On phobias and other matters

I find phobias a fascinating thing. Good old Wiki states that "A phobia (from the Greek φόβος "fear"), is a strong, persistent fear of situations, objects, activities, or persons." In trying to understand phobias and the effect they have on people, I have decided to share my main phobia with the rest of the world. I have needle-phobia. I don't know about you, but I can't stand the little bastards. I have been thinking about when I first started having a phobia about needles. I think it started when as a kid I had a blood test. The doctor used a plunger needle, the kind where they put it in and pull back the plunger, effectively sucking the blood out. All I remember was that it hurt like hell.

Compare that with today. The way they do blood tests to is to stick the needle in and "vacuum" it out. Much less painful. But all because it doesn't hurt so much still doesn't mean that I don't fear it like getting kicked in the groin. So why can't we rationalise our way around our phobias? Why do I get a 0300 call from a friend, that makes me drive 15 minutes to her house to deal with a spider that is smaller than my thumbnail. Phobias are indeed interesting beasts. If you have an interesting phobia, please leave a comment.

So why rant about my phobia? Well today I had another blood test for the RAN. I know that I don't have diseases, but they want to make sure. So I got jabbed. At least I got my Christmas shopping done.

If I don't get bored enough to blog before the main event, have a Merry Christmas, and safe travels.

:)