380- CBT4Hemophobia - 1

If you recall, I had 25 cbt sessions for social phobia (only counting my 2nd therapist's appointments). Then, we continued working together, this time on my complex emetophobia, which includes 3 others phobias. 

I hadn't blogged the 6th session, as it only continued the tasks from CBT4Emeto sessions 4 & 5. 

Yesterday was my 31st overall session, and while we continued working my emeto as a 7th session, we also had our 1st for hemophobia, which I discuss now. If you want to know more about the session's exposure tasks for emeto, read post 379. 

Due to the highly triggering aspect of this phobia, I now must cautious you that if you click to read more, trigger warning applies from this point onward. 


Hemophobia, also spelled haemophobia is the fear of blood. I've suffered from it all my life,  and it affected many of my choices in entertainment, but also in avoiding or postponing medical appointment as much as I could. More on these impacts, in entry 280. I imagined that it'd continue forever, but upon discussion with my 2nd CBtherapist, she had promised the help me with it, once we were done with social phobia exposures. 

So, now after a few sessions of CBT for my Emeto-complex, we finally started working on blood phobia. 

I mentioned how I'd managed to treat and bandage my small wounds and bleeding, especially a couple weeks ago when my wife and I were at the woods, and she remarked how nonchalant I was about it by applying bandages on bleeding hung-nails. I think part of this is due to my frequent blood tests (for my B12) that helped me desensitize a bit. 

My therapist taught m that the phobias of blood and of needles work differently than all other phobias. She contrasted the regular effects of high blood pressure, feeling tense, alert, irritable, anxiety mounting in various degrees (to panic), with the effects of blood and needle phobias as follows: these latter cause a sudden drop of blood pressure, which is why we tend to feel woozy and faint - most probably a mix of several factors : 
biological and neuronal pathways dealing with it in this way ; when we bleed, our pressure reduces or drops, depending on the severity of the bleeding. 
Then, when we see blood, or needles, our mental association is a bit like "uh oh, I'm losing blood" even when it's not for ourselves! 

Thus, my tasks #5 in CBT 31 (or CBT4Emeto 7 and CBT4Hemo1) is this:
In case of superficial bleeding (as I'm prone to them), or in case of seeing something a bit bloody on TV, to allow myself up to 3 minute observation, while contracting my muscles as much as I can. 

I asked if this was why nurses and phlebotomists tell us to make a fist before taking our blood. My therapist replied that yes, it's one reason, but specifically, that contracting these muscles in the arms avoid the blood from flowing everywhere they naturally go, just for the time needed to prick. The same way, contracting my muscles can avoid my blood pressure to drop so abruptly, and thus, I could learn to withstand it better, and reduce the impact of this phobia on my life.

At least, I understand a bit better the mechanisms of this phobia, and these entries shall be continued once I have more exposure tasks, and/or progress.