Needle Phobia: Taking back control
One in four of us will need to receive blood at some point in our lives, so it was quite alarming to see “Britain heading for blood donor crisis as new numbers giving blood drops by 40%” splashed across the headlines earlier this week.
NHS Blood and Transplant says 120,000 fewer people joined the blood donor register in 2014-15 than in 2004-05. Most of us know giving blood saves lives, but not nearly enough of us do it and the NHS believes one of the main reasons is the increasing pressure on people’s free time – citing longer commutes and the distractions of social media.
Needle phobia is a very important, but a widely ignored condition and one which I believe is contributing to the decline in donors. Many people who are afraid of needles get labelled as being ‘a bit of a wimp’, but this is far from the case. For some individuals it can be mildly distressing but manageable. For others it can be seriously debilitating, causing massive anxiety attacks, cold sweats and blind panics. It is actually a defined medical condition that affects between 20 and 23 percent of the adult population, to such an extent that it causes some to even avoid essential medical appointments.
People come to me for help with all sorts of fears and phobias. Hypnotherapy works by accessing the underlying cause of the phobia and eliminating the person’s conditioned response to the stimulus. While I’m not promising I will be able to alleviate your fear altogether, although this has been reported in a vast amount of cases, I can definitely help you to control your phobia once and for all.
The blood unit is calling for 204,000 new volunteers to start donating. Do not let your fear control your life, get in touch with one of my accredited hypnotherapists to arrange a consultation to get the help you need today. The results could be life-changing, and not just for you.
Sheila x
