Elisabeth Henderson (Needles)
Receptionist
Austin, TX
I've been afraid of needles for as long as I can remember. My mom told me that when I was six months old I was getting my vaccinations and had a hysterical fit; I was sweating, panting, and screaming.
I absolutely could not deal with needles in any way. At the doctor's office, I would start breathing really hard and my heart rate would speed up, I'd have tunnel vision and all these horrible thoughts racing through my head. I would sweat, my hearing would go out and I would feel like I was going to throw up. I would kick like an infant and totally lose control. It had gotten to the point where I would refuse to get blood drawn or get any shots. My phobia about needles made me afraid to go to the doctor.
I started to realize that my problem was becoming more serious when I recently had a TB skin test. I thought that I'd psyched myself out enough that I wouldn't react and I made it through my appointment okay, but the feelings just came over me as soon as I got in the car to leave the doctor's office. My vision started going dim, I started sweating and breathing really hard and my heart was pounding. I had the radio blasting in my car and it was almost like someone was turning it down because I couldn't hear anything. I was in traffic on I35 and I pulled over into a Wendy's, I barely remember stumbling into the restaurant and passing out on the trash can.
People would see me react to these situations and think I was nuts. I was embarrassed because it was so small and silly and I knew that people did this all the time with no problem. I felt very out of control. I had this feeling of dread and knew that I would go into hysterics and wouldn't be able to control my reactions. I was afraid that later in life I would avoid necessary treatment that I might need.
After my experience at Wendy's, I realized that I needed help. I did an internet search for hypnotherapists in Austin and I found A New Day Hypnosis. I decided to meet with Laura because she seemed so confident that it would work. I overcame my fear after the first session. The change was effortless; I didn't even know that it had stopped until I was at my appointment in the doctor's office. I hoped that it would work for me, but I still wasn't sure. I took the recording of my hypnosis session into my appointment and just closed my eyes and listened to my CD while I waited. When the doctor put the needle in my arm it was like I didn't feel it. He held my arm up to my face so that I could see the needle in my arm and I didn't think anything of it. It almost seemed microscopic to me. I'm just shocked at the way that I can see needles and not have any reaction at all now.