The nightmare that gets under your skin

One sharp jab and it’s over. In the majority of cases. But for Marie Humble this is just the beginning. While her injection is administered she feels nauseous, fighting her temptation to scream, strike out wildly and run away. But even when she has had the injection, that is just the beginning because she knows that the same awaits her 24 hours later or less. Marie Humble has a pregnancy-related blood coagulation disorder.  And she has a fear of needles – a major problem because her health depends on self-administering her medication every day.

Millions of people are in the same position as Marie Humble. As soon as they see a needle, they simply want to run away. People’s fears manifest themselves differently, ranging from a simple aversion and a feeling of being unwell when faced with the needle to a full-blown phobia which could result in loss of consciousness. “Fear arises when the unknown is the major factor,” explains Laura Ritthaler, a Berlin-based psychologist who specialises in phobias. “When receiving an injection, there’s the additional knowledge that someone else is causing pain and invading their body.” Fear intensifies the pain. And the more fear there is, the greater the pain. “Pain is also a purely subjective thing. Everyone perceives it differently; there are no objective measures.” The problem is that the more pain involved the more fear there will be next time.