8 Phobias That Are Guaranteed To Make You Feel Uncomfortable

Hemophobia (or blood phobia) is the extreme fear surrounding blood. It involves anxiety and paranoia to the point of panic, during a multitude of situations involving blood or seeing blood such as getting a cut or injection. In extreme cases, sufferers of the phobia will not even be able to read or watch anything that includes blood, such as in a TV show or news story, as these may trigger the anxiety.

The fear first appears often at a young age, as children take their first shots or are subject to situations involving blood, leading to anxiety that fully develops in their adult life. It is more likely for this particular phobia to become a running theme within a family tree, as the children are used to seeing their loved ones and carers experiencing the same fear.

Hemophobia may also occur in combination with other psychoneurotic disorders that include agoraphobia or animal phobias. Many sufferers faint at the sight of blood or become physically ill. The phobia can sometimes lead to extreme circumstances in which important hospital appointments are cancelled for fear of blood being involved.