AIBU to feel shaken after being criticised for blacking out at the airport?

What a nasty woman. Don’t waste your time thinking about her

Mine isn’t a blood phobia, I can watch myself have blood taken or watch it on crime documentaries and stuff, it’s when it’s sudden, or injury related.

WTF did it have to do with her?!

I faint at blood, when my daughter shut her finger in the car door at age 6, blood everywhere, I fainted and she was on her own at the stables screaming when I came to! Felt awful but absolutely not in my control. Do not listen to that mad woman!

Edited to add I’ve just remembered also fainting when she was a toddler cause I cut my finger chopping onions and she was again in the house alone while I was out cold, luckily not for long. Called my Dad to come round and take me to A&E as assumed it was a huge gash and had wrapped my finger in loads of kitchen towel and couldn’t look at it. When he arrived he could barely even find the cut lol! It was ridiculous. And totally not in my control!

This is exactly like my daughter. She’s not scared/phobic of blood, her body has a physical, uncontrollable reaction at the sight of it.

She went down like a sack of spuds when she cut herself with a plastic knife at school one day! And when she lost a tooth that bled a bit (but looked worse due to being mixed with saliva).

My mate has a blood phobia and has to use an electric shaver as he found out when he cut himself shaving and fainted, banged his head on the sink and then his parents couldn't open the door when he was collapsed behind it.

I very much doubt this nutter would have called him a disgrace. Hope you're ok

@doorss

What a horrible woman. I don't understand why exactly she thought you were a disgrace? Did she specifically articulate why?

If she thought you were a disgrace for simply passing out, that's insane. You couldn't help it.

I voted yabu because you shouldn't give this (unhinged) woman a second thought. You have no control over your reaction and it's a relief that you didn't get harmed when fainting. The only acceptable response to your situation is care and/or sympathy.

God how horrid.

When I encounter people like this (judgemental/ angry / bitter / aggressive etc) I try really hard to flip it in my head to feel pity for them rather than upset myself.

Eg “Wow that poor woman can you imagine how awful her life must be having no compassion for anyone and just looking for negative / horrible things to say to strangers. I am so glad I am not like that and am a good friend / daughter / caring human being..”

It is really really hard of course but if you ‘fake it until you make it’ eventually it’s a bit more believable and then sometimes it actually starts being real!

I’m a fainter. I absolutely can’t control it (even if I am used to it so usually manage to say Im going to faint while trying to sit down). It’s not your fault you fainted. Whatever the reason was. Ignore the crazy woman .

That's very odd for her to have a go at you once, let alone twice.

She probably thought you were drunk.

That would make more sense but still unacceptable to have a go.

What you experienced is called a vasovagal reaction and it's not something you can necessarily control (although applied tension technique can help).

I don't think at all that it's something which should be considered to be selfish. Of course yes if you know that you have a reasonable chance of being exposed to blood etc then it would make sense to look into CBT or similar to teach the coping mechanism. But most people don't expect to see blood/injuries day to day!

It isn't always a phobia @SpringTime4493oq1 . It is a reflex action.

I wish people would understand the difference. DH is not phobic about blood. He was in hospital for 6 weeks last year and had bloods taken most days and was fine.

But if the unexpected happens then he faints.

It isn't a phobia, and he can't help it, so no amount of CBT is going to help.

She probably hadn't understood what happened and probably thought you were drunk or attention seeking.

The problem is that by not addressing it, you are making yourself become a problem when someone else needs help. So people will get annoyed. If you were a parent, you wouldn't have the luxury of such a phobia. You'd have to seek therapy so that you can at least compose yourself enough to leave the room or something. It's like men fainting when their wives are in childbirth - most people would understand but have very limited sympathy for it.

Instead of helping in a crisis, that woman actively sought to make it worse. She isn’t owed you mental energy.

Going forward, I do think you should seek out CBT and exposure therapy. Most of the time I think people should get a pass for phobias. A phobia can limit a life, but so can many other medical conditions that can’t be changed. If only the person is impacted, it shouldn’t matter. However, if you are a parent, this is a particularly bad phobia to have.

Im saying this as a person who has two serious phobias, slopes and claustrophobia. No one but me is hurt by my fear of slopes. I’m not coordinated enough to ski anyway so that was never going to be a family holiday. My husband is immunocompromised though, so I have had to learn to wear a mask. I still hate it and limit the time as much as possible, but I can do it now without a full blown panic attack.

your family needs you to address this one. There won’t always be someone else available to help.

Ask yourself this - have you read up on how this happens?

Fainting at the sight of blood is a reflex known as vasovagal syncope, triggered by an overreaction of the nervous system. The sight of blood causes a sudden surge in anxiety followed by a sharp drop in heart rate and blood pressure, reducing blood flow to the brain and resulting in fainting

DH has fainted twice with DD in hospitals. He does not do it on purpose. He can't help it.

How dare she! That was completely uncalled for.

There are so many dicks in the world talking total rubbish, plenty on MN for example.
Horrible situation for your party without some random moron making contents then carrying on with after the event.

What that woman said to you was unjustified and uncalled-for. But to be “shaken” by it after the event is a bit delicate.

An inconsquensial person you encountered in life . Dismiss it . Hope your mother recovers, it's awful when damage is done on the legs takes ages to heal .

Outrageous! Not only is it none of her business, but you can't help it if you faint. I occasionally faint both with blood and because I have low blood pressure. I never got anything other than sympathy and support.

Forget about this experience - she was wrong.

I totally feel for you, it’s a horrible condition and you feel awful during and after. I have done the same on many occasions, as child and adult including waiting with relatives on at least 2 occasions for an ambulance to arrive after accidents and visiting people in hospital.
One method I heard of very recently, is to clench and release the muscles in your stomach and/or legs etc, this keeps the blood pressure up. I recently tried it and it worked.
Ignore that horrible woman, she’s not worth worrying about x

What did your GM say to this dick of a woman? I hope she put her in her place.