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Ever since I can remember, I have dreaded going to the doctor’s. Every year during my annual physicals, I would wait anxiously /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/for the nurse to look through my papers and say, “Oh look! You’re due /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/for some shots.” For some, this news is an inconvenience; /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/for me, this news starts an episode o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f sweaty palms, nausea, severe anxiety, and usually /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fainting.��

• Phobia:�� “a persistent and unreasonable /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fear o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f a particular object, activity, or situation.” [Comer 2022]
• Blood Injection Injury (BII) Phobia: “a condition in which people are likely to /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/faint at the sight o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f blood, the anticipation o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f physical injury, or the anticipation o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f an injection, characterized by avoidance behavior and intense, irrational /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fear in response to seeing blood, injections, injuries, disability, or exposure to these or other similar medical procedures.” [Wani 2014]

This de/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/finition o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f phobia, and the common understanding o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f phobias, paints phobias as causing an irrational reaction to something that is not necessarily li/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fe threatening… So why do phobias exist?��

Behavioral-Evolutionary Perspective

In the year 2018, about 3,150 people died and 254,484 were injured in car accidents in the state o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f Florida [Holliday 2021]. On the other hand, a study done by the Centers /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/for Disease Control and Prevention's Wide-Ranging Online Data /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER),, showed that between the years 2008-2015, approximately 6 people died /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/from spider bites in the US per year [Pest 2019]. These studies show that motor vehicles are much more dangerous to human li/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fe, yet spider phobia is considered very common, while a motor vehicle phobia is not. Other common phobias include the /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fear o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f snakes, heights, and darkness, all o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f which are less /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fatal than cars.��

The behavioral-evolutionary perspective on phobias theorizes that these common phobias are passed down to us /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/from our ancient ancestors. While cars may be more dangerous to humans now, our ancestors were more at risk o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f dying /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/from venomous snakes and spiders, /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/falling /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/from tall heights, and being attacked by an animal that is hiding in the dark. Humans that had phobias o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f these dangerous objects and situations were more likely to avoid them, leading them to live longer. These humans that survived reproduced and passed�� their phobias on to their o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fspring. This led to their o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fspring having a higher chance o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f survival, who could then reproduce and pass on the phobia to their o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fspring, and so on and so /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/forth. This concept o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f being more likely to develop a phobia due to genes is considered preparedness.

• Preparedness: “A predisposition to develop certain /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fears”[Comer 2022]

When it comes to my phobia, blood injection injury phobia, the behavioral-evolutionary perspective may still be relevant. One o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f the main symptoms o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f BII phobia is /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fainting. Fainting is due to a sudden drop in blood pressure during exposure or the anticipation o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f exposure to blood, injury or injection [Nebel-Schwalm 2022]. When blood pressure decreases, it means the heart is sending less blood to the body. For me, this reaction causes an embarrassing scene at the blood bank, but /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/for my ancestors, this reaction may have been a li/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fe-saver. For example, i/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f a person without BII phobia were to get a deep cut, they may die due to losing a /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fatal amount o/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f blood. A person with BII phobia will experience a drop in blood pressure and /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/faint when seeing the injury or blood. This means that less blood will be sent to the wound, conserving more blood, and saving their lives.��

Treatment

Although many phobias may be caused by genetics, this does not mean you are doomed.��

• Exposure Treatment: “treatments in which persons are exposed to the objects or situations they dread.”[Comer 2022]

For me personally, exposure treatment has been really use/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/ful in reducing my anxiety about injections and blood. For about a year, I have had to get my blood drawn every 2 months, and I have noticed a decrease in anxiety and even a decrease in /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fainting episodes. Although I was more or less /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/forced into exposure treatment, pro/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fessional exposure treatment given by a psychologist can be very e/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/f/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/fective.

Works Cited

Comer, Ronald J. (2022). Abnormal Psychology . Worth Publishers.��

Holliday, J. (2021, November 15). Florida car accident /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/facts and statistics: Car accident lawyer . Holliday Karatinos Law Firm, PLLC. Retrieved October 2, 2022, /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/from https://www.helpinginjuredpeople.com/personal-injury-attorney/motor-vehicle-collisions/car-accident-lawyer/car-accident-/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/facts-and-statistics/ ��

Nebel-Schwalm. (n.d.). Comprehensive clinical psychology . ScienceDirect. Retrieved October 2, 2022, /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/re/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/ferenceworks/9780128222324 ��

Pest, P. (2019, April 18). How many people die each year /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/from Spider Bites? the answer may shock you. Pest Control Everything. Retrieved October 2, 2022, /thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/from https://pestcontroleverything.com/blogs/everything-pest-control-resource-guide/how-many-people-die-each-year-/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/phobiaemily/from-spider-bites-the-answer-may-shock-you Links to an external site.

Wani, A. L., Ara, A., & Bhat, S. A. (2014). Blood injury and injection phobia: the neglected one. Behavioural neurology , 2014 , 471340. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/471340