Blood phobia is an intense and irrational fear of blood that can cause physical reactions such as nausea, dizziness, and fainting. It can be treated with relaxation training, applied tension, desensitization, and medication. The fear may be linked to personal trauma or genetics, and some experts believe it is an evolutionary mechanism.
Blood phobia is the fear of blood. For many people, a blood phobia can be characterized by an intense and irrational reaction to the sight, idea or presence of blood. Physical responses such as nausea, dizziness, drop in blood pressure, and fainting may follow. This phobia can be treated by psychologists using techniques such as relaxation training, applied tension, and desensitization. Some medications can also help those with a fear of blood.
Initial reactions to blood can include fear and disgust. The heart may race and blood pressure may rise, but these rapid increases in heart rate and blood pressure can be followed by sudden decreases. Nausea and dizziness may occur. Unlike other phobias, fainting can be an actual event in blood phobia. Up to 15% of people may experience a decrease in blood pressure significant enough to lead to fainting.
For some people, the fear of blood can be directly traced to the patient’s history. Personal or witnessed trauma involving blood in childhood or adolescence can lead to a blood phobia. For others, however, a blood phobia has no apparent origin. Some researchers speculate that genetics may play a role in fear of blood.
Some experts believe that blood phobia is the natural result of an evolutionary mechanism. Fainting associated with blood phobia is thought to have played a key role in the survival of those involved or injured during warfare. The fainting is speculated to have helped the survivors appear dead and prevented them from bleeding out if inflicted serious wounds.
Whatever the root cause, the phobia can be treated. Some techniques psychologists employ to treat blood phobia include relaxation training and applied tension. These therapies can help patients relax and tense muscles in the body. Applied tension can be especially helpful to those who anticipate a drop in blood pressure at the sight of blood. Strategically tensing the muscles in the arms, trunk, and legs for about 15 seconds can raise blood pressure and keep people with blood phobias from passing out.
The fear of blood can also be treated with cognitive behavioral therapy and anxiety medication. Desensitization procedures can be done so that the patient can face the idea and sight of blood without having a physical reaction. For example, a patient may be exposed to blood stimuli and learn to cope with her presence.
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