Needles seem to hold a certain amount of fear for people. The fear seems outsized in comparison to the harm needles actually do. Why do you think this is?
Share any *shudder* needle horror stories if you wish.
Asking — and answering — life's interesting questions
Needles seem to hold a certain amount of fear for people. The fear seems outsized in comparison to the harm needles actually do. Why do you think this is?
Share any *shudder* needle horror stories if you wish.
Like most people, I’ve been dealing with needles of various sorts all my life. Ultimately, I’ve received almost entirely good things from needles: Novocaine shots from the dentist kept me from feeling pain, blood drawn to detect disease or other problems, life-preserving medicines injected into me (like the current COVID-19 vaccine).
Needles have never caused me any serious pain — at most a slight pinch. However, for decades I was terrified of needles.
This doesn’t seem to match. I have to think there is some sort of deeply-ingrained, primal reason for that fear. Perhaps it is the sense of something from the outside world entering our body? But we’re not afraid of eating food, which is really the same thing.
People also have a fear of snakes. It’s my current theory that needles remind our primative brains of snakes’ fangs: long, thin, sharp, and hollow, delivering a substance under our skin and into our blood stream.
Umm. Because they are needles! No other explanation should be needed. I’m squirming as I type this.
Now, needles may be used for great purposes. For example, I will be getting my first COVID shot this week. But that doesn’t put fear at bay.
It’s a needle. It punctures the skin and some tissue beneath. Seems in line with a biological response to me.