How can I learn to tolerate the sight of blood and/or injured people?

Question

I want to become a nurse, yet if i see a horrible injury I may or may not faint and/or vomit. Is there any way to overcome this?

Answer 1

Hi there,

In psychology, we have a term for this common problem: medical phobia. Or, more specific to you, Blood-Injection-Injury Type Phobia. Phobias can be treated in two different ways: exposure treatment, or counter-conditioning.

1. Exposure treatment:

Exactly what it sounds like. You'll be exposed to blood or gore under controlled conditions to help you realize there's nothing to fear. This can be done gradually - for example, first you'll just imagine blood and gore, and then you'll slowly work up to watching a film in which a person gets a bloody nose, and then stabbed, and so forth - until you are confronted by real blood in a final step. Or, it can be done suddenly - basically, you'll be trapped in a room for an extended period of time with your worst fear, until you force yourself to handle it.

2. Counter-conditioning:

Most people can handle exposure treatments (even if they don't think they can!) but in certain situations, counter-conditioning is helpful. You'll be taught relaxation and breathing techniques which will be associated with the fear object instead of panic. For example, you'll be shown an image of a bloody person, and you and a therapist will work on you looking at it, and breathing slowly, staying calm, etc. Then, like before, you'll "move up the ladder".

Now, you don't necessarily need a psychologist or therapist to help you with this, but because you have such strong reactions, they may help. The good news is that most people meet with success in overcoming their phobias with treatment.

Here's some information that may guide you:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1572243872/002-8307272-0632016?v=glance&n=283155

http://www.anxietytreatment.ca/specificP.htm

"Symptoms of Blood-Injection-Injury Phobia

If you have a blood-injection-injury phobia, your symptoms are slightly different from other phobias. When confronted with the sight of blood or a needle, you experience not only fear but disgust. Like other phobias, you show an initial increase in heart rate and blood pressure. However, unlike other phobias, this acceleration is followed by a quick drop which causes nausea, dizziness, and fainting. Although a fear of fainting is common in all specific phobias, blood-injection-injury phobia is the only phobia where actual fainting occurs."

"Exposure Therapy

In desensitization or exposure therapy, you are exposed in a safe and controlled way to the object or situation you fear. The most commonly used exposure therapy involves gradual encounters with the fear-producing object, first in the imagination and then in reality. For example, if you have a spider phobia, you would first imagine seeing a spider, then view photos of spiders, and finally look at a spider in real life. In each of these situations, the fear is faced long enough, with support and increasing awareness of control that the panic and anxiety begin to go away. These exposures are combined with relaxation techniques and a therapist or friend at your side to provide support.

Through repeated experiences facing your fear, you begin to realize that the situation, while possibly unpleasant, is not harmful. With each exposure, you feel an increasing sense of control over your phobia. This sense of control over the situation and yourself is the most important benefit of exposure therapy. As you become desensitized to your fear, you no longer react with uncontrollable panic when confronted by it. For more information on this type of therapy, see Systematic Desensitization.

Another type of exposure therapy called participant modeling is also helpful. In participant modeling, the therapist models healthy ways of interacting with the object you fear. In the case of a spider phobia, you would watch while a therapist handles or looks at a spider in a relaxed state and without fear. Then you would be encouraged to do the same.

Some phobias are so common (such as fear of flying or driving) that there are therapists who specialize in their treatment. The number of treatments you will need depends on the severity of your phobia, but exposure-based therapy is typically brief. Phobias that are limited, such as dental phobia or animal phobia, can often be treated in as little as two to four sessions. Sometimes a single, long session is all that is needed."

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/phobia_symptoms_types_treatment.htm

Good luck!

Answer 2

So how do you feel about diarrhea, vomit and thick smelly mucous. For that matter how about lots of pus. Or seeing a wound that exposes bone. Ask a nurse you know if you can follow her on a shift if its okay with her supervisor and the patient. Its a very difficult profession. Not for the faint hearted. But if you can learn to accept that its a part of life you can really help.

Answer 3

I don't know. I used to be an army ambulance driver & medic, and at first it didn't bother me at all, but as time went on, it got to me more & more to where I almost couldn't stand it, and I was glad to get away from it. Now, many years later, occasional blood & injuries don't bother me as much as they did then, but I guess they might if I had to see them every day, as I did back then. My point is, you might not be able to overcome your reaction, & so I think you ought to consider some area of nursing where you wouldn't have to deal with it. Good luck.

Answer 4

It's much different in a controlled environment. For example, if I saw an accident that resulted in a lot of blood, I would probably feel a little queasy. However, in the operating room, it doesn't bother me at all.
It becomes much, much easier to tolerate the sight of blood during your training. Don't worry!

Answer 5

Watch lots of horror movies





More practical would be to watch those shows on TV which show surgery or medical things or car accidents and other stuff like that ... oh and Mad for Mac posted that there was a website you could go and look at operations live on the web (haven't checked it out so can't vouch for it).

Also get some books

Especially those ones about "What rash is this?" I think rashes are more disgusting than blood and guts. If you can handle rashes you can handle anything! ;-)

Answer 6

Don;t concentrate on the injury but what you are there for and your job is to make the injured person feel better and by freaking you ain't doing your job so be comforting like it's all small stuff. Your smile and understanding will be a job well done.

Answer 7

I'm in nursing school too and going through something similar. You must remind yourself that blood and other body fluids are natural. When you feel yourself getting grossed out you tell yourself (outloud even) that blood and all that is natural and routine.

I still allow myself to look away when I have blood drawn from myself and when there are images of somebody getting murdered or somebody inflicting harm on himself or herself.

Answer 8

Pretend it's a bad movie with no humor at all, nevermind a story, and you're the central character.

Or just don't become a nurse...

Answer 9

Umm how can you be a nurse if you can't even see a cut on a little kids knee? You need to rethink your career path.

Answer 10

practice makes perfect. I would start off with watching videos. Really force yourself to watch them. Then I would try eating something while watching it. Then once I've conquered that I would try seeing real blood. Not sure how you would do that, but I'm sure there are way.