Have you ever felt very scared or panicked when you saw blood? It could be that you have a blood phobia. So, what is the cause and how to overcome it? Let's find out in the following review.
A phobia is an excessive fear of a certain object, place, situation, or animal. There are various kinds of phobias, one of which is blood phobia.
Blood phobia is known as hemophobia or hematophobia. These phobias include specific types of phobias that are characterized by extreme fear or anxiety when looking at blood, whether their own blood, other people, animals, and even blood in the form of images or shows on television.
If the phobia condition is severe enough, people with hemophobia can faint at the sight of blood.
Symptoms of Blood Phobia
Blood phobia is a type of mental disorder. Usually people who have blood phobias also suffer from syringe phobias (trypanophobia).
In hemophobia, symptoms can be triggered only by looking at the blood, both directly and indirectly, for example when viewing photos or videos that show blood.
Some people with blood phobias can even experience symptoms just by imagining blood or certain medical procedures, such as blood tests or surgery.
When looking at or thinking about things related to blood, people with blood phobias can show the following symptoms:
- Trembling and sweating
- Excessive anxiety or panic
- The body feels weak suddenly
- The heart beats fast
- Rapid or heavy breathing
- Chest pain
- Passed out
- Nausea and vomiting
A person can be sure to have a blood phobia if the symptoms that appear when seeing the blood persist for more than 6 months.
Impact of Blood Phobia on Daily Life of Sufferers
Blood phobia and syringe phobias are unique phobias. While most phobias cause heart rate and blood pressure to rise, blood phobias and phobic syringes are just the opposite.
This type of phobia can sometimes cause a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure, so it often causes the sufferer to faint. This condition is called vasovagal syncope, which is an excessive body reaction to things that trigger fainting, for example when looking at blood.
Some people with blood phobias are usually afraid to see a general practitioner or dentist. The impact is also varied and different for each person. In severe conditions, hemophobia sufferers can experience depression and limit their activities due to excessive fear of blood.
However, people with blood phobias actually realize that excessive fear. However, most of them are powerless to control it.
Meanwhile, children who suffer from blood phobias usually show symptoms, such as tantrums, crying, and avoid and refuse to see anything related to blood by hiding or hugging the closest person.
Risk Factors for Blood Phobias
Hematophobia often appears in childhood, which is around the age of 10-13 years. This phobia usually appears together with other phobias, such as agoraphobia, trypanophobia (fear of syringes), mysophobia (fear of germs), and certain animal phobias.
In addition, there are several factors that can increase a person's risk for having a blood phobia, including:
- Heredity.
- Child care patterns, for example, have parents who are too protective.
- History of psychological trauma, such as having experienced an accident or seeing an accident that causes a lot of blood.
Handling of Blood Phobias
Almost every type of phobia can be treated and cured, blood phobia is no exception. Handling of blood phobias can be done in the following ways:
1. Psychotherapy
People with blood phobias usually need to undergo psychotherapy. One form of psychotherapy that is effective in dealing with blood phobias is cognitive behavioral therapy.
This therapy aims to help patients change their perspective and how to behave towards a problem, in this case is the feeling of excessive fear of blood. Thus, the patient can control his fear when he sees blood.
2. Relaxation therapy
This type of psychotherapy focuses on relaxation techniques, such as breathing exercises, meditation, or yoga. Relaxation therapy aims to deal with stress, anxiety, and other symptoms that arise when looking at blood.
3. Use of drugs
In some cases of blood phobias, especially those that cause severe symptoms, the doctor will give medicines to deal with excessive anxiety. This procedure aims to make the patient more calm and focused undergoing other treatment processes.
Some types of drugs that are usually given by doctors to treat blood phobias are sedatives to treat anxiety and antidepressant drugs.
4. Desensitization
This therapy is done in stages by involving objects that cause fear, namely blood. However, this therapy can only be done when the patient has begun to show improvement in symptoms at the sight of blood.
In this therapy, the patient will be asked to undergo a test by seeing blood several times from an image or film. That way, it is hoped that anxiety and fear can gradually diminish and disappear completely.
In addition to the above methods, there are other treatment methods that can be done to overcome blood phobias, one of which is hypnotherapy. However, this technique must be carried out under the supervision of a doctor.
It is recommended that you immediately consult a psychologist or psychiatrist if you begin to feel symptoms of blood phobias, especially if they begin to limit your activities.
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