Table of contents:
- Why are people afraid of needles?
- What causes people to be afraid of injections?
- What is the danger if people are afraid of needles?
- Tips to minimize pain when injected
- Then, how to deal with people who have a phobia of needles?
For some people, especially young children, needles are a terrible thing. However, there are also adults who are afraid of needles. The pain of prickling the skin from the sharpness of the needles would also make some people shudder at the thought of it. Then, are there any tips for overcoming the fear of needles even for adults or children?
Why are people afraid of needles?
According to Joni Pagenkemper, head of diabetes management at Nebraska Medicine, there are 22% of people in the world who are afraid of injections, aka needles. In fact, there are several conditions that require a person to be injected by a doctor, for example, injections for vaccines or even injecting their own insulin at home for diabetes people.
People who are afraid of injections are also known as needle-stick phobia. Though both are different conditions. The phobia of needles is different from the fear of regular needles. Needle phobia or also known as trypanophobia is a condition when someone wants to get an injection, they will produce a reaction, such as experiencing high blood pressure and an increased heart rate. This can even happen the day before or several hours before the injection. Worse, people who have a phobia of needles can faint when they are about to be injected.
What causes people to be afraid of injections?
Insulin injection with a syringe
The most basic reason people are afraid of needles is the pain they cause when the needle goes through the skin and flesh. In addition, fear of being injected can also be caused by trauma, for example trauma when a doctor was injected as a child. When the injection is done, the doctor may do it gently and slowly, causing pain. As a result, a person becomes traumatized or afraid of being injected into adulthood.
Meanwhile, the phobia of being injected could be caused by several reasons, although the exact cause is not yet known. Researchers believe that 80% of people with needle-stick phobia are inherited. That is, it is possible that a person with a phobia is not just someone himself. It could be that there are relatives who have the same phobia.
However, it is possible that fear is caused more by the shadow of pain than is inherited biologically. Some psychologists believe that the fear of being injected may originate from the thought that a stab wound must be dangerous, even deadly.
What is the danger if people are afraid of needles?
Previously, it should also be noted that there are several types of injections. Intravenous injection or injection into a vein, intramuscular injection or injection into a muscle. In addition, there is also an injection into the fat layer or what is called subcutaneous. Generally, people with injections into the subcutaneous tissue are performed by people with diabetes who administer the injections independently.
People who are afraid that needles may have a detrimental effect on the body. The reason is, these people may avoid checking at a general practitioner or dentist, in order not to run into syringes. Not infrequently, many people who are afraid of being injected just leave the disease without treatment. The fear of needles may also have a detrimental effect if a person with diabetes experiences it, while he has to administer the injection independently every day.
Tips to minimize pain when injected
Joni Pagenkemper has several ways that can help you to avoid fear when being injected, namely:
- If possible, make sure the room temperature is warm, not cold. The cold temperature will provide a more tense sensation
- Before doing the injection, usually the location to be injected will be cleaned with alcohol
- Always use a new syringe
- Attach the syringe to the body quickly so that you feel less pain.
Some people who are required to have their own injection at home sometimes make mistakes. One of the mistakes made is pinching the skin to be injected. This is not necessary, unless you are underweight or very thin.
Then, how to deal with people who have a phobia of needles?
There are several things that can be done if someone has a phobia of injections. First there is cognitive therapy. This therapy has been widely used to treat trypanophobia. This therapy will slowly train your mind not to be afraid of needles anymore.
Later the therapist will train people with injection phobias by showing them pictures of the injection. They will be asked to touch the image. Over time, patients will be trained not to be afraid of real syringes. However, this therapy will take a long time until the patient can completely calm down when he sees the injection. Some experts have also found success using hypnotherapy with their patients.
In addition, there are also treatments that use exposure therapy. Exposure therapy is similar to cognitive therapy. The focus of therapy is to change your mental and physical responses to fear of needles.
Later, the therapist will expose you to needles and thoughts about what you fear they trigger. For example, your therapist may show you photos of needles first. They may then have you standing next to the needle, holding the needle, and then perhaps imagining being injected with the needle.
The final method, medication use may be necessary when a person becomes so stressed that they cannot receive any psychotherapy to treat needle phobia. Anti-anxiety medications or sedatives can relax the phobic patient's body and brain enough to reduce the symptoms of anxiety and excessive panic. Medicines can also be used during blood tests or vaccinations, if they help reduce your stress on the syringe.
