Definition
Hemophobia is the fear of blood.
At the sight of blood loss coming from one's own body or from that of others, the hemophobic subjects manifest a high degree of anxiety, profound repulsion and physical symptoms.
Hemophobia can also be triggered by the mere thought of circumstances, images and cinematic scenes in which blood is present. The sight of this stimulus triggers pallor, nausea, stomach pain, sweating, dizziness, tremor and feeling of asthenia. Unlike other phobias, a severe haemophobic crisis can lead to fainting, since an excessive vasovagal reflex can produce bradycardia and lower blood pressure.
Hemophobia can cause sufferers to avoid sharp and pointed objects (knives and needles) or situations where they know they can see blood; this phenomenon is also known as anticipatory anxiety and avoidance of the phobic stimulus. Specifically, we talk about "phobia of blood, injections and wounds" if the fear is triggered when we are subjected to a sample, to the administration of drugs with syringes or to invasive medical examinations.
The causes that trigger blood phobia are unknown. In general, this reaction depends on psychological factors and people who have a tendency to easily develop an anxiety condition suffer from it.
Some medical researches claim that hemophobia is the consequence of an unpleasant event that happened in the past, like a childhood trauma, which triggered a psychic vulnerability in the patient.
If the fear of blood reaches pathological and invalidating levels, it is possible to intervene with cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy.
Possible Causes * of Hemophobia
- Anxiety
- Hypochondria
