Unvaxxed due to needle phobia, now terrified after reading everything on here tonight

[Honeyhorse]

I posted a couple of days ago about my needle phobia.
I’ve not had any vaccines as yet. I’m having my first counselling session on Friday. But now I realise it’s too late, the new variant is extremely infectious and I’m going to get it. Even if I stay in the house as much as possible, my DP works in a secondary school so I’m in trouble.

How likely am I to get seriously ill from the new one? I’m 32, a little overweight, no co morbidities.

I hate myself for not going through with it sooner. I’m terrified of the vaccine/needle and terrified of getting this new variant

Please be kind, feel sick and shaky tonight.

Isn't your phobia just too much imagination? What could go wrong at the worst? answers-
1.The needle may break in your arm - not a matter of life and death.

1. You may react badly to the vaccination and even die - very unlikely.

If you don't have vac. you may catch the virus and only be slightly unwell but infectious to others who might become very sick and possibly die or alternatively you could become very ill and also possibly die. Some people - very, very few - also get the virus and die after having the vaccination These are the possibilities.

@tara66

Isn't your phobia just too much imagination? What could go wrong at the worst? answers- 1.The needle may break in your arm - not a matter of life and death.

1. You may react badly to the vaccination and even die - very unlikely.

If you don't have vac. you may catch the virus and only be slightly unwell but infectious to others who might become very sick and possibly die or alternatively you could become very ill and also possibly die. Some people - very, very few - also get the virus and die after having the vaccination These are the possibilities.

A phobia is, by definition, non rational. You can’t talk people out of a phobia with rationality, it doesn’t work like that.

Needle phobia, vaccination and unsympathetic family www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/4218743-Needle-phobia-vaccination-and-unsympathetic-family

Hi OP,

I posted a link to a thread where somebody in your situation went through the vaccination process.

You might find reading her experience might help, it inspired me and I don't even have a needle phobia

@user1481840227

There is no guarantee at all that you'll get it! I know lots of people who have been close contacts who were convinced they had it and then they were negative. My daughter has been at a table twice now with kids who had it in school and she never caught it off them. One teacher caught it (but seemed to catch it outside school) and she didn't spread it to any of the other teachers.

My sons secondary school is pretty big and they seem to have only had some isolated cases, no clusters at all.

If you do get it the chances of you getting seriously ill are tiny.

That's a really irresponsible thing to say - what about all the other people the OP might infect if she catches it? Or unknowingly catches it?

Vaccinations don't only protected the vaccinated, they protect the unvaccinated too. Though that isn't an excuse to not get vaccinated, unless you have a serious medical condition that could cause complications.

OP - if you can muster the courage, even for just one shot, please do it, for the good of your family, friends and your whole community.

Hi OP and Eeiliethya

I'm the OP from the linked thread. I actually only discovered this thread this morning and have been reading through, nodding furiously. I've also recently joined hijacked your other thread.

I'm beyond touched and pleased to hear that my previous thread has been inspirational. it genuinely was an opportunity to throw out all my jumbled thoughts and to reach out when I had nobody irl to talk to. It was, and continues to be, cathartic and useful to me to put those thoughts down even if some days were better or worse than others.

I did manage to get the first two vaccinations but it was a real struggle and quite traumatic at points. Being honest though, I'm now struggling massively at the prospect of the booster and my phobia is overcoming me like never before so if you read the thread, it's definitely not a linear stream of progress. I'm attempting the booster tomorrow and already in a terrible state mentally and physically about it. The most recent posts are therefore a bit downbeat and as lovely as it is to hear that I'm being inspirational, I also don;t want to feed anyone else's fears through my recent anxieties. Nor too though, do I want to stop writing and it is incredible helpful for me to be open and honest with myself in this very public way.

The one thing I will say for my other thread though is that the contributes have been overwhelmingly positive and supportive unlike some posters on this one. It's hard having a phobia which is so misunderstood and where the only way of getting help is to confront the very thing that scares you.

I'd also add that I completely relate to your first post here OP. I have a booking for my booster at my GP practice - smaller, quieter setting which all seemed much more manageable for me but it's not until mid-Jan. The recent media reports about the omicron wave are absolutely terrifying though and have made me feel I need to push myself out of that arrangement, which had given me confidence to tackle the process, and instead go to a mass centre with all that that entails, so that I'm protected faster. There is enormous pressure from family, friends and work to do this too.

I understand that the PM's addresses are useful to a large section of the population who will now get boosted but for people like us, it piles anxiety on top of existing anxiety and makes the whole thing even harder to tackle. To borrow a metaphor from upthread, I'm trying to tackle the elephant one bite at a time but the elephant is doubling in size every day and there are people screaming at me from the sidelines to get on with it, take bigger bites and eat faster.

Some good advice on this thread but there are a lot of posters who obviously do not have any idea what a phobia is. You can't just get over it by rationalizing and saying that it will be worse if you get COVID and end up in the intensive care unit. It isn't just about a few seconds while you look away.
It's the entire situation and the build up and whatever triggered it in the first place - which is deep-rooted psychologically. It takes a long time to work through all this and find out what the reason for it is - there might be no reason at all in fact.
I now know what triggered mine (and also had a very very serious dental phobia meaning I didn't go to a dentist for 30 years). Once I knew what started it (something which happened when I was 5 to a relative and the consequences and follow-up of that) I was then able to begin to process the phobia and begin, slowly, to deal with it.

The pandemic has helped in a way as "exposure therapy" is a way of dealing with phobias. I've been confronted with needles in newspapers and vaccination centres on the TV, constant films of people getting vaccinated, friends bragging all over facebook about their vaccination - and it has definitely de-sensitized me. Before this began I avoided any talk of needles and avoided seeing them. Hadn't had an injection for 34 years...... but being forced to see them all the time helped.

I decided I would go to a vaccination centre and try to get vaccinated and if I couldn't I'd book (very expensive)therapy. I am in another country where vaccines are being made compulsory and at the point I went for mine I had so many restrictions on what I could do because a certificate was needed for most things.
I did go, I was absolutely terrified. I made a little card with tick boxes to show how I was feeling with a message inside about my phobia which I showed to the staff at the vaccination centre. They were really really helpful. I managed to get it done and didn't feel it at all.
But just to reiterate - for those who still don't get it - it is not about that one moment where the needle goes in - it is the entire situation.

I've now had my booster too. I felt no better about the booster than the first one. So although I managed to overcome the phobia to get both jabs (I got Johnson first in the hope that I would only have to be vaccinated once....but was then forced to get a booster by the new government rules), the phobia is still there and I needed the same kind of gentle handling as the first time. A phobia is not going to go away just because you get jabbed once.

My dental phobia has completely disappeared due to finding a wonderful dentist who I trust and who has a needle phobia herself!

OP, go to the counselling sessions. You might find a solution quicker than you think. Some of the other ideas for actually attending the appointment for the vaccine are good - the creams, anti-anxiety meds, taking a friend (though in my case that makes me worse).
But do not worry too much about catching COVID and dying. It's very very unlikely. You should deal with the needle phobia of course but try not to build it up into I either get a jab which is truly terrifying or I die of COVID which is also truly terrifying - because then you are just living in terror all the time and it's horrible
Concentrate fully on the counselling and try to put the Omicron fears out of your mind as much as possible.

OP - I went to the GP due to having a phobia of smear tests. They gave me some Valium which was great, totally removed all worry for several hours. Might be worth asking for.

I'd add what others say, its the least painful injections I've ever had. They generally chat with you to distract you and you can hardly tell it's happening, and is over in a second.

At your age you will more than likely be fine. But definitely have the counselling for your own sake long term.

Well done seeking counselling for your phobia and I really hope it helps.

I would say to anyone with a severe needle phobia to please seek help.

None of us knows what is around the corner and a severe needle phobia will impact treatment for any serious health condition or accident that occurs.

I recently had dealings with someone who ascribed their phobia to the school nurse administering vaccinations and who said they had struggled with it all their life. At the start of cancer treatment everything from biopsy and ct scan for diagnosis to commencing chemotherapy is extremely traumatic and difficult. I really felt for them.

So I urge anyone who is similarly afflicted to get treatment.

Friends dd early 20s has needle phobia....got covid and was in ICU for 7 days. Fully recovered....ironically had many needles in her during her stay. She's now fully vaxxed.
Glad you're off to counselling...it will help. And you will be fine. Don't angst about getting covid.

My friend put on a virtual reality headset due to needle phobia and didn't notice it. I know that's not an option for everyone but maybe eye coverings and a guided meditation audio ?

You could also ask for them to do it really abruptly and without a build up to it? I dont have a needle phobia, I give blood often but find the anticipation worse than the needle. they did my first vaccination so fast I barely processed it. I sat down they asked what arm and then a lady snuck up behind me and jabbed me. I assumed it was the lady asking the questions who was going to do it not a stealthy ninja nurse creeping up behind. Happened so fast was just as if someone was walking past me and accidently scratched me with the corner of their bag or something. Barely felt it.