#and makes sure it stays in your longterm memory as a Terrible Thing Alert Alert event

[canisalbus]

Hello! I love your art- you have a real talent for expressive eyes. You're a great cartoonist, and I can't wait to see more of your work

It's a little silly, but I just wanted to say- don't beat yourself up for having a reaction to needles after a bad experience. On a moral level, yes, but also a practical one.

It's normal for a body to react to a bad experience with fear. That's what fear evolved to do, warn you about something that could go wrong next time.

However, fear can be reinforced. If your body responds to a stimulus with fear, and then you feel a negative emotion around that memory, your nervous system goes "Wow! That was so bad that even thinking about it stresses me out. I'd better make sure to never let this happen again. Time to dial up the fear signal!"

Being kind to yourself about something frustrating or painful is hard in good conditions, and I don't want to minimize that. This isn't "don't let it bother you" or "just get over it" or "think positive" advice.

When a fear of needles happens to me again (the fear comes and goes), I try to treat it like I would a food aversion resulting from food poisoning. You know when you eat something bad, get sick and then the thought of the food is really gross for awhile? Like that!

I try to let myself be mildly annoyed, but not so much it gets my blood pressure up. Sadness doesn't seem to extend the length of the fear either. But anger, guilt, or shame for me really seem to reinforce the fear reactions.

Your mileage will vary, of course! For me, I went from no fear of needles, to fainting when an IV was put in, back to no fear with patience and time. Maybe this can be a bit of hope for you too! I wish you luck and a smooth road!

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#so thoughtful of you to write such a long and sensible response #ruminating on a bad experience only gives it more significance #and makes sure it stays in your longterm memory as a Terrible Thing Alert Alert event #still feeling rattled about it #and subsequently feeling dumb for letting it bother me so much #I try to avoid using the word too frivolously but that was kind of traumatic #but thank you I needed to hear all of that #the lady kind of got agitated and blamed me for being sensitive and I've been gaslighting myself into thinking I was just overreacting #I don't know just bad vibes all around #answered #anonymous #cw needles