Sometimes it can come with a fear of blood, hospitals and all things medical. Many people get some nervousness when faced with a blood test or injection. However, your fear of needles and injections can also lead to overwhelming panic and anxiety. Routine medical appointments where you know there will be no injections may be fine. Yet, there is always that ‘what if’ thought lurking in your mind. What if your doctor says you need a blood test? What if they even try to administer it then and there?

You know that any needle or injection is going to arise for your health and well-being. Logically it’s a simple thing that is even a good thing for your health. Yet your anxiety and fear take over.

The good news is that, just like with other forms of anxiety, you can manage, reduce and overcome this fear. I’ve helped many people go from panic and passing out to feeling calm and composed. It’s never going to be something to get excited about, yet you want to be able to calmly go and get it done if needed, in the same way you go to any other appointments. And with the right approach, you very much can start to feel calmer, more in control and more confident when faced with needles and injections.

 

Why Do You Fear Needles and Injections?

When you don’t have a fear of needles and injections, they become things you can just go and get done if needed. Appointments are just another date in the dairy, a task to be completed. You aren’t troubled or filled with dread beforehand. You can calmly sit in the waiting room. And you go in, get it done, and then move on with the rest of your day. It could be a jab, a blood test or even donating blood. It’s all routine.

Someone with a fear of needles and injections will be hyper focused on the needle itself and on how anxious and filled with panic they may be. There are worries about embarrassing yourself, not being able to actually get it done, about how bad you’ll feel and about fainting. Fears are exhausting and draining. Even if you do somehow get there, you’re exhausted from all the anxious feelings and worrying.

You stress about the size of the needle in your imagination and the thought or it piercing your skin. People without fear aren’t too bothered. Some will happily watch their injection or blood test happen, almost with interest and curiosity. Others just sit there calmly and let the medical practitioner get on with it. If I’m giving blood, for example, I look away when the needles goes in (mainly so I don’t flinch!) and then can happily watch it there as the blood donation happens.

There isn’t one single reason why some people develop a fear of needles and injections. It may be something that grew out of general anxiety or from seeing someone else panic when you were little. You may have had a painful or frightening personal experience when you were younger. One experience of having a panic attack or passing out can be enough for your mind to label similar future situations as threats to be avoided in case something bad happens again. For others, the sense of anticipation, loss of control or the sight of the needles itself triggers their anxiety.

It can also be connected to a fear of fainting, pain, blood, medical situations or feeling trapped. For whatever reason, your mind learns to associate needles and injections with danger and distress. Pictures, movies, stories, your imagination, the possibility of needing a jab and anything associated with injections triggers your automatic fight or fight response. The greater the threat the greater the anxiety. You start to avoid talking or thinking about needles. Your own thoughts can make you fearful. The possibility of needing an injection or blood test fills you with fear. And no amount of logic or reasoning can help you to calm the same repeating habitual responses.

The fear of needles and injections is something you inadvertently learned at some point in the past. With the right tools and techniques you can unlearn this pattern and change it to something where you feel more calm, confident and in control.

 

3 Practical Ways To Start Reducing Your Fear of Needles and Injections

If you find yourself getting anxious at the thought of a needle or injection, here are three practical steps you can start using right away to start feeling calmer and more in control:

 

1. Calm Your Breathing and Bodily Response

When you feel anxious, your breathing starts to get shallower and quicker. Your body starts to take on board oxygen so that you are ready and able to act to respond to the threat. The first thing that changes is your breathing rate and so by controlling this, you start to control how you feel. When your breathing rate accelerates, your body prepares for danger and this increases your feelings of anxiety and panic.

To counter this you need to slow and deepen your breathing (which is what you naturally do without noticing when you feel more relaxed).

Do this breathing technique before and during your appointment:

• Breathe in slowly through your nose for a slow internal count of 4
• Hold your breath for a moment
• Breathe out gently through your mouth for a slow count of 6.

Start by practising this daily, way before your appointment. Use it on lower level ‘threats’ such as if you see an image or someone tells an injection story. Get good at doing it and at bringing feelings back down. The more you practice it when you don’t need it, the better at it you get. You’ll find it is even more effective (and you will remember it) if you do need it.

When you use this breathing technique, focus your attention on the steady rhythm of your breathing. This helps activate your natural relaxation response, slowing your heart rate and helping you stay calmer

 

2. Distract and Refocus Your Mind

Your brain has learnt that needles and injections are a threat. You find yourself fixating on the needle, injection or blood test. You feel anxious just thinking about it. You scare yourself inside your own imagination. It becomes an inner spiral of thoughts and anxiety.

Most people who are relaxed about needles and injections spend little time thinking about it. They go to their appointment, roll up a sleeve and sit there thinking of other things until it is soon over.

So, instead of fixating, shift your focus onto something neutral or positive. You might:

• Take headphones and listen to something calming or an interesting/funny podcast
• Chat with the doctor or nurse about something unrelated
• Look away and visualise something peaceful, like a time relaxing in nature
• If practical, play a game on your phone
• Do a mentally distracting game such as picking a category and running through it as an A-Z (e.g. countries, animals, football teams, songs by the Beatles…)

There is benefit in being able to think calmly about injections (e.g. while do the breathing exercise above). But, there is no benefit in thinking the same old thoughts that lead to the same old feelings. Interrupt that thinking pattern. Most of the fear comes in the anticipation because the actual injection takes seconds. The more your mind is engaged elsewhere, the less hold your fear has in that moment.

 

3. Use Gradual Exposure and Positive Visualisation

Over time, your mind has learnt to attach fear to anything associated with needles and injections. You know logically that these things are safe, and even beneficial. You can gently retrain your mind to see injections as safe.

A good way to do this is through gradual exposure. Start small, build gradually and then, once you feel comfortable at one step, move onto the next smallest step and repeat.

• Begin by looking at pictures of needles (even cartoon pictures) or medical settings while practising calm breathing
• Move onto more detailed/realistic images or short movie clips
• Get comfortable with other people telling their needle or medical stories
• Visualise yourself feeling calm and confident before an appointment and while having an injection. imagine the situation going smoothly and you leaving afterwards feeling pleased with how well it went

How you feel when you imagine something is key. Combining positive visualisation with relaxation teaches your brain that the situation is ok and safe. Through repetition, this undermines the fear response and builds new, calmer associations.

 

Overcoming Needle and Injection Fear with Hypnotherapy 

Hypnotherapy can be a powerful and effective way to help you to overcome your fear of needles and injections. I’ve helped many, many people to turn their fear into calmness and confidence. You can reprogram your automatic fear response, replacing panic and dread with calm and confidence.

Through hypnotherapy, we can help reduce the emotional triggers behind the fear. You can build a sense of comfort, confidence and control around anything to do with needles and injections. Images, videos, mentions, thoughts and the situations themselves all become manageable.

If your fear is stopping you from attending medical appointments, getting vaccinations, having a blood test or looking after your health, then you don’t have to continue to avoid or keep struggling. With the right approach, strategies and support, you can overcome your fear.

To learn more about how hypnotherapy can help you to overcome needles and injection fear and anxiety, get in touch today. We’ll meet for a free consultation and talk through how we can get you to a place where you feel calm, confident and in control in your thoughts, feelings, actions and reactions about needles and injections.

To your health and happiness,

Dan Regan

Anxiety Therapist in Ely and Newmarket

 

Find out more about anxiety help in Ely and Newmarket:  Anxiety Hypnotherapy and about Fears and Phobias here: Fears and Phobia Hypnotherapy

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