Needle phobia is a different phobia then most others, like fear of flying, fear of spiders or reptiles. This is because most phobias create a rise in blood pressure, increased breathing rate, and sense of panic. Needle phobia typically creates an opposite type of reaction including a drop in blood pressure, decreased breathing rate, and a sense of light-headedness, or at the extreme, a loss of consciousness. Because of this physiological difference in the reaction to the phobia's trigger, it is difficult to treat needle phobia with traditional psychotherapy exposure techniques. Typical exposure therapy involves having the client face the trigger or a reminder of the trigger, and learn to either reduce the anxiety, or simply let the anxiety run its course. Needle phobia presents its own problem, because learning simply how to lower the stress response is not going to alleviate the symptoms leading to loss of consciousness.
Using hypnosis, a sufferer of needle phobia can experience a great reduction in his or her typical physical reaction, and have even reported being able to watch the needle being inserted without any negative reaction. Results have been seen in just one hypnosis session.
