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Blood-injury phobia with and without a history of fainting: disgust sensitivity does not explain the fainting response.
Psychosom Med. 2006 Mar-Apr; 68(2):331-9.PM

Abstract

OBJECTIVE

Individuals diagnosed with blood-injury phobia respond to venipuncture with strong psychophysiological responses. We investigated whether disgust sensitivity contributes to the fainting response and is associated with parasympathetic activation, as suggested by previous research.

METHODS

Twenty individuals diagnosed with blood-injury phobia (9 with a history of fainting to the sight of blood, 11 without such a fainting history) and 20 healthy controls were compared. Psychophysiological responses and self-report measures of anxiety, disgust, and embarrassment were monitored during rest, a paced breathing task, and venipuncture. In addition, trait disgust sensitivity and blood-injury fears were assessed.

RESULTS

Blood-injury phobics reported enhanced anxiety, disgust, and embarrassment during venipuncture. They also experienced heightened arousal, as indicated by heart rate, respiration rate, and minute ventilation. Blood-injury phobics without a fainting history tended toward higher anxiety and disgust scores. There was no evidence for increased parasympathetic activation in either blood-injury phobic subgroup or of an association of disgust and parasympathetic activation.

CONCLUSION

The tendency to faint when exposed to blood-injury stimuli may suffice as a conditioning event leading into phobia, without specific involvement of disgust sensitivity and parasympathetic activation.

Authors+Show Affiliations

Gerlach AL
\Department of Psychology, Institute I-Psychological Assessment and Clinical Psychology, Westfalian Wilhelms University of Münster, Münster, Germany. agerlach@uni-muenster.de
Spellmeyer G
No affiliation info available
Vögele C
No affiliation info available
Huster R
No affiliation info available
Stevens S
No affiliation info available
Hetzel G
No affiliation info available
Deckert J
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AdultAnxietyBloodEmotionsFemaleHumansMaleParasympathetic Nervous SystemPhlebotomyPhobic DisordersSyncopeWounds and Injuries

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

16554401

Citation

Gerlach, Alexander L., et al. "Blood-injury Phobia With and Without a History of Fainting: Disgust Sensitivity Does Not Explain the Fainting Response." Psychosomatic Medicine, vol. 68, no. 2, 2006, pp. 331-9.
Gerlach AL, Spellmeyer G, Vögele C, et al. Blood-injury phobia with and without a history of fainting: disgust sensitivity does not explain the fainting response. Psychosom Med. 2006;68(2):331-9.
Gerlach, A. L., Spellmeyer, G., Vögele, C., Huster, R., Stevens, S., Hetzel, G., & Deckert, J. (2006). Blood-injury phobia with and without a history of fainting: disgust sensitivity does not explain the fainting response. Psychosomatic Medicine, 68(2), 331-9.
Gerlach AL, et al. Blood-injury Phobia With and Without a History of Fainting: Disgust Sensitivity Does Not Explain the Fainting Response. Psychosom Med. 2006 Mar-Apr;68(2):331-9. PubMed PMID: 16554401.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Blood-injury phobia with and without a history of fainting: disgust sensitivity does not explain the fainting response. AU - Gerlach,Alexander L, AU - Spellmeyer,Gerd, AU - Vögele,Claus, AU - Huster,René, AU - Stevens,Stephan, AU - Hetzel,Günther, AU - Deckert,Jürgen, PY - 2006/3/24/pubmed PY - 2006/7/19/medline PY - 2006/3/24/entrez SP - 331 EP - 9 JF - Psychosomatic medicine JO - Psychosom Med VL - 68 IS - 2 N2 - OBJECTIVE: Individuals diagnosed with blood-injury phobia respond to venipuncture with strong psychophysiological responses. We investigated whether disgust sensitivity contributes to the fainting response and is associated with parasympathetic activation, as suggested by previous research. METHODS: Twenty individuals diagnosed with blood-injury phobia (9 with a history of fainting to the sight of blood, 11 without such a fainting history) and 20 healthy controls were compared. Psychophysiological responses and self-report measures of anxiety, disgust, and embarrassment were monitored during rest, a paced breathing task, and venipuncture. In addition, trait disgust sensitivity and blood-injury fears were assessed. RESULTS: Blood-injury phobics reported enhanced anxiety, disgust, and embarrassment during venipuncture. They also experienced heightened arousal, as indicated by heart rate, respiration rate, and minute ventilation. Blood-injury phobics without a fainting history tended toward higher anxiety and disgust scores. There was no evidence for increased parasympathetic activation in either blood-injury phobic subgroup or of an association of disgust and parasympathetic activation. CONCLUSION: The tendency to faint when exposed to blood-injury stimuli may suffice as a conditioning event leading into phobia, without specific involvement of disgust sensitivity and parasympathetic activation. SN - 1534-7796 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/16554401/Blood_injury_phobia_with_and_without_a_history_of_fainting:_disgust_sensitivity_does_not_explain_the_fainting_response_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -