Blood phobia in child age 8

[KatieLou]

Hi! My daughter has a phobia of blood. She is 8 and has had reactions to the sight of blood since she was 3. When she sees blood (her own or another person's) she will go sheet white, get stomach pains, feel sick or be violently sick, feel like she's floating or everything goes black. This reaction is equally as intense and sudden whether it is a papercut or something serious and she doesn't seem able to control it at all. I have tried to talk to my GP (who said maybe I should "try not making a big deal of it") most unhelpful, and we don't seem to have any services for children with phobias in our area? The school are very supportive and we all deal with episodes in the same way, taking her to the toilet to be sick, then sitting her down with a drink of water and a sugary snack to raise blood pressure. I don't know whether we should be avoiding situations where she sees blood, or whether exposure would help with the reaction - I have no idea what to do for the best. I wondered if anyone had experience of blood phobia and had any advice please please please!

[BlueIris]

What you really need to be working on is the fact that no plan is required, however, this might require the help of a sensitive professional.

[Carys]

WOw Katie, what a mystery and how unusual that she started with this phobia at such a young age and with basically - as you say - nothing that you can think of as a trigger. Extraordinary. However, that doesn't help you does it ! Hmmmmm, yeah, I do kind of agree with the carrying snacks and so on actually at the moent.....as she is a young child and thinking of her fainting and potentially hitting herself is a worry, or being sick alone. However, that isn't a long term solution. I was thinking though - what about working on reassociating her fears with something good? I mean - if you spent time explaining to her what bleeding was about, at a child related level. How its the 'magic way' the body heals itself and makes scabs and sends special 'cells' to sort out the cut and make sure no germs get in. So, like each time she has a weeny cut, or someone else has a weeny cut, just going a bit overboard with positivity. Like 'woooahhhhhh' brilliant a little bit of blood is coming to help make it all better. Blood is basically PVA glue for the skin. lol

Treatments for phobias are all rather similar, no matter what they are to be honest, so blood specific isn't going to have a much different way to solve than any others. The only thing that is different here is the age of the child, I've had a quick look on google (sorry I'm sure you've done all this before !) and see that play -based interventions for a child of this age can work well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Play-Based-...gateway&sr=8-6

What about spending time playing the age old doctors games - bleeding toys and making them better. Encouraging her to talk through her phobia, and giving her desensitising via the 'bleeding' toys in a safe and secure way.

[KatieLou]

This is actually excellent advice. Positive reinforcement is one of the things I have tried whenever she has brought up her worry (usually at bedtime after an episode of seeing blood during the day). She is bright, so she understands that blood is a good thing for our bodies and that it carries oxygen and other things to help keep the body healthy and working. It's like she absolutely understands that there is no reason to react to blood, she has even asked why her body does this (vomiting/fainting) when no one else's does? I wonder if there is a book on the body that I could use to help... I'll start googling now.
It was suggested that we try playing with fake blood, that you get for Halloween face painting? But again I don't want to start 'treating her' myself as I have no clue what will make it better or worse??

[Carys]

I think if you arm yourself with some fake blood, some toys and a good book on children and phobias, combined with the positive reinforcement.....I think you would be doing a great job. You could wait forever for the NHS to pick up a phobia in a child, as it won't be viewed as critical in the overall 'treatment of mental illnes arena'. I don't think you could make it worse, its pretty bad right now, and I think it can only make it better. Phobias are treated with cognitive behavioural therapy, desensensitisation and exposure....so if you do some reading on cbt and exposure for phobias and then scale it down for a child.......

• Exposure therapy focuses on changing your response to the object or situation that you fear. Gradual, repeated exposure to the source of your specific phobia and the related thoughts, feelings and sensations may help you learn to manage your anxiety. For example, if you're afraid of elevators, your therapy may progress from simply thinking about getting into an elevator, to looking at pictures of elevators, to going near an elevator, to stepping into an elevator. Next, you may take a one-floor ride, then ride several floors, and then ride in a crowded elevator.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) involves exposure combined with other techniques to learn ways to view and cope with the feared object or situation differently. You learn alternative beliefs about your fears and bodily sensations and the impact they've had on your life. CBT emphasizes learning to develop a sense of mastery and confidence with your thoughts and feelings rather than feeling overwhelmed by them.

[Carys]

This a really good article, with some suggestions for how to go about retraining her thinking...


https://www.heysigmund.com/phobias-a...s-in-children/

[Carys]

Another thought occurred to me -

I know your GP seems, at this point, to be unwilling to refer for phobia therapy. However, what about mentioning to her teacher that you are struggling to get therapy for her. Every school has an associated educational psychologist, and maybe she could give some pointers of a direction to go in, or steps towards a referral ? The educational psychologists are those who visit the SEN head every now and again, their remit is behaviour and learning issues (which they are often incredibly busy with of course), but if this is affecting your daughter's school experience and daily life....then....?

[KatieLou]

I tried through the school... the teachers are very supportive, but they said there is no chance of getting her seen through educational psychologist as they are a really limited (and expensive) service. I also have the feeling that this comes into the realm of 'exaggerating' the phobia, or 'making too much of it'?!

[Carys]

Oh, and you can also let her know that some people DO faint and go all wibbly seeing blood - I know a few. Some people people go faint at needles, and all sorts of things. Normalise it as a response that doesn't need fussing over.

[BlueIris]

Agreed, yes, it's a perfectly normal response, if a violent one.