Observation 2 - Fear of Blood and Medical Procedures - (1897)

Use of Imagination

There is a copious amount imagination involved. It is in fact the imagination that scares us. Imagination greatly increases the fear and is the trigger to bring on the very uncomfortable physical symptoms.

In the imagination there is blood, needles, hospitals, emergency centres, tubes, and syringes, drips, scans, ambulance, paramedics, pain, writing in pain, yelling out in pain and tightening up in pain etc. etc.

Aversion to Recognising Physical Mortality

There is a great aversion present which kicks in when one begins to realise that one is made up of physical organic components and that they are subject to wear and tear and that they have an expiry date.

Seeing these physical components, i.e. what lies underneath eh skin brings this to light and so the aversion increases greatly so as to not face our own physical mortality.

We have he illusion that we are not physical, that we are somehow different, mainly because we just live always in our own mind and we don’t know what we are going to do when we die. We feel at such a loss About death that we wish to avoid even thinking about it. I feel he very uncomfortable feelings are there to make us look away from our own mortality as quick as we can.

Underlying Fear of Death

I am sensing strongly from previous observations that the factor underlying it all is the fear of death!

Physical Symptoms

Dizziness, tightness, nausea, slight disorientation and feeling faint. An impulse to lie down so to equalise oneself and feel normal again. A great impulse to look away.

A strange and intense restlessness. Strong impulses to walk and move and to go to an open space, even open the window. Sweaty palms, and a strange tight and restless feeling around the heart.

Purpose of Such Symptoms

These are the psychological pain equivalent feelings. This is what our psychology uses to stop us or to divert us as quickly as possible from looking at or examining something that it perceives as very negative, dangerous and painful.

Lessons Learnt

Control imagination by stopping imagination. Imagination is what scares us, not blood or syringes etc.

Target the fear of death. That seems to be at the heart of it! So let’s get stuck into that! No mercy!

End (1897).