varx/socialMar 21

Someone I know has a #blood/injury type #phobia—the kind that causes full-on #fainting, not just stress/fear.

I'm trying to help them get through a blood test. (The phobia is so severe that just *discussing* the topic can cause a faint.) If anyone has advice, *especially* from direct experience of this, I'd be grateful.

Looking to address both the fear and the faint response.

(Before offering advice, remember to check the full thread!)

Show threadit's B! Cavello 🐝
@varx I'm sorry. I don't have advice to offer, but I have empathy.
I have developed a fainting response from blood, even though I don't have it as strongly as your friend. The first time it happened, I was getting a blood draw and remarking to the nurses HOW COOL IT WAS that they were using a little vacuum tube for it, and everything.
After that, I have had a bit of a fear develop because it's scary feeling so out of control like that. Oof.
Mar 21 at 3:18amWeb
Show threadit's B! Cavello 🐝Mar 21
@varx I wonder if it might help to try to understand the source of the fear a bit. For me, since part of it was about feeling out of control, being able to take control of the situation by telling doctors, taking precautions, and getting support helped a lot, but it could be that their fear comes from another place, and maybe speaking more directly to that fear will help (even out of the context of blood).
But I don't know. Sending love!
Show threadvarx/socialMar 21
@b_cavello I actually developed a bit of a "second-hand" phobia just from being present with someone with their blood draw and seeing how severe their reaction was. For my next few draws after that, I had to be lying down! Luckily, it wore off.
Show threadvarx/socialMar 21

@b_cavello In the case of this type of phobia, though, it really seems to be some kind of deep-seated thing that isn't so much based in fear as it is in like... a basic neurological response to injury. It can happen even if the person feels OK.

It may have evolved as a way of surviving attacks. Playing dead, essentially. Maybe limiting blood loss, too.

So it feels like there's not a lot of room for CBT or similar therapies. :-/

Show threadit's B! Cavello 🐝Mar 21
@varx Yeah, the fainting thing is slightly different from the fear, I think. At least for me, the fainting doesn't feel like a "fear" thing. It just... happens.
But the fear develops having experienced that.
I wonder if they could trick themselves into thinking of it as something else that isn't triggering...
Show threadvarx/socialMar 21

@b_cavello That's a really interesting point, that the fear may in fact come later. Both people I know who have this issue had it start fairly young, so it's a little hard to get good information on the exact origins of it, but... yeah, I wonder how much the fear and the fainting reinforce each other, forming a vicious cycle.

Maybe attacking the cycle itself is more important than working on just one part of it.

Show threadit's B! Cavello 🐝Mar 21
@varx Yeah, it's surprising how quickly our bodies can be like "wow, scary!"
It's also like "c'mon body, this isn't gonna help!!" So frustrating.
If you learn any good tips from folks, I'll be eager to know.