Fear of needles, known in medical literature as needle phobia, is the extreme fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles. This can lead to avoidance of medical care and vaccine hesitancy.
The cause is often unknown, but a particularly traumatic experience during childhood medical illness may set the stage for some people. And there may be a genetic component. Researchers have found genes linked to fainting after needle sticks, and trypanophobia sometimes runs in families.
Having a scary, painful, or difficult experience with needles in the past can cause trypanophobia. Examples include having a nurse or doctor make an error during a blood draw, multiple needle sticks to draw blood, or pain or bruising at the site of the injection.
Tomophobia refers to fear or anxiety caused by forthcoming surgical procedures and/or medical interventions.
What Is Xanthophobia? Fear of the color yellow, xanthophobia is one type of a specific phobia known as chromophobia, which refers more broadly to phobias of colors. The term xanthophobia is derived from the Greek words xanth (yellow) and phobia (fear).
Glossophobia refers to a strong fear of public speaking. It is a specific type of phobia, an anxiety disorder characterized by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation.
Needle phobia has been described in the literature using interchangeable definitions such as belonephobia (fear of needles and pins), trypanophobia (fear of injections), and aichmophobia (fear of sharp, pointed objects) according to the Encyclopedia of Phobias, Fears, and Anxieties (Doctor, Kahn, & Adamec, 2009).
What is the difference between trypanophobia and aichmophobia? Aichmophobia is the fear of sharp objects in general. Sharp objects can include things like knives, scissors, needles, sharp corners and pins. Trypanophobia is the fear of injections or needles specifically, especially in a medical setting.
Specific phobias are common, affecting approximately 8.7% of people in the United States. Up to 4.5% of people have a blood-injection-injury phobia — a subset that includes trypanophobia — as outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5).
Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth. Arachibutyrophobia is a rare phobia that involves a fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth.
How common is trypanophobia? Research shows that between 33% to 63% of children may have a specific phobia of needles. While individuals often become less afraid of needles by the time they are adults, some studies suggest that up to 10% of the total population experiences trypanophobia.
Is there a cure for trypophobia? To the extent that trypophobia is a kind of anxiety, drugs used to treat anxiety may offer help. But there is no cure, and little research has been done to look for one. Exposure therapy — in which patients are gradually exposed to unpleasant images or situations — may be helpful.
Provide distraction: Videos, toys, or even virtual reality devices can keep the patient's mind busy and away from the pain. Encourage and teach relaxation and breath control: Techniques like deep breathing, muscle relaxation, or self-hypnosis to calm the mind can help.
The trypophobia test: Displays a variety of images for one to eight seconds each. Some of the images have patterns or clusters of holes, while some do not. Asks you to estimate how long you saw each image.
Needle phobia is quite common. But, the good news is that both children and adults can get help dealing with their fears. Some people can overcome their needle phobia after just a few sessions with a behavioral health expert. For others, simple calming strategies can make it easier and less frightening to get vaccines.
Algophobia is an extreme fear of physical pain. While nobody wants to experience pain, people with this phobia have intense feelings of worry, panic or depression at the thought of pain. The anxiety of algophobia can also make you more sensitive to pain.
1) Arachnophobia – fear of spiders
Arachnophobia is the most common phobia – sometimes even a picture can induce feelings of panic. And lots of people who aren't phobic as such still avoid spiders if they can.
A note from Cleveland Clinic. Cacophobia is an anxiety disorder that involves intense, irrational fear of ugliness. People with the condition may worry about being ugly themselves or encountering something they consider to be ugly. The fear is subjective, meaning the individual determines what is ugly and frightening.
Symptoms of xylophobia are similar to those of other specific phobias. People may experience a variety of physical and psychological symptoms when they think about or encounter wooded areas. Some of the physical signs of xylophobia include: Chest pain.
What is dendrophobia? People with dendrophobia have a fear of trees. The word “dendron” is Greek for tree, and “phobos” is Greek for fear. Someone with dendrophobia may have extreme fear or anxiety when thinking about or seeing trees.
Megalophobia is a type of anxiety disorder in which a person experiences intense fear of large objects.
Rhodophobia, fear of the color pink.
If you find large things terribly frightening and panic-inducing – it could be natural structures, buildings, vehicles or even big people – then you might have megalophobia.