Fear of Blood

The blood is the life... and it shall be mine.
~ Gary Oldman (as Dracula in the 1992 movie bearing the same name)

Those of you who have watched this classic vampire movie which is closest to the plot of Bram Stoker's immortal work of fiction must be well aware of the Count's penchant and high regards for blood which assumed reverent proportions at times. Well, not everyone shares Dracula's hemophiliac inclinations and most people are grossed out by the sight of blood. This isn't unusual. However, I had known a girl from my school days who would simply flip, yelling and shaking uncontrollably, whenever she saw blood. At times she would even fall unconscious at the sight of blood. Since then, I had wondered what this extreme, irrational fear of blood is all about. Recently, I got my hands on some interesting information on various phobias and paranoia and that is when I got to read about hemophobia, which is the subjective term for an irrational fear of blood.

What is Hemophobia?

Hemophobia is the aversion and fear that a person experiences at the sight and contact of blood. The aversion may be so extreme that the person suffering from blood phobia may exhibit signs of extreme anxiety and terror even on looking at pictures and videos where blood or bloodshed is depicted. The physical manifestation of such a weird phobia may take the form of abnormal decrease in heart rate, decreased blood pressure, cold and sweaty palms and soles, nausea, unconscious spell, etc.

Among all bodily fluids, blood has always held a significant position in all world cultures since ancient times. Blood was believed to be the carrier of life force and vitality and as such, a loss of blood was often considered as a partial loss of vitality and life force. Also, in many cultures which have ancient roots, blood is associated with the dark arts and witchcraft. Therefore, blood has both positive and negative cultural connotations and as such, is considered to hold mysterious and magical qualities. The fact that man fears what he does not understand is an axiomatic truth. Due to this ambiguous stand on the nature of blood, mankind has never quite been comfortable when exposed to blood - whether such exposure is visual, olfactory or tactile.

Therefore, at a chromosomal level of psycho genetic development, this discomfort with regards to blood has been carried down through all generations of human and civilization's evolution.

Hemophobia Causes

We all have our reasons for feeling uncomfortable in the presence of blood. Most of it arises from deep-rooted psychological concerns over hygiene and fear of infection. However, when such fear crosses the limits of rationality, there is much more to it than the aforementioned causes. Most of the time, this morbid fear and inexplicably strong aversion towards blood is a result of witnessing any gory or violent incident (accident, murder, violent death, physical torture, etc.) in one's early childhood. The image of such an incident may have got deeply imprinted upon the subconscious of the juvenile mind and the incident itself may have been pushed out of the conscious memory but its existence in the subconscious mental realm often manifests as an irrational disgust or fear of blood. Many a time, such fear of blood may stem out of an irrational fear of death or dying (thanatophobia), accident or injuries. Genetic predisposition may also be a significant cause. Though not one of the most common phobias, hemophobia is a serious psychological condition and may have serious implications upon a person's life and habits.

How to Get Over Hemophobia?

Hemophobia is a clinically treatable condition and can be successfully overcome with the help of psychotherapy tools such as cognitive behavioral therapy, desensitization and anxiety treatments. Hypnotherapy is also considered to be extremely effective when dealing with how to overcome fear of blood.

That sums up what fear of blood is all about, what causes such fear in certain individuals and how it can be overcome. The first step towards overcoming this fear of blood is to convince yourself that blood is just a body fluid which is present in all animals. It even runs in your veins and there is nothing sinister about it. Just like water would flow out if a water balloon is cut or burst, similarly blood flows out when the skin or flesh is cut in an injury or during a surgical process or when the capillaries burst. There is nothing unusual about this thick red fluid - on the contrary, it does our bodies a whole lot of good by carrying nutrition to all parts of the body and assisting in delivering oxygen to various body parts and carrying the wastes and carbon dioxide out of the body. Learn to see blood in a positive, scientific and realistic way and you'll no longer have any reason to fear it!