What Is The Phobia Of Blood

Why Do We Love Gory Horror Films

But if blood can cause such unpleasant biological uproar, then why on earth do some of us get such a kick out of seeing blood and gore on screen?

The truth is, we all experience fear our biology dictates that we will all have a physiological reaction to naturally terrifying situations. However, whereas some hate the feeling, research has proven that others thrive off the thrill, and enjoy the feeling of victory and triumph that comes with sitting through the whole film and overcoming the fear.

We all have that friend that will hide under the blanket at the approach of a gory scene, and another who cant get enough of it.

Again, biology may well have a part to play. Research carried out by the University of Bonn shows that fear and anxiety might have a partly genetic cause. Our sensitivity to unpleasant or gory scenes may well be influenced by which variations of the COMT gene we have the gene that controls our dopamine signals.

Real, life-threatening fear is a different matter. Psychology professor, Steve Joordens, from the University of Toronto explains that its a controlled type of fear that some relish the kind that you can enjoy from the comfort of your sofa, one where you have all the natural responses to fear, but where you know you are, in fact, safe.

How To Overcome Blood Injury And Injection Phobia

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If the sight, smell, or even the thought of blood makes you queasy, uncomfortable, or downright panicked, youre not alone. Three to four percent of the population experiences blood injury and injection phobia. With this common psychiatric disorder, sufferers are so fearful of being exposed to blood or a medical professional taking a blood sample or receiving an injectionsuch as a vaccinethat they will avoid medical appointments and critical care entirely.

While blood draws and vaccines may provide temporary discomfort, blood testing is critical to identifying health risks, and vaccines are critical to protecting our population from contagious viruses and other diseasessuch as COVID-19. If you suffer from BII, overcoming your fear is critical to ensure you dont feel the need to avoid medical care and maintain regular preventive and chronic care appointments with your trusted medical care team.

Respiratory Fluctuations In Cardiovascular Indices

Almost all studies of BII phobia and syncope in general have ignored this source of influence on cardiovascular parameters. To estimate cardiac vagal activity in a more conservative way, a number of adjustment procedures have been proposed that should become a standard part of the experimenterâs instrumentation .

4.4. Is there a role for apnea?

Another aspect of the respiratory response that has not received sufficient attention is apneas. already mentioned the possibility of hyperventilation-induced apnea as a cause for a reflex-like cardiac standstill. noted that in their observations of fainting, asystole, as well as falls in BP and apnea, presented âa picture indistinguishable from deathâ . Similarly, apneas were noted by other investigators in periods leading up to syncope . Depression of ventilation is normally observed after a period of hyperventilation, which can also result in complete cessation of breathing excursions . Typically, apnea is accompanied by a marked increase in sympathetic vasoconstrictor tone in the skeletal muscles and cerebral vasodilation through its accompanying hypercapnia .

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Treat Phobia From Blood

In general, it may not be necessary to treat all types of phobia, especially if it does not interfere with your professional or social life, for example if you are a person who is afraid of snakes, then it is not likely that you will meet a snake in your whole life and therefore you do not have to treat phobia in such a case.

But with blood phobia the matter is different, especially if your field of work includes dealing with blood or if your phobia of blood prompts you to skip visiting the doctor or affects your daily life Then it is necessary to deal with the matter and find the appropriate treatment for it.

You do not have to worry, treatment is not difficult or impossible, and the treatment options are many in front of you, the most important of which are:

Syncope In Bii Phobia And Orthostatic Stress; More Similarities Than Differences

The distinction between various types of syncope may be less straightforward than it appears. This is particularly evident for BII-related and orthostatic vasovagal syncopes. showed a strong susceptibility of BII-phobia patients to faint under tilt-table testing. It is therefore possible that in BII phobia, an underlying predisposition for autonomic dysregulation interacts with an acquired fear of BII-related situations. This would allow drawing at least tentative conclusions for BII-phobia related fainting from this body of research. Interestingly, syncope related to BII stimuli, but not to orthostatic stress, is generally viewed as a form of âemotional fainting.â However, emotional concomitants of the latter are not studied well. At least during phases of presyncope in orthostatic stress tests, probands appear to develop feelings described as distress or âfeeling uncomfortable in an ill-defined wayâ . It is conceivable that information about such tests and their potential consequences can trigger some level of discomfort or apprehension, at least in individuals with concerns over physical symptoms.

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The Biphasic Response Pattern Ii: Is That All There Is

Is there significant research beyond the focus on peripheral cardiovascular adjustments in BII phobia? What kind of physiological mechanisms and pathways may also contribute to the eventual fainting responses in BII-phobia patients? In the following, we will widen the perspective on vasovagal fainting and explore potential factors linked to respiration and their interaction with experiential states in BII phobia.

Treatment Of Hemophobia Or Hemaphobia Or Hematophobia

For many individual who are suffering from blood Hemophobia or Hemaphobia or Hematophobia. Dont always feel the need of treatment because they can just avoid the object of their fear. This gives people suffering from Hemophobia or Hemaphobia or Hematophobia a feeling of control on the problem. But sometimes avoiding blood might not be possible or enough.

It is important for someone to always seek professional help when possible. This way you dont lose time and do a better job and understanding what is happening. With understanding you can next move on to overcoming your fear of blood.

While most phobias are curable, there is no single treatment available for all of them, or guaranteed to work. It strongly depends on the person suffering and severity in which that person is experiencing Hemophobia or Hemaphobia or Hematophobia. There are cases that a combination of treatments might be more effective.

Please be advised that you should not take treatment on your own! Always consult with a doctor before hand. The treatments mentioned below are for informational purposes and not specific to Hemophobia or Hemaphobia or Hematophobia. The treatments below are used on most phobia cases.

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Overall Conclusion And Outlook

The psychophysiological approach to BII phobia has been plagued by inconsistencies in the basic definition of fainting and uncertainties about the core regulatory abnormalities underlying syncopal episodes as well as the rationale for its treatment. The paradigm of the diphasic response has not been reflected well in its conceptualization and validity for the BII-phobic responding and the usefulness of the applied tension technique may have been overstated. The narrow focus on these two concepts as âcornerstonesâ of BII-phobia research and treatment has probably impeded progress in the understanding of the disorder and the development of intervention techniques that target the dysregulation more efficiently in its various facets. At this point, the psychophysiological literature on BII phobia and its treatment appears to produce more questions than answers. This is surprising for a disorder that, in conventional receptions of the literature, has been thought to be well understood. We have proposed a number of new angles of inquiry into the psychophysiological regulation in BII phobia, most importantly focusing on respiratory disturbances and their interaction with cerebral perfusion and experiential aspects of BII phobia. It is our hope that this will provide new perspectives for future research and help motivate greater research efforts to further elucidate this debilitating disorder.

Are You Suffering From Hemophobia

In the event that you have the slightest suspicion that you suffer from blood phobia, it is necessary to make an appointment with your doctor and make a diagnosis, but rest assured that the examination and diagnosis do not include any injection, any medical equipment, or any blood.

All there is is that the doctor will ask you a set of questions about the symptoms you are experiencing and facing you, the length of time during which you were facing those symptoms and the situations that prompted their appearance in addition to information about your personal and family medical history

So make sure that you tell him all the symptoms you are experiencing and suffer from, in addition to discussing with him and asking him questions and inquiries that you need to know, all of this has a positive effect on treatment.

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When Should I Seek Help For A Medical Phobia

Phobias are the most common type of anxiety disorder, and often they do not interfere much with an individual’s lifestyle. However, medical phobias are different. You may be able to avoid the annual flu shot, but sooner or later we will all need medical treatment.

Consider seeking treatment for your Blood-Injection-Injury fears if:

• Your level of fear or distress is excessive, unreasonable, and out of proportion to the level of real danger that exists.
• Your level of anxiety creates panic and disabling fear.
• You avoid medical treatment because of your fear .
• Your avoidance creates significant distress or interferes with your normal routine.
• You have struggled with your fear-related symptoms for six months or more.

Diphasic Response: Problems With The Standard Canon

The diphasic response has become the standard canon of psychophysiological BII phobia research. Yet a closer examination of the published research reveals surprisingly little consistency in the demonstration of this response pattern that is thought to be so typical. Part of the problem is the lack of a shared definition with strict criteria of what should constitute this unique response pattern. The lack of rigor in distinguishing it from other patterns of activation and deactivation, which are relatively common in confrontation with experimental stimuli, has been a particular shortcoming.

There are a number of problems with using such observations as evidence for diphasic responses. First, to qualify as syncopal, one would eventually expect exceptionally low levels of HR and/or BP for the particular person. Second and related, comparison with control situations would be needed to demonstrate the uniqueness. Third, these observations bring up the question of specificity of the physiological response pattern across channels.

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Why Are We Afraid Of Blood

Its that time of year again, where blood and gore saturate our screens, coat our costumes and haunt our thoughts. But while some cant wait to celebrate, others would really rather not

How come some of us get a thrill from horror films, yet others feel faint at the sight of their own period blood? Is our blood squeamishness biological or learnt? And how does all of this affect our relationship with our menstrual blood?

It is not uncommon for us to squirm at the sight of blood, but for some people, the thought of it alone can make them feel nauseous, or even faint.

This can be caused by blood phobia, also known as hemophobia. It is a fairly common phobia, and often linked to others, such as the fear of needles or doctors.

Because bleeding is usually associated with something being wrong with the body, for some, the sight of their own blood can be enough to trigger health anxiety. Blood phobia can also sometimes be linked to a fear of death or germs.

Like many other phobias, hemophobia can cause physical and emotional symptoms, such as trouble breathing; hot or cold flushes; anxiety or panic or feeling a loss of control to name but a few.

Hematophobia: Fear Of Blood

Its a hot summer day. The temperature under the sun is scorching, but we are sitting comfortably in a chair on the terrace of our house. Under a shade that casts a pleasant shadow, we share the table with some good friends after a hearty meal. However, this idyllic image will soon give way to a terrifying and typically Tarantinian episode.

Someone decides that the best way to be less full from the meal is by eating a piece of watermelon. The person in charge of cutting the watermelon has very little fine motor skills. This story ends with him screaming because he has cut himself. A bruised finger is clamped with a cut that is astounded by its small size and incredible bloodstream. As our friend bleeds, we begin to feel a sensation of discomfort, dizziness, we move to a chair, we dont want to look, we lose strength in our hands. At that moment a cry for help comes out of our throat with incredible force:Someone call an ambulance Im going to faint!

This is more common than it seems. Many people, from first-year medical students to gore viewers, have suffered the symptoms of what professionals call Hematophobia.

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Recovery Period/healing Time For Hemophobia Or Fear Of Blood

Recovery period/healing time from hemophobia or fear of blood cannot be defined as it depends of various factors including severity of phobia, mode of treatment etc It is best to seek help from your doctor to find out a tentative time period for recovery.

Hemophobia The Arts And Triggers

Authors and filmmakers are of little help, either, tapping into these instinctive fears and tendencies towards catastrophizing by associating blood with murder, violence, and death. In Edgar Allan Poes Masque of the Red Death the terror and death wrought by the Red Death is connected with the madness and the horror of blood. Shakespeares likewise links fear of blood and madness, most famously with Lady Macbeths famous cry out, out damnd spot, triggered in part by terror at the smell of the blood while trying to wash away the literal and psychological stains of her bloody crimes.

Countless films have linked blood with murder and death, such as the iconic cut from dead eyes to blood swirling down the drain in the famous shower scene from Hitchcocks Psycho.

What do all these images of blood have in common? They are all violent and, as such, present blood as the result of something contrary to peaceful, normal human life. Indeed, Lady Macbeths own doctor declares that unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles. Likewise, many of the triggers of hemophobia center around that perceived unnaturalness and horror.

Then there is the possibility of personal trauma. This is a contributing trigger in many phobias, and hemophobia is no exception. If you suffered a traumatic injury at a young age which included severe bleeding, you may be more susceptible to hemophobia.

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Why Is Menstrual Bleeding Loaded With Cultural Stigma

Indeed, popular culture often preys on our natural fear of blood. This doesnt usually involve menstrual blood, but there are exceptions who could forget the scenes from the horror classic Carrie, where shy and sheltered teenage girl Carrie gets her first period in the gym shower and ends up bullied both at school and at home?

For those whose relationship with their menstrual bleeding is somewhat tainted, whether for cultural or biological reasons, their monthly period can bring up a whole host of complex emotions.

Indeed, menstrual bleeding can sometimes be a source of fear or shame, and its no surprise, when powers such as biology, patriarchal culture, and history are at play!

Aside from the biological fear, the deep-rooted cultural stigma surrounding menstrual bleeding has led many to still shy away in shame at the discovery of blood in their pants.

Ancient beliefs told that menstruating women were responsible for all manners of calamities, from spoiling crops, to causing rivers to run dry, and spoiling food. Some cultures and religions place prohibitions on women while they are menstruating, with some forcing women into segregation so as not to contaminate the surrounding food and water. In some regions of Nepal for instance, women on their period are thought to bring bad luck or ill-health, and some communities still banish them from the village during their period, a practise that was made illegal in 2005.

Medical Definition Of Hemophobia

• Medical Editor: Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Reviewed on 3/29/2021

Hemophobia: An abnormal and persistent fear of blood. Sufferers of this very common phobia dread the sight of their own blood, the sight of the blood of another person or an animal, and sometimes printed or filmed images of blood or even thoughts of blood. Blood may remind them of their own vulnerability to injury and of the eventuality of death.

Some sufferers of hemophobia experience a typical phobic reaction characterized by an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. Other sufferers experience an atypical phobic reaction characterized by a decrease in blood pressure and heart rate, causing paleness and weakness. They may even faint. Those with the latter reaction may develop a new fear: the fear of fainting.

Through the ages, writers have done little to calm the fear of blood. In Homer’s Iliad, waterways run red with blood as a wrathful Achilles harvests his crop of Trojans. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, blood becomes a terrifying symbol of guilt to Lady Macbeth, and she washes her hands raw to rid them of blood, real or imagined. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula blood becomes the nurture of a vampire.

“Hemophobia” is derived from the Greek “haima” and “phobos” . Other English words derived from “haima” include “hemodialysis” , “hemoglobin” and “hemorrhage” . Alternate name for hemophobia: hematophobia.

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