Fear of needles (belonephobia): causes, symptoms and treatment

It is one of the most common phobias, closely linked to problems with health care and hospitals.

One of the main reasons for attending psychological therapy are phobic disorders, and, among these, one of the most common is the fear of needles, one of the most common is the fear of needles.. In fact, some studies state that up to 10% of the population suffers from this phobia.

Although it is true that needles can cause pain if they are used violently, needle phobia or belonephobia is characterized by an irrational terror of needles and a great anxiety that can be and great anxiety that can become incapacitating.

Belonephobia causes, for example, that an individual is unable to go to a health center because of the unrealistic fear he/she feels towards these objects. One of the characteristic symptoms of phobias is that the phobic individual attempts to avoidance of the stimulus that causes this reaction of discomfort..

In this article we will enter in the characteristics of the fear to the needles and we will repair which are their causes, their symptoms and their consequences.

What is the fear of needles

For many people, the fear to the needles does not manifest more than in punctual moments, for example, when one must be vaccinated. However, for other individuals, it can appear more frequently, let's imagine when someone is diabetic and must inject insulin.

Fear of needles is a phobia, and therefore belongs to the group of anxiety disorders. belongs to the group of anxiety disorders. It is an intense, irrational and persistent fear of certain situations in which the phobic stimulus may be present, i.e. needles, but also syringes and the possibility of receiving injections, as well as trypanophobia or fear of injections.

Belonephobia is also often associated and often confused with the fear of Blood (hematophobia) or the fear of sharp objects (aicmophobia). However, these people do not necessarily experience a fear of blood and other sharp objects, which serves to distinguish between belonephobia, aicmophobia and hematophobia..

This type of phobia belongs to the specific phobic disorders which are generally fears of certain objects or situations. For example: cats, spiders, snakes or the fear to fly.

Causes

Phobias are usually learned fears. These fears develop by a type of associative learning called classical conditioning, following a traumatic event. For example, after having a bad experience with needles.

In fact, the scientific community is in favor of the idea that phobias are learned, and one of the most important one of the figures who has contributed the most in this sense is John Watsonan American psychologist who in the 1920s caused a boy named Albert to develop an irrational fear of a white rat that he had previously adored.

The experiment was aimed at observing the emotional reactions of the boy, who at first played with the animal as normal. However, over the course of the sessions, the rat was presented together with a loud noise that frightened the child. After several presentations of both stimuli together, little Albert developed a fear of the rat even without the presence of the loud noise.

If you want to know more about this type of learning, you can read this article: "Classical conditioning and its most important experiments".

Other causes of this phobia

But phobias can also be learned by observationin what is known as vicarious conditioning. That is to say, the person may see how an individual screams when he is going to be given an injection and may develop a strong fear of needles.

Other authors affirm that human beings are biologically predisposed to suffer from phobias, since fear is an adaptive emotion that has been key to our survival because it it provokes a fight or flight response. That is why fear has to do with primitive areas of the brain and is developed by primitive and non-cognitive associations. In other words, they are not modifiable by logical arguments.

Symptoms and signs

This type of phobia can appear in different situations. For example:

• Seeing needles
• Coming into contact with nurses and physicians
• Harming yourself and anticipating injections
• Visiting the dentist
• Being near a medical center or hospital
• Using clothespins
• Seeing needles on television
• The smell of antiseptic reminiscent of a hospital

When the person suffering from this phobia is in any of these situations, he/she experiences a series of cognitive, behavioral and physical symptoms. These are as follows:

• Cognitive symptoms.Cognitive symptoms: irrational thoughts, anguish, anxiety, extreme fear, thoughts of imminent death, confusion, lack of concentration, etc.
• Behavioral symptomsAttempt to avoid the feared stimulus.
• Physicalheadache, shortness of breath, stomach pain, nausea, dizziness, etc.

Treatment of belonephobia

Although this type of phobia is very common, it also has a high success rate in terms of treatment, according to scientific studies. There are different psychological therapies that work, but the most commonly used is cognitive behavioral therapy.

This form of therapy employs different techniques, and to treat phobias, the most effective are relaxation techniques and exposure techniques.. A technique that combines both is systematic desensitization, which consists of gradually exposing the patient to the phobic stimulus, but beforehand he/she must have learned different coping strategies, such as the aforementioned relaxation techniques.

Other very effective types of therapy are cognitive therapy based on Mindfulness or acceptance and commitment therapy, which belong to the third generation therapies. If you want to know more about these therapeutic methods, you can read the article "What are third generation therapies?".

New technologies and phobias

New technologies are also used to improve the quality of life of people with phobias. Online therapy is increasingly usedand virtual reality has proven to be very effective as a method of exposure. In fact, there are even different mobile apps that are designed to help people suffering from a phobic disorder.

You can learn more in the article "8 apps to treat phobias and fears from your smartphone".