Hemophobia refers to the extreme, irrational fear of seeing blood or being in any situation that may involve blood. This is a specific type of phobia that affects the patient severely. Timely treatment will help control symptoms effectively and lead to a better life.
Hemophobia can have serious effects and needs to be treated early
What is hemophobia?
Hemophobia is recognized as a formal specific type of phobia. It is mentioned in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) published by the American Psychiatric Association.
Hemophobia is a term that refers to an excessive irrational fear associated with blood. It can happen when seeing one’s own blood, the blood of others, anticipating a situation with blood exposure or images, stories related to blood.
Sometimes exposure to a very small amount of blood is enough to cause a person to trigger an extreme fear response. People with hemophobia may faint when blood is drawn, when vaccinated, or when the body is traumatized causing bleeding.
It is estimated that phobias are relatively common in the general population. About 5% of people have this syndrome. Fear can happen on any level, from mild to severe. Sometimes it even causes the person to faint or lose consciousness at the sight of blood.
Causes of hemophilia
Although there has been a lot of research, up to now, the exact cause of hemophobia is still unknown. However, experts have identified a number of factors that can increase the risk of this disease.
Factors mentioned may include:
1. Biological factors
There may be a genetic component to developing a particular phobia. It is believed that some people are born with a tendency to have more anxiety than others.
The risk of hemophobia is significantly increased if a close relative has the disorder or has related specific phobias. At present, the genetic mechanism is not clearly defined, but many theories suggest that the gene that regulates the structure and activity of the brain is the relevant factor.
Genetic factors are thought to increase the risk of developing hemophobia
If a person with hemophobia sees blood, they may be experiencing some internal biological changes. These changes may include:
- Release of cortisol (a stress hormone)
- Release of insulin (hormone produced in the pancreas capable of turning glucose into energy)
- Release of growth hormones
- Changes in brain activity
- Increased blood pressure and heart rate
2. Living with people with hemophobia
Children living with people with hemophilia, whether they are related by blood or not, are at risk for the disease. Because when seeing the patient’s excessive fear of blood, the child will gradually form fear and have similar reactions.
3. Blood-related trauma
Psychological trauma is related to the pathogenesis of many psychological and psychiatric problems, including hemophobia. Some psychological traumas that can cause a person to develop an irrational fear of seeing blood include:
- Witnessing a loved one’s accident
- I myself underwent a major surgery
- Hospitalization for a long time
- Having complications when taking blood or having a blood transfusion
4. Overprotective family
Children who are overprotected by their parents and loved ones often show fear in the face of very normal problems. For example, lightning, animals, needles, blood, etc. Meanwhile, children who are exposed to the environment from an early age are often bolder. At the same time, there is also less irrational fear of problems that are not really dangerous.
Children with excessive family support are more likely to develop hemophilia than other children
5. Horror movie influence
Hemophobia is quite common in children between the ages of 10 and 13. The reason may be due to the influence of watching horror movies that have creepy gore scenes. This is also part of the reason why horror movies are often age-restricted to avoid causing psychological harm to young children.
6. There are other types of phobias
People with other forms of phobia such as fear of injury, fear of germs, fear of needles, fear of death, etc. will have a higher risk of having blood-phobia. Research shows that the amygdala of people with phobias is overactive. This will create an excessive fear of problems that are not really dangerous. This also explains why it is possible for a person to have different types of specific phobias at the same time.
Manifestations of hemophobia
Many of the symptoms of agoraphobia are also found in all other phobias. It can include emotional, physical, and behavioral backlashes to the source of the fear.
With hemophobia, people react to any form of blood exposure or even situations where blood exposure is likely. This includes dentist appointments, doctors, blood tests, surgery, other medical procedures, or helping someone who may be bleeding.
People with hemophobia often have extreme fear reactions when they see blood
Symptoms of hemophobia often include:
- A feeling of intense fear and anxiety that occurs immediately upon seeing blood
- Possible panic attacks
- Fear and anxiety disproportionate to the actual threat level
- The feeling of extreme disgust at the sight of blood
- Increase stress hormones like cortisol
- Excitement
- Hypertension
- Increase heart rate
- Sweat
- Shortness of breath
- Chest tightness
- Dizzy
- Nausea
- Muscle tension
- Realize your own reaction is outrageous but can’t stop it
- Forming an avoidance response that disrupts life
In hemophobia, fainting or near-fainting is a cardiovascular response marked by two opposing reactions. Initially, fear and anxiety cause heart rate and blood pressure to skyrocket. However, then both heart rate and blood pressure drop suddenly, causing blood flow to the brain to decrease. This can lead to loss or near loss of consciousness.
In fact, more research is needed to explain why fainting is such a common part of hemophobia. It is believed that a strong sense of disgust coupled with extreme anxiety are two factors that contribute to the “emotional” fainting response.
The serious effects of hemophobia
It is not easy to live with a phobia because it is very uncomfortable and often causes avoidant behaviors. People living with agoraphobia can do their best to avoid any form of exposure that triggers their fear.
Avoidance can have negative consequences for health and all areas of life. It affects relationships, career choices, leisure activities and more.
People with hemophobia live in a state of fear, stress, and insecurity all the time. They may refuse to go to the hospital for medical care. Many people even avoid vaccinations, dental procedures and surgery due to excessive fear.
People with hemophilia can avoid vaccinations, leaving very serious consequences
Avoiding insulin injections in diabetics and B12 injections in patients with pernicious anemia can have serious, even life-threatening consequences. In addition, people with hemophobia shy away from caring for injured loved ones, including their children.
The consequences of avoidance of hemophobia are often severe, leading not only to poor physical health, but also to mental health challenges. Avoidant behaviors can make the person isolated, separate from those around them.
Statistically, people with specific phobias in general and agoraphobia in particular can develop other psychological problems. Examples include social anxiety disorder, depression or panic disorder due to isolation or helplessness, suffering from irrational fears of the self.
Diagnosis of hemophilia
If you suspect you may have hemophobia, make an appointment with your doctor early. Diagnosis will involve you talking to your doctor about your symptoms and how long you’ve been experiencing it. In addition, you can also provide your personal and family health history to help your doctor make a diagnosis.
Hemophobia has been recognized as an official psychological disorder. The condition will be diagnosed using the 7 criteria outlined in the DSM-5. Include:
1. Persistent fear, perceived as irrational or excessive. This fear can occur when bleeding or seeing blood.
2. Always have an anxious reaction to the sight of blood. This may include a panic attack. In children, the reaction may take the form of tantrums, crying, or clinging.
3. People with agoraphobia know that their fear is excessive (this may not be true in children).
4. The person avoids blood or experiences intense anxiety and distress in situations involving blood.
5. The fear of blood significantly disrupts the person’s daily life. It can affect work, school, relationships or even social activities. They can be very worried about their hemophobia.
6. Hemophobia usually lasts for at least six months.
7. Feelings of anxiety or behavior associated with hemophobia cannot be explained through other disorders. Such as panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder, etc.
Diagnosis of hemophobia is usually based on an analysis of the patient’s symptoms
Not everyone with hemophobia is officially diagnosed. Many people with this disease already know they have it, but choose to live their whole lives without a diagnosis. These people may do their best to avoid blood or blood-related situations. However, this approach is not recommended, because avoiding blood can make the hemophobia worse.
Treatment direction to help overcome hemophilia
As analyzed, the fear of blood not only negatively affects health but also causes a lot of troubles to life. Therefore, you need to find a way to treat it as soon as possible. Timely examination and following instructions from the doctor is especially important.
For hemophobia, the good news is that there are different treatment options that can respond and help you get over it. Below are the commonly used methods.
1. Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy for agoraphobia helps the person understand more about their fear and actively assist in reducing the fear. Professional mental health therapy will help prevent immediate reactions such as anxiety, fear or panic when exposed to blood.
There are many helpful approaches to agoraphobia, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), desensitization therapy, virtual reality therapy, muscle tension therapy, relaxation exercise therapy, and more. As follows:
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT):
Through cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), psychologists will help you identify and test your negative beliefs and thoughts about hemophobia. This will help you gain a deeper understanding of your thoughts.
In addition, psychologists help develop helpful coping skills to reduce blood anxiety. By learning to think differently about blood, you can disrupt your automatic fear response. Rather it is a more intentional response to blood exposure.
– Desensitization therapy:
For desensitization therapy, the psychologist will gradually assist the patient to face the fear of blood in a gradual step-by-step manner. The specialist might start by referring to blood in context, work with images of blood of varying intensities, and eventually come in contact with real blood.
In addition, patients will also explore their own thoughts and feelings about blood to help develop a healthy response. Desensitization therapy is considered one of the most effective approaches to phobias, including hemophobia.
– Virtual reality exposure therapy:
Virtual reality exposure therapy is essentially similar to exposure therapy. It does however use technology to allow you to experience blood exposure in a simulated format instead of real-world exposure.
Muscle tension therapy:
This is a very popular therapy applied to relieve fainting due to fear of blood, injection and trauma phobia. As for hemophobia, it involves exposure to blood, while systematically tensing and relaxing the muscles in the legs, arms, and torso. The aim is to increase blood pressure and cerebral blood flow to prevent fainting. Stretch therapy has also been successfully combined with CBT.
Exercise relaxation therapy:
Excessive and irrational fear of blood can lead to persistent anxiety, stress, and insecurity. In addition to the above methods, the patient may be asked to apply additional relaxation therapy to quickly relieve accompanying symptoms.
Relaxation therapy often includes some yoga poses, meditation, and qigong breathing. The goal is to help relax muscles, relieve stress and regain comfort and calm. This will significantly reduce the emotional and physical symptoms caused by hemophobia.
2. Drug use
In some cases, your doctor may prescribe medication to treat hemophobia. However, it should not be used as a standalone treatment, but should be combined with psychotherapy. The goal is to relieve symptoms and help therapy respond better
Medications that may be prescribed by a doctor include:
- Anti-anxiety medication, possibly benzodiazepines or other sedatives.
- Beta-blockers, drugs for high blood pressure that block adrenaline to improve symptoms of physiological anxiety.
- Antidepressants such as SSRIs or tricyclic antidepressants.
As with any medication, make sure to use it exactly as directed by your doctor. Absolutely do not increase / decrease the dose or change the treatment plan on your own. If you experience any side effects, notify your doctor immediately for timely treatment. As for antidepressants, absolutely do not stop taking them suddenly.
3. Other support measures
Living with agoraphobia can be difficult and frustrating. However, you can take steps to make your life less limited by this disease.
Good health care brings many benefits to the management of hemophobia
Here are tips to help you deal with hemophobia more effectively:
- In specific phobias, the brain’s emotional center (the amygdala) overreacts. Adopting mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and relaxation strategies has many benefits.
- Taking good care of yourself will help nourish your mind and body. Therefore, you should pay attention to eating right, drinking enough water and taking time for physical activity. Also pay extra attention to sleep to help the whole body system work properly.
- It is possible to join support groups for people with hemophobia. This helps you feel like you’re not alone. It is also possible to learn skills to deal with blood and fear effectively.
- Talk to loved ones or trusted friends about the problem you’re having. They can listen, calm you, and actively deal with your fears.
- When you notice positive improvements in yourself, celebrate it. The act of celebration releases dopamine in the brain and lets it know it’s done something good. Over time, you may find that your reactions get milder.
- Equip yourself with blood knowledge. The more you learn about blood, the more benefits you can get. If you are concerned about blood-borne diseases, then learn more about the disease and how to prevent them.
- Carry a first aid and hygiene kit with you so that if you are bleeding or have to help someone who is bleeding you can do so quickly and efficiently.
Hemophobia causes a lot of troubles in life, even harms health. Therefore, patients need to actively examine and seriously treat themselves when they are aware of their excessive and irrational fear of blood. From there, it helps to control fear early and lead a better life.
