Cape Town – As all the Covid-19 vaccines are administered with a needle, overcoming the fear of needles (Trypanophobia) will be critical for the vaccine roll-out, which is set to begin this month.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) addressing such fears is essential to public health.
“To protect the population as a whole, a 'substantial proportion' of people must be vaccinated and for individuals considering avoiding a Covid-19 vaccination due to their phobia, seeking treatment could be a life-and-death decision,” said the organisation.
Anxiety disorders are a common mental illness in South Africa. The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) estimates that about 1 in 5 South Africans are affected each year.
Clinical Psychologist and Sadag Board Member Shai Friedland says the fear of needles and injections can be so extreme that it is classified as a specific phobia which is classified as an anxiety disorder.
Friedland said “These fears often lead to an aversion and an avoidance of these situations or objects. A person with a phobia may experience a sense of dread or panic when faced with the specific situation or object.”
Although there's no information on how many South Africans have this condition, Friedland says DSM-5 (a book by the American Psychiatric Association) states that this condition affects 7% to 9% of the US population and occurs twice as often in women as it does in men.
Friedland said “It’s always a good idea to deal with your phobia of needles as you never know when you may need to go to hospital or need blood taken etc. More than ever you may need to deal with your fear of needles as we are living in a pandemic and it may come down to a vaccination which is given via an injection.”
“Covid has been seen to have deadly consequences so it may be that you are placing yourself in danger should you not be able to face your needle and/or injection fear,” she said.
What can I do to overcome my fear of needles?
- Tell the person who is co-ordinating your care, giving you your injection or doing a blood test about your worries. They may be able to answer any specific questions you have, and help you cope with the procedure, for example by chatting to distract you. Don’t worry, staff looking after you will not be annoyed or think you are a wimp when you tell them – they would like to know so that they can help to make it easier for you.
- Think about whether there has been anything which has helped you to cope with needles in the past. Can you use something like this to help you again?
- If your fear is linked to fainting, or feeling faint, you can learn an applied tension technique.
- If you feel panicky (for example your heart races, your chest feels tight and your stomach churns), but you do not feel faint, you can learn a breathing for relaxation exercise.
According to Friedland, a person can deal with the fear on their own however it is often very rare and uncommon that a person can get their fear under control without the help of a trained professional.
“The gold standard currently in treating phobias is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in which exposure and response prevention (ERP) is done to help a person get over their fear. Graded exposures are done with a trained professional to desensitise the individual to their fear,” he said.
IOL