118
Health & Wellbeing
A phobia can seriously
impact your life, but as
these women prove, you
can always turn it around
“We faced
our fears”
Natalie Trice, career coach
and PR mentor (natalietrice.co.uk),
reveals the impact that a fear
of needles had on her life.
“For as long as I can remember,
I’ve hated needles, and anything from a flu
jab, blood test and the epidurals I needed
when I gave birth to my two sons, freaked
me out. Things reached an epic level when
I was told I needed a filling (only my second
by the time I was 38)
at which point I
crumpled into a teary mess at the thought
of the injection. This was, of course,
mortifying and ridiculous, but the
feeling was totally real to me.
With my ever-sympathetic dentist
letting me know I could be fully sedated,
but it would mean not being able to drive
for 12 hours, and would cost nearly £200,
I decided that enough was enough and I
needed to sort this out for once and for all.
After doing some research, I booked
in with a fantastic hypnotherapist and over
two 90-minute sessions we looked at the
phobia, what happened when I felt fear
creeping in and where this all came from.
It seemed that a booster jab at 13, where
everyone was whipped into a frenzy about
the
six massive needles, was at the root of
the problem. The fact that we were lined up
in a corridor and had the vaccination in front
of everyone, a stiff upper lip, tears in my
eyes and revealing a chubby arm in public,
all led to me hating needles. Looking back,
it made sense, but I had never put two and
two together before then. By the time I
reached the dentist’s chair a couple of
weeks later, I was fine. I did take a friend
with me, but I didn’t need full sedation
and it felt like a huge weight had been
lifted from my shoulders.
While I still don’t
particularly like needles,
they no longer bother me to the same extent,
which is good given that my second COVID
vaccination is coming up. If, like me, you’re
worried about needles, I’d give you the
following pieces of advice:
l
Don’t look – I never look at the
needle and don’t even watch them
being given to people on the TV.
l
Taking deep breaths, in for four, and
out for six, really helps me to get centred
if I am feeling nervous – this works in a lot of
situations, not just at a medical appointment.
l
If you’re are struggling with these feelings,
talk to someone and see if you can get
some support. It might seem silly and
weak to ask, but if it is having an
impact on your life,
confidence
and wellbeing, it’s worth doing.”
“...IT FELT LIKE A HUGE
WEIGHT HAD BEEN LIFTED
FROM MY SHOULDERS”
119
Health & Wellbeing
F E E L
W E L L
Hannah Bailey, a psychotherapist
(BWRT) and wellbeing coach (bwrt-
professionals.com), tells us how
she overcame a fear of flying.
“I’ve suffered from a fear of flying since
a young age, although I have no specific
memory of a difficult flight or traumatic
experience of when this began. However,
my mum was always frightened of flying,
so I suppose this would be the most
obvious reason for my own fear.
The fear and panic around flying seemed
to increase as I got older. Even the process of
booking a flight would turn my stomach over,
because I knew
that I would have to endure
the flight before I could enjoy my holiday.
Once I boarded the plane I would
be checking and double checking my
surroundings – did the pilots and crew look
experienced and professional, were there
any strange noises, did the plane look
evenly balanced with passengers? I would
be hyper vigilant and feel particularly
distressed if I felt another passenger
was loud, difficult or drunk in any way.
Once in the air, I would try and remain
calm and relaxed using some different
mindfulness techniques that I had learnt
however, these always required a lot of
effort, and weren’t always successful. If we
encountered
turbulence, then this is the
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