"Why can't you just...?"
To someone with a phobia s the equivalent of saying 'just cheer up' to someone clinically depressed.
A phobia is an anxiety disorder. A mental health condition.
Sometimes you 'just can't' precisely because you have had a form of traumatic experience. You can't just 'get over' PTSD can you?
If you don't have a health phobia, its all very well saying you should be doing x, y and z. But thats part of the problem - people don't seek help because of the sheer number of dickheads who lack any compassion and understanding and then treat patients poorly and with a bad attitude over whatever health anxiety it is. And then reinforce and entrench that fear more.
Treatments like hypnosis do not work for everyone. If you have had multiple poor experiences, your phobia isn't necessarily just 'in your head' either. Its based on something tangible. Say a nurse trying multiple times to find a vein and cocking it up. You would go out of your way to avoid getting bashed repeatedly hard on the head if thats what happened to you every time went to the doctor, even if they gave you appropriate care wouldn't you? Because that's a normal rational response.
The ignorance around phobias, particularly health phobias is appalling. So often they are triggered by a bad experience too.
Then adding 'go private' on top of that appalling ignorance is the height of being out of touch with reality and privileged lack of understanding. Its just not an option for many. There is a known problem with private mental health provision anyway, with lots of options on offer but little in the way of regulation in terms of whether a particular treatment is suitable for a particular condition. There's concerns that people are paying money for something that isn't clinically proven in that area or worse still may make them worse not better. If you can afford it in the first place.
The pandemic was a brilliant opportunity to tackle some of these ignorant views about phobias and to raise awareness of how it affects so many people. Not only has it been a missed opportunity but its definitely made the stigma and abuse worse not better.
Some of those on this thread saying people should go private and get the fuck over it, should take a long hard look in the mirror and pay to go on a course on dealing with health phobias for HCPs. Can't find one you are able to sign up for/can afford/have time for? Well you just aren't trying hard enough...
I think to how war veterans have been called cowards in the past here and shamed by society and this we really haven't progressed as much as we profess on anxiety disorders.