When people with a phobia of blood vision encounter their fears (that is, in the presence of this fluid), it is as if they anticipate an injury or get shot : their heart rate and blood pressure fall, sometimes so much that they faint, but why? Do you have any logical explanation?
Let's look at it more carefully.When a person experiences an irrational fear so exacerbated that what is known as a phobic reaction is triggered.What does it consist of? The brain moves this phobic reaction directly to the sympathetic nervous system, there is an increase in heart rate and, as we said, the blood pressure rises tremendously.In addition, sweating is also exacerbated, we tremble and tense muscles.All this as a result of a will to survive the brain that interprets that it is being seriously threatened and alert and prepares the body.
Instead, think about blood phobia.There is no such alert situation, quite the opposite! This type of reaction is called vasovagal response and is triggered from the vagus nerve, part of the parasympathetic nervous system.This vagus nerve somehow "goes crazy" and causes a heart rate drop and blood pressure, causing dizziness, sweating, fainting and what you know as tunnel vision.
It's strange, right? If with a phobia the brain interprets that it is being threatened, it should always send warning signals that increase the heart rate and prepare the body for defense, not decrease it and make it vulnerable.Why provoke this "fragility" in those who suffer from blood phobia?
There is no clear answer, although many experts have suggested that fainting at the sight of blood is an evolutionary vestige of instinct to be killed in the presence of a danger .On the other hand, there are also those who are inclined to have a different evolutionary origin: if our ancestors were injured-either by another human or by a predator-, a drop in blood pressure would have helped keep blood loss to a minimum and ensure its future survival .
Despite the uncertainty of the evolutionary origin, one thing is quite clear: blood phobia is probably genetic .More than 60% of patients have a first degree relative with phobia, and studies have shown that identical twins are more likely to share the phobia that fraternal twins.
This is not a phenomenon cure: blood phobia affects about 3%-4% percent of the general population.Fortunately, science explains that this phobia can be cured : a 1991 study showed that after Five sessions of being exposed to their phobia, up to 90% of the subjects stopped experiencing most of their symptoms.
Interesting? If you liked this topic you cannot miss our article on Belonephobia, fear of needles and how to overcome it
Why do you faint when you see blood, but other phobias put you on alert?
When you face a fear, your body tends to move to the action, sending signals that make your heart speed up and your blood pressure increase in a brutal and instantaneous way.This process occurs when you experience any phobia, with all of them, whether to fly, to heights, to clowns...The body is activated 100% with all, less with one : the one that involves the blood.Let's look at it more carefully.When a person experiences an irrational fear so exacerbated that what is known as a phobic reaction is triggered.What does it consist of? The brain moves this phobic reaction directly to the sympathetic nervous system, there is an increase in heart rate and, as we said, the blood pressure rises tremendously.In addition, sweating is also exacerbated, we tremble and tense muscles.All this as a result of a will to survive the brain that interprets that it is being seriously threatened and alert and prepares the body.
Instead, think about blood phobia.There is no such alert situation, quite the opposite! This type of reaction is called vasovagal response and is triggered from the vagus nerve, part of the parasympathetic nervous system.This vagus nerve somehow "goes crazy" and causes a heart rate drop and blood pressure, causing dizziness, sweating, fainting and what you know as tunnel vision.
It's strange, right? If with a phobia the brain interprets that it is being threatened, it should always send warning signals that increase the heart rate and prepare the body for defense, not decrease it and make it vulnerable.Why provoke this "fragility" in those who suffer from blood phobia?
There is no clear answer, although many experts have suggested that fainting at the sight of blood is an evolutionary vestige of instinct to be killed in the presence of a danger .On the other hand, there are also those who are inclined to have a different evolutionary origin: if our ancestors were injured-either by another human or by a predator-, a drop in blood pressure would have helped keep blood loss to a minimum and ensure its future survival .
Despite the uncertainty of the evolutionary origin, one thing is quite clear: blood phobia is probably genetic .More than 60% of patients have a first degree relative with phobia, and studies have shown that identical twins are more likely to share the phobia that fraternal twins.
This is not a phenomenon cure: blood phobia affects about 3%-4% percent of the general population.Fortunately, science explains that this phobia can be cured : a 1991 study showed that after Five sessions of being exposed to their phobia, up to 90% of the subjects stopped experiencing most of their symptoms.
Interesting? If you liked this topic you cannot miss our article on Belonephobia, fear of needles and how to overcome it
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