A reader writes:
I think “blood phobia” is a misnomer. As described, it seems to be an autonomic neurophysiologic reaction involving activation of the vagus nerve, which slows the pulse and drops the blood pressure resulting in syncope (fainting or passing out). In my youth, I passed out having blood drawn, during dental work and while looking at a photograph of an automobile accident. Fortunately by the time I became a physician, these episodes had stopped. There was never any associated fear, panic or avoidance behavior.
My arachnophobia, on the other hand, is an entirely different kettle of emotions. The very mention of the S-word or visualization of such a creature in life or image produces an intense, screaming panic and avoidance. I once jumped into the back seat from the driver’s seat of a car I was driving when one scurried (ugh!) across the windshield. That’s a phobia.
Another reader:
I’ve done a lot of thinking and researching this topic and thought I’d share my experience with bloody squeemishness.
When I was younger I was always okay with blood. I wanted to be a doctor. I worked as a phlebotomist in college and my mom assured me this was a marketable skill to have. After college I started a research assistantship that involved taking blood from children. One day something changed. I’m sure it was a culmination of factors but seeing children fainting from their experiences sent me in to a panic attack. I thought I too would faint and it wasn’t just about the blood; asthenophobia is the fear of fainting. Soon it became an overwhelming fear, so much so I couldn’t go to work. I always had to be well-hydrated and make sure my blood sugar was up. I started therapy, some medication for anxiety and I have been managing it ever since, 8 years later. I have a great job in the medical field but behind a desk and I couldn’t be happier with it. However, I’ve often thought about what would’ve happened if I couldn’t just give up that dream of being a doctor.
Another:
I have never seen blood phobia described before, but my father has it. Good to see he is not unique. In addition to passing out at the sight of blood – even on screen – he sometimes has convulsions. But it has to be REAL on-screen blood – he can watch a Western or an old James Bond movie, for example, and not react. A documentary or science show, though – watch out!
He can’t give blood. He used to try once in a while, like when one of his students was seriously ill and needed donations. But he passed out every time and caused the doctors too much trouble. And even talking about anything to do with blood or cutting makes him feel faint.
In high school, he once convulsed during a science class movie, kicking over an entire row of bolted-together seats and their occupants. Excused from gory classes after that! As an adult, he was a frequent guest lecturer to archaeological societies. At one pre-speech dinner he sat (unknowingly) between an undertaker and a surgeon. They started talking shop, and he quietly lost consciousness and slid under the table. They had to revive him, so he could give his talk. When one of us scraped our knees in childhood, the refrain was always, “Don’t show it to Daddy! Don’t show it to Daddy!”
(Photo by Flickr user numberstumper, who captions: “The scene: Toby ices Gabe’s finger in the kitchen while Mom and Dad watch All About Eve in the living room, blissfully unaware that their daughter’s fingernail just lost a fight with a paring knife.”)
The Dish 