We’re aware It’s the annual flu and COVID vaccination season and for many people, it causes fear, dread and significant anxiety. So, we thought it might be helpful to talk about how to prepare for “a jab” when you don’t like needles!

Many of us know that having our vaccinations helps keep us as well as possible over the winter season but being asked to book in for your jab might make you feel apprehensive and frightened. This is also known as needle phobia.

What is a phobia?

A phobia is a form of anxiety which is often triggered when we encounter a particular object or situation that we believe to be more dangerous than it is. This means, that you would actively avoid the trigger or experience feelings of fear and dread when you think about (Sian has a phobia of wasps… she anticipates being stung by one and the noise fills her with dread and fear, leading her to avoid or run away). This can interfere with our daily lives and in some cases, stop us from accessing medical treatment we might need.

What is needle phobia?

Needle phobia is the fear around needles which could be related to:

• The injection itself
• Concern around pain or the feeling of the needle
• Past traumatic experiences
• Worries about fainting, crying, feeling ashamed or embarrassed (sometimes, this phobia can lead to us fainting due to a drop in blood pressure. Whereas other phobias tend to raise our blood pressure up).
• Phobia of blood

How can therapy help me to overcome my phobia?

We do this together, in stages and slowly at your pace. Your therapy sessions will always start with us getting to know each other, assessing and working out what the problem is and drawing out a cycle, to map out and understand the thoughts, feelings and behaviours that are keeping the phobia going. We’ll look to identify the physical and anxiety-related symptoms and negative thoughts to help build new ways of coping.

Some of the coping techniques we might use are:

• Thought challenging – challenging the negative thoughts through finding evidence for and against them
• Pros and cons – around having your vaccination and how it can help you in the future
• Spotting the difference – this is helpful if you have had a traumatic experience previously, we’ll focus on what was happening then and now and the differences in the situation
• Practicing applied tension – learning to raise your blood pressure to help you on the day of your vaccination (Remember – this can help you to prevent fainting)
• Using exposure to slowly and gradually overcome your phobia

The most important thing is that we do each stage together – as a team. What you do between therapy sessions, your therapist will also do!

Did you want to find out more about what CBT involves and how it could help you? Click here to find out more and book in an initial telephone call with us to talk it through.