Fear Of Needles - (Trypanophobia)
- Jennifer Kranjec Hypnosis
- Apr 12
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 13
Panic can begin even days before your appointment for a procedure when requiring a medical injection. Perhaps it is for a blood draw, an IV or even if you have been recently diagnosed with diabetes or needle freezing at the dentist's office. Then, there are some people find that they can make it to the appointment, but once in the building, the strain of knowing what is coming can come on like a tidal wave of fear. The moment of the procedure can become an embarrassing, shameful and even resulting in an all out melt-down. How can a needle, something that seems so small; create such overwhelming emotions on a deeply profound and painful level that over-takes our strong sense of logic and reason? It's just a needle - right? That is exactly what people tell themselves. Thinking about how to behave calmly, doing breathing exercises, listening to calming music or having our loved ones try to pacify the fear away for us. Nothing works. You may have felt like this for years around your needle phobia. It is something that you have to keep going through over and over again throughout your entire life for each blood draw or vaccination, or hospital stay. The terror is relentless, exhausting and causes us to have appetite problems, loose bowels, gut aches, insomnia and the cold sweats. In the worst case scenarios - passing out. Why does this happen to you and not to everyone else?
Of course, there is the main cause for panic - the needle itself. A foreign object being slipped into the body. This can feel like a little pinch to absolute pain. Especially if in a tender area on the body or where there are a lot of nerves. Even if the needle were to hit a nerve. Yes, the pain is real. People who suffer from small delicate veins can have a hard time if they are going through a blood draw. The medical professional doing the draw may have to (forgive me the phrase), "fish around" to find the vein with needle. More pain and excessive bruising to add to the problem. Another reason may be the medication from the injection. Another foreign object entering the body. It can certainly induce fear around what will happen if the medical professional were to make a mistake with the drug were to occur? Also, the sight of blood from an injection can be traumatizing for some on top of all of this. What is really going on, and why does the phobia take place. The good news is, is that there is nothing wrong with you! You have a very strong mind indeed! The beautiful thing about the human brain is that is designed to keep you safe and to protect you by warning you of when you are in danger. This is coming from the more primitive place in your mind, and it is known as the "freeze, fight, or flight" response. The root cause of the phobia around needles that you may experience may never be known, and that is okay. However, your mind feels it necessary to put you in a massive panic state to make you "fight or flight" your way out of that needle! The mind is protecting you from it's perceived danger of the situation. Logically, you know you are safe, and may have told yourself many time over the years you can't understand why you respond to needles the way you do. The reason is the fact your mind has made a mistake in the amount of emotion to attach to a situation. It over-blows it and you lose all control. This happens to other people in other ways, for example those who suffer claustrophobia, or suffer a break-up for decades without ever feeling relief, for a quick example. Knowing that your mind has simply made an error of response and is trying to keep you safe is the first step to empowerment!
What's the next step in empowerment? Correcting the problem, of course! Sounds like a lot of work, but this is where hypnosis shines! With therapeutic hypnosis, we can allow the non-conscious (unconscious) mind to take the time to correct the over-blown responses it is having around a needle/blood/injection phobia. In fact, it is the non-conscious mind's job to actually fix problems! And, it can happen very quickly - often in only one session! Living with a phobia such as Trypanophobia, is something that will keep coming up in your life for years to come. The trauma will show up again and again in every injection situation. With the very specific style of hypnosis used at Jennifer Kranjec Hypnosis, where we specialize in Medical, Surgical and Procedural Fears and Phobias, we work with you to give you control and to help correct the problem around needle fears long-term so you can get on with your life feeling safe with dignity! No one enjoys having an injection, we help to bring the terror and panic down regarding the procedure which can make your healthcare maintenance a lot easier to move forward with without the strain involved. Needles are not fun, but we can make them bearable! We care for you, so you can take the steps forward to care for yourself!
Jennifer Kranjec Hypnosis - Online
Specializing Medical, Surgical Fears & Phobias
A Canadian Practice
Book Your FREE ZOOM Consultation Today!
Comments