Silver, shiny and sterile. What object pops into your mind, a needle perhaps? Are there chills running down your back as you think of this piece of metal pricking your skin? Well, if you are ready to run to the bathroom and relieve your fear, just stop right there. You need to get over it.
I still haven’t decided why people are so terrified of something so small. I will admit I am scared of spiders, but spiders can hurt me if they enter my skin. Needles might hurt, but 90 percent of the time the pain is only helping you from something that would hurt you more.
I asked a couple of people why they were scared of needles, and I got the answer that they all had bad experiences with needles. Well, I had a bad car wreck experience, but you don’t see me walking everywhere I go.
Now, I do understand if it is a real phobia, but not everyone who is scared of needles has a real phobia. I can understand snakes or spiders or even circus people, but needles? That just doesn’t really make sense. Five-year-olds have good reason to be scared of needles because they really haven’t experienced much, so a needle would be quite scary to them. But I’m guessing an 18-year-old has seen something scarier than a needle.
Can you physically remember the pain from your first tetanus shot? Or even the pain from the flu shot you got last year? If you are thinking yes, I believe that you have a psychological disorder. What if someone told you that your mother was dying and the only way you could save her life is to have a needle stuck in your arm? Would you then be too scared to have it done? That’s called giving blood.
A whole lot of people don’t give blood because they are scared of needles. Oh no, someone just died because you were too scared of needles! You missed a week of class, and now you failed your final because you didn’t get your flu shot because you were scared of needles! It seems a little silly and selfish for someone to be too scared of needles to give blood. It’s your choice if you don’t want to give blood, but what are you saving by not doing it if you are eligible?
Basically, I’m saying that there are more important things to be scared of than needles or spiders or clowns. I have fallen victim to fear for small things; I guess that’s just the human in me. Let me quote President Roosevelt by saying, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” I am a strong believer in this, although I’ll admit it can be hard to do.