I was terrified of needles when I was younger. I'd involuntarily jerk away before the needle even got in, it was a nightmare for both me and the technician, I'm sure, every time I had to get a shot or a blood draw. More recently, I've been self-harming. I still get nervous beforehand, but when the needle goes in, it isn't any worse than what I do to myself (please note I do not recommend this, as a way to desensitize yourself or for any other reason - I'm trying to stop doing it myself).
As for the dentist, I've never had to have anything but a routine cleaning done (unless having braces counts, but I saw an orthodontist for that, not a dentist), but I'm still terrified every time I go in that they're going to find a cavity, even though it's never happened. I'm so nervous I shake the entire time I'm there.
_________________
Yet in my new wildness and freedom I almost welcome the bitterness of alienage. For although nepenthe has calmed me, I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.
-H. P. Lovecraft, "The Outsider"
15 Mar 2018, 11:31 pm
