Fear of blood: what is it called, causes, types and ways to overcome fear

What is Hemophobia

Hemophobia is a spontaneous, uncontrollable, illogical obsessive fear of blood . The term was introduced into scientific use in 1972 by the American psychiatrist D. Weinberg. He described the typical manifestations of the disorder and indicated the causes of the disease.

Manifestations of phobia

Hemophobia manifests itself in different ways. There are people who, anywhere, under any circumstances, lose consciousness at the sight of just a drop of blood. And there are those who feel discomfort only in a medical institution or at the sight of a serious wound. Blood phobia is a very insidious disease, because most sufferers, until a certain point, are not even aware of their pathology.

The disease appears suddenly, at the most inopportune time. For example, you need to provide emergency medical care, stop bleeding, or become a donor. And instead of performing specific actions, the hemophobe panics, he begins to feel nausea, dizziness, and may faint. A panic attack can begin in the manipulation room at the sight of test tubes with blood.

The first attacks of unconscious anxiety are usually short-lived.

They are accompanied by subjective unpleasant sensations that cause discomfort and provoke a new round of fear of blood:

• increased sweating,
• pallor or redness of the skin,
• severe choking, trembling and (or) numbness of the arms, legs,
• chills, headaches,
• cardiopalmus.

After the first attack of blood phobia, some patients cheat themselves when taking tests, cutting meat, or cleaning fish. They remove all sharp and cutting objects from the house. Such behavior indicates that the fear of the sight of blood develops into a mental disorder. Children who cannot control their fear are especially susceptible to this process.

The acute degree of manifestation of hematophobia is characterized by a rapid reaction of the nervous system, responding to the visual signal of the type of blood. The panic attack is so severe that the patient feels as if he is going crazy.

The clinical picture is created by the following symptoms:

• urge to vomit,
• taste of blood in the mouth,
• slow thinking,
• flickering of flies before the eyes,
• loss of consciousness.

A classic hematophobe experiences inexplicable anxiety even when watching films with scenes of violence, discovering a scratch or cut on himself, or unwittingly witnessing an accident. Studies conducted by Russian psychiatrists indicate that the level of fear is approximately the same when seeing one's own and someone else's blood.

Origin of fear of blood

It is important to understand the difference between a persistent phobia and a general aversion to the sight of blood. An aversion to blood is a natural protective reaction of the body; most patients do not look at the process of taking tests from them. Conversely, an obsessive desire to look at bloody discharge is considered pathological.

The first mention of the term “hemophobia” in relation to the psychopathic syndrome was made only about 40 years ago. There is a known historical fact about the hemophobia of Tsar Nicholas II. It was caused by the fact that his son Alexei suffered from hemophilia (blood clotting disorder).

Hemophobia is based only on a psychological disorder. For a long time it was believed that the fear of blood develops due to genetic reasons. However, observations of identical twins showed that this is not the case. The main factor in the formation of hemophobia is a traumatic event suffered, usually in early childhood. It is also possible for impressionable people to develop a phobia with a weak mental capacity for the protective mechanism of repression. Irrational anxious tension appears and strengthens under the influence of frightening stories, watching films with bloody scenes, broadcasting news from combat zones during the war.

A severe form of fear of blood significantly complicates a person’s existence and poses an indirect threat to his health. It is not the fear itself that causes harm, but the avoidance behavior that results from it. A person with a persistent fear of the sight of blood will refuse medical examination and treatment and delay going to the doctor until the very last moment. When he is finally forced to carry out manipulations, by that time the disease may already be far advanced.

External causes that provoke a sudden panic attack are usually the following:

• fear of seeing another person's blood or one's own;
• fear of the blood of animals, fish;
• fear of seeing any blood.

The fear of seeing one's own blood is based on the assumption that the wound from which it flows poses a significant threat to health and life. Even if it's just a prick with an injection needle. Hemophobia of a psychological nature should not be confused with the fear of injury in patients suffering from bleeding disorders.

Sometimes a panic attack of hematophobia is confused with a simple reaction to pain that occurs during injury. Or they blame it on a stressful state that develops when seeing another person’s wound.

Theories about the origin of blood phobia

1. There are no real reasons for the occurrence of hemophobia and... Isolated cases of the development of panic fear after unsuccessful medical procedures that were accompanied by bleeding are an exception to the rule.
2. Blood phobia affects impressionable and suspicious people who are able to empathize and sympathize with others. Creative individuals with a delicate nervous system are susceptible to pathology. But people with a pedantic mindset do not suffer from hemophobia.
3. Some psychotherapists believe that the main reason that causes fear of blood is hereditary fear. The lack of doctors, medicines, and the dangers that awaited our ancestors at every step required caution - any injury could be fatal. This is where, in their opinion, instinctive panic fear arose. But observations of the development of identical twins have proven that there are no genetic prerequisites for the development of a phobia - fear of the sight of blood.

Causes of fear of blood

Our fears are half unfounded and half simply shameful. © Beauvois

Blood phobia seeps into our lives without choosing age, gender, or social status. Children are afraid that they will be punished for their broken knees. Fear torments girls who delay the start of sexual activity for fear of blood loss. Men lose consciousness when they donate blood from a vein or cut their finger. Depending on the object that causes fear of blood, three types of hematophobia are distinguished: fear of the sight of one’s own blood, another person’s, or animals.

Scientists are firmly convinced, and scientific research confirms this, that the roots of blood phobia are hidden in society and in traumatic situations:

• Hemophobes are afraid that by donating shelter, they will feel unpleasant sensations experienced in the past.
• The development of fear of blood is often to blame for parents who scolded or even punished the child for cuts, scratches, and abrasions.
• Hemophobia is generated by fear of war, television stories, photos of bodies mutilated in places of battles and disasters.
• Fixing attention on negative memories of events that provoked bleeding.

The patients themselves prefer to attribute the resulting panic to pain, passing it off as an ordinary reaction to bleeding, without saying a word about the fear of the sight of blood. A hemophobe often harms his health by refusing medical care. Sometimes a phobia of blood makes a person a vegetarian.

The imagination of someone suffering from hemophobia can easily turn a tiny spot of ketchup into a huge puddle of blood. Small scratches with drops of blood on the body cause a state of shock.

Hemophobia: causes

Psychotherapists associate the negative trend towards a rapid increase in the number of people suffering from this disorder with the realities of our time, which have a negative effect on the human psyche. It should be noted that hemophobia in most cases does not have real and adequate reasons for its occurrence. The main reasons for the formation of panic fear of blood lie in the lack of proper rest, lack of genuine psychological knowledge, and lack of relaxation skills. The intense pace of life, colossal mental overload, and constant mental stress are the main reasons for the development of irrational fears. The predominance of negative emotions over positive experiences in a person’s life is fertile ground for the start of hemophobia.

Most people who have been diagnosed with hemophobia have a specific characterological portrait. These are impressionable, suspicious, vulnerable people who are distinguished by a special subtle organization of the psyche. They are extremely attentive to the problems of others, capable of sincere empathy and sympathy.

In this case, the cause of hemophobia is the dominant personality trait – fixation of attention on negative experiences. Such persons are in anticipation of some kind of misfortune, and carefully “look for” symptoms of non-existent diseases.

Psychiatrists say that a significant reason for the rapid increase in the number of people suffering from hemophobia is the abundance of scenes of violence on blue screens. Constant news reports about catastrophes, accidents, and wrecks with numerous victims form a unique image among anankast people, the essence of which is: a person is uninsured against accidents and can die from bleeding at any moment.

Ways to self-medicate phobias

How to stop being afraid of blood? Clinical psychologist Elena Ershova gives advice on how to take the first step towards recovery: To overcome the fear of blood, you need to understand why this is necessary. If a person has not formed a clear internal goal for the desired changes, they will never happen.

Several questions need to be answered:

• What kind of blood am I afraid of?
• In what situations does this fear manifest itself?
• Does my fear of blood interfere with my daily life?

And if the nature of the phobia is clear, then it is much easier to overcome it.

Fear of blood, in most cases, does not lead to serious mental disorders and does not pose a threat to the health and life of the patient himself or the people around him . A hemophobe, it happens, exaggerates his fears. Therefore, symptoms can be eliminated with the help of several psychotherapy sessions, during which the patient develops resistance to the type of blood. By describing his panic experiences, formulating the essence of the anxiety, the patient distances himself from the phobia, and the doctor unobtrusively directs the flow of thoughts towards the rational perception of the object of fear, and provides truthful information about the causes of the fear of blood. In such cases, it is useful to communicate with friends and relatives who have no fears about blood collection and transfusion.

Psychologists also advise regularly performing a special set of exercises designed to develop adaptive reactions and develop self-control skills.

For example, starting with the muscles of the arms, tense the muscles of the body, reach the peak of tension and, maintaining muscle tone, move the limbs. You need to train until it becomes automatic. The secret of the exercise is that during an attack of hematophobia, blood pressure decreases and the patient faints.

In the event of a panic attack, your subconscious mind will remember the training, and you will begin to move your arms mechanically. Blood circulation will improve, preventing loss of consciousness. When you feel a crisis approaching, it is useful to start squatting or jumping. Breathing exercises help avoid panic attacks. Vigorous alternation of deep breaths and sharp exhalations mobilizes strength to control the surge of emotions.

Those patients who are overcome by a severe, uncontrollable phobia of blood require complex treatment:

• drug therapy
• psychotherapeutic work;
• influence of hypnosis.

Drug therapy is carried out during intense panic crises, when the patient is completely absorbed in his fear, and hematophobia has caused emotional dystonia and led to mental disorders. Taking pharmaceutical drugs stabilizes the activity of the vegetative-vascular system and relieves the patient from excessive nervous tension . Antidepressants, tranquilizers, sedatives and hypnotics are usually prescribed. The duration of the course of treatment and the dosage of medications must be determined by the attending physician; self-medication can do more harm than good.

You also need to understand that drug treatment is not the main thing. A psychologist can teach you how not to be afraid of blood.

The main direction of psychotherapeutic treatment of “medical phobia” is educating the patient and teaching relaxation techniques. The psychotherapist, as it were, introduces the hemophobe to his fear, teaches him to manage panic, overcome it and enjoy life.

Signs of pathological fear of blood

It happens that a person for a long time does not suspect that he has pathological fear. Symptoms of a panic attack with hemophobia develop suddenly and are characteristic not only of “tender young ladies,” but also of strong people who are not prone to emotional reactions. This disease is discovered in the most inappropriate situations. For example, someone close to you is injured and needs to provide first aid or become a blood donor.

Internal persistent experiences about the possibility of contact with blood or an actual meeting with it unfold into the following clinical picture:

• anxiety immediately before certain situations (taking tests, surgery, cutting meat) up to resistance and categorical refusal of them;
• pale face;
• trembling and numbness of the limbs, sweating;
• heartbeat;
• labored breathing;
• a sharp drop in blood pressure;
• ringing in the ears, darkening of the eyes, loss of consciousness;
• nausea, vomiting;
• olfactory hallucinations - the haunting smell of blood;
• irrational anxiety for one’s health, life, fear of going crazy from the sight of blood.

You can recognize a hemophobe by a set of symptoms of avoidance. A person who is afraid of blood will avoid everything connected with it: from medical procedures to cooking and eating meat. For this reason, he carefully maintains his home, removing anything that could injure him. He hides knives, forks, razors, sheets of paper, scissors, and covers the corners of tables and bedside tables with soft material. Spilled tomato juice, in the rich imagination of a hemophobe, can turn into a huge bloody puddle.

Fear of blood belongs to the type of “medical” phobias and has a characteristic feature for them: the patient does not strive to immediately leave the frightening place, the symptoms of a panic attack unfold near the object of fear.

Before making a diagnosis, it is necessary to exclude other mental diseases in which a pathological fear of blood may be only one of the symptoms. A thorough examination by a psychiatrist will show whether there are any profound personality changes such as schizophrenia or manic-depressive syndrome.

Techniques for treating phobias with a psychotherapist

Cognitive behavioral therapy

In the process of consciously studying fear, a habit is developed towards the object of the phobia. Psychological stability is strengthened through “active contact” with blood under the supervision of a psychotherapist. Healing occurs after 7-10 sessions. Group sessions are effective in such cases, when participants share their fears and secrets of overcoming a phobia of blood.

Psychoanalysis

Aimed at identifying the root cause of fear, re-experiencing the situation, and getting rid of the phobia. 10-12 sessions are required. The patient's awareness of the safety of medical procedures minimizes the feeling of anxiety. Accepting the fact that the sight of blood is natural reduces the intensity of negative feelings

Meditation

One of the most effective Eastern techniques for getting rid of the fear of the sight of blood. Meditation practice is based on the constant repetition of certain words, resulting in an effect on the subconscious, calming, and reducing anxiety.

Hypnosuggestive method

The essence of the method is to unconsciously change the patient’s attitudes towards fears. It is used in especially severe cases, with a complex course of the disease. Immersed in a state of hypnotic trance, the patient re-experiences the psychotrauma received in the past. The hypnologist inspires the idea that contact with blood is harmless and safe, and relieves phobic addiction. Developing adequate reactions to previously traumatic situations develops the ability to manage emotions

Hemophobia: treatment

Hemophobia, like other phobic disorders, can occur in varying degrees of severity. Therefore, the treatment regimen is selected by the doctor for each specific patient individually. It is worth noting that a certain category of people significantly exaggerates the severity of their fear of blood. In such mild situations, it is enough for the doctor to competently construct a conversation with the patient and convey to him truthful information about the causes of fear in order to minimize the unpleasant sensations at the sight of blood.

However, more people with hemophobia suffer seriously from an illogical and uncontrollable fear of blood, while experiencing the full severity of panic attacks. For such patients, it is advisable to carry out complex treatment: taking psychotropic medications, psychotherapeutic work and hypnosis.

With the help of pharmaceuticals, it is possible to stabilize a person’s psycho-emotional status and eliminate excessive nervous tension. Drug treatment is prescribed for intense sympathoadrenal crises and is carried out exclusively in short courses.

Psychotherapeutic treatment of hemophobia is aimed at psychological education of the patient, teaching relaxation techniques, and eliminating rational links in the pathological fear of blood. Knowing that medical procedures are safe helps minimize anxiety. Understanding the fact that the appearance of blood is natural, blood collection and transfusions are important traditional procedures, makes it possible to reduce the intensity of unpleasant sensations when coming into contact with an object of fear.

However, psychotherapeutic treatment does not bring the desired results in difficult situations when the patient’s brain is preoccupied with experiences of uncontrollable fear. In the case of a complex and persistent course of hemophobia, it is advisable to carry out treatment with hypnosis techniques, since only the use of hypnosuggestive therapy opens access to the depths of the psyche - the subconscious.

It is in the unconscious sphere that all information about a person’s personal history is recorded, which cannot be retrieved from memory while awake. Immersion in a hypnotic trance due to the short-term elimination of censorship of consciousness allows you to closely study a person’s past and discover destructive elements in the life scenario. The trance state gives a patient with hemophobia the opportunity to relive traumatic situations and eliminate disturbing ideas from thinking.

Treatment with hypnosis is a miracle cure, since this manipulation involves a positive attitude - suggestion. A person, on a subconscious level, is armed with the information that any medical procedures involving contact with blood are safe and harmless.

Treatment of hemophobia with hypnosis provides real assistance to the patient in developing adequate adaptive reactions and motivates them to develop skills to manage their emotions in extreme situations. As a result of hypnosuggestive treatment, the patient gains complete psychological resistance to a previously frightening object and ceases to be dependent on the fear of blood.

Today, hypnosis treatment can rightfully be called the most effective technique that eliminates the causes and symptoms of abnormal fear of blood. The positive healing effects of hypnosis have been confirmed by numerous scientific studies and are successfully used in international psychiatric practice.

REVIEWS ABOUT HYPNOSIS SESSIONS BY PSYCHOLOGIST, HYPNOTHERAPIST GENNADY IVANOV

The mechanism of formation of phobias is based on the idea of ​​the dual nature of the psyche, consisting of consciousness and subconsciousness. We will use the term “subconscious”, thereby emphasizing that this “internal knowledge” can be realized. The real problem is the irrational part of fear, which over time develops into a phobia - an inadequate reaction to the environment. The rational component of fear must remain, because this basic emotion mobilizes the body’s strength in order to survive.

Treatment of phobias comes down to a conscious search for an associative connection of a particular symptom with a traumatic event of the past. Hypnotherapy techniques erase and “demagnetize” a conditioned reflex, which in many cases acts as a hypnotic suggestion.

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First aid for a hemophobe and his loved ones

If you feel a blood phobia coming on, give yourself some self-help:

• go to the window or go out into the fresh air, breathe deeply;
• make several active movements with your arms and legs;
• wash your face, drink water.

It doesn't hurt to have the support of those around you, especially when a panic attack leads to fainting.

The patient should be laid down, legs raised, exposed areas of the body moistened with cold water, and ammonia allowed to be sniffed.

conclusions

Blood phobia is an obsessive state of unconscious anxiety that complicates the patient’s life, “prohibits” him from engaging in active sports, and does not allow him to fully take care of his health. What is dangerous is not the feeling of fear, but the subconscious desire to avoid a traumatic situation for the psyche: refusal to visit the clinic, donate blood for analysis, or treatment.

Hemophobes stop eating meat, hide knives, razors, scissors, forks in inaccessible places, and wrap soft fabrics around the sharp corners of furniture. They are treated mainly with herbal infusions, spells, and meditations.

To stop being afraid of the sight of blood, you should carry out psychotherapeutic correction, suppress panic, and adapt to society. It is necessary not to run away from fear, but to boldly look into its eyes, overcome yourself, and the fear of blood will recede. Of course, sick people, adults or children, must be treated with understanding, without rudeness or insults. And always remember - a person must become stronger than doubts, anxieties, illogical fears, then he will be the master of his destiny.