Injection anxiety is a fear of injections. While it is common to be a little wary, 4.5% of people have injection anxiety that is severe enough to stop them from having any injections at all.
Self-injection anxiety is a specific type of injection anxiety - the fear of giving yourself an injection. Self-injection anxiety is an important issue for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), because many MS medications are given by injection. People who prefer to give themselves their MS medications by injection at home must first be trained by a nurse or other health professional. However, self-injection anxiety may prevent people from using their medications properly. People with self-injection anxiety are more likely to stop taking their medications or not to use them as recommended.
Who is at risk for self-injection anxiety? While anyone may develop this problem, certain things can make people more anxious about self-injections. People who are using intramuscular (IM) medications are more likely to have self-injection anxiety than those using subcutaneous (SC) medications, because IM medications are usually given through a thicker, longer needle. Unpleasant side effects from the medication or injection may increase the risk. Anxiety may also be tied to the feeling that by receiving treatment, the person is acknowledging MS and letting it into their life.
While there's no definitive way of overcoming a fear of needles and self-injections, there are certain techniques that you can use to help yourself cope with it. Some of these techniques include the following:
- have a positive attitude. Believe that you can, rather than that you can't.
- use an autoinjector device so that the needle can't be seen if the sight of needles is concerning
- practising on an orange or a chair
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