Phobia of wrists

[clr9823]

First, sorry if this is in the wrong section, please move it.

Well, yeah, I have a phobia of my wrists, and other people's wrists when they make me think about my own. I know the cause of it; when I was around 10 there was one particularly traumatic argument involving my brother and mother in which he screamed something about when we got home we'd find him with his wrists slit.

Since then, I literally freak over my wrists. It's the fear of having them cut, the veins in them that is. It's so bad that right now I am recoiling from the computer writing this, but I must to get help. I always curl my hands in to protect them, and they are by far the most vulnerable-feeling part of my body (I instinctively protect them more than I protect my balls). It's gotten so bad that anything regarding blood, such as blood tests, or gory movies make me faint or near-faint. Even hospital/clinical scenes (like the scene in "The Crazies", where the woman is being wheeled down a corridor by men in Hazmat suits) can produce the effect, or descriptions of gruesome murders on television. But while it may be the blood that causes it, the one part of my body that I can "trace" it to or feel it in is my wrists. It kind of matches Blood, Injury, Injection Phobia, but I can get injections no problem until I start worrying at which point I begin to notice my wrists.

I searched online, and I did find a few cases of it, but it seems pretty rare. So has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone have any idea where to go to get some help for this? It's really bad, it effects everything from the cinema to blood donations and tests, and I really can't let it progress when I go to the real world (i.e. University).

[Jupiter]

I, I don't have this issue. However, it does sound very credible. You talk to me if you want, okay? I'm almost always there. Sorry to hear about that and your brother, :/

[clr9823]

My brother was just being a OTT teenage douche, he's now in college and... is less of a drama queen certainly, if not fully "adult". And thanks for the support :) I tried talking about this with my dad, and I got told that I needed to "grow a pair". Thinking about talking to my Guidance teacher, but I know their "duty of care" means it may get referred to social services which would just be shit -_-

[Jupiter]

No, they can't do that. It already happened. Tell her not to tell anyone. AT ALL.

And, your dad sounds like an unbelievable douche. No offense.

[clr9823]

Unfortunately they can. "Fear of wrists" involves a suicide risk, so could involve her being made to pass it on. While it's unlikely, I do have to consider it. She actually told our entire class about what she had to pass on, so that we didn't feel betrayed. Best we can hope for I suppose...

And I know he loves me, he's just under a lot of stress and is a real "manly" man. He's usually supportive, and he did apologise after and tell me if I wanted to talk again I could. But yeah, he can be a real douche too.

[Jupiter]

Oh then I take it back. Sorry if it offended you. And, I hate counelors sometimes.

[clr9823]

No offence taken :) and yeah, I mean I know it's the law and all but they can still be bad. Just kinda feel like there's no one I can speak to who'd actually be able to help me with my wrists :/

[Jupiter]

+rep for being strong, man.

[Amaryllis]

Hey sweetie, first of all, you're not the only one with an "odd" phobia.

Before my eating disorders came about, I was terrified of reflections and being alone. Like the traumatic experience you went through, my parents used to lock me in closets and bathrooms. I truly believed I saw ghosts, spirits and murderers when now that I look back at, most likely weren't there.

Sweetheart, how rational is your fear of wrists? What are the chances of them being slit? I can tell you the majority of the population have never had their wrists slit. The ones who have, well, those cuts are usually self inflicted.

If you truly feel as if this is a phobia you can't cope with and recover from on your own, I strongly recommend you see a trained professional, a psychologist, perhaps? Courage is not in never fearing but in not letting fear hold you back. Uncurl your hands. It may feel scary and horrible at first but just slowly do it, anyway. Keep your hands uncurled for a minute, curl them back for a bit if you feel the need. Go for 5 minutes. 10, 20, 30, an hour. A few hours. A day, months, years.

If you would like, you could message me. I'm more than willing to help you through it. It took me 15 years to even start sleeping on my own in the dark but I'm doing it now. Conquer your fears.

Love,
Amaryllis

[Fiction]

I used to have a very similar phobia. I couldn't touch my wrists at all, along with other parts of my body like my neck and the centre of my chest.

For me they seemed to be my vulnerable points much like you described. I think my main trigger for that was my fear of blood, so I guess it really is similar to yours. The phobia of touching my wrists and neck probably went on around 3-4 years.

I started self-harming and my fear of my own blood, and touching my wrists quickly sorted it's self out. Exposure therapy I guess, although of course I don't advise that you start cutting, maybe you could somehow get over it by touching your wrists, the more you do it the more you should be able too. It'll take time but it should happen eventually, it did with me.

But my fear of things touching the centre of my chest (even just like a seat belt) still makes me feel extremely uncomfortable, it makes me feel like somehow the pressure of anything there will somehow stop my heart from beating. So it's an extremely irrational fear just like yours, I don't know if it'll ever just "go away", but if it's something that's bothering you, and effecting your life, maybe try and get some sort of treatment for it? :)

[Cablez]

I can't look at wrists either. They are too delicate.

[TealTurtles23]

I know exactly how you feel. Other people may try to empathize and sympathize but they wouldn't know what it feels like to have carpophobia. Mine started when I was 6 and I had 6 doctors pin me down for a needle in my wrist. Obviously they failed so they had to knock me out so that was that. I thought that my fear was the needle but every time I get a needle, I was fine. Eventually I learned that it wasn't the needle, it was the wrist. If anyone touched my wrist or their's, all the air from my throat seemed to be sucked out and it's a feeling I can barely describe. It's the most sensitive part of my body and I cring at pictures of slit wrists. I've been trying to get over them but I never seem to achieve anything. It's not the veins, blood, skin, or the needles and pictures of slit wrists... It's the wrist itself.

[ImagineRepublicCity]

I know exactly how you feel. Other people may try to empathize and sympathize but they wouldn't know what it feels like to have carpophobia. Mine started when I was 6 and I had 6 doctors pin me down for a needle in my wrist. Obviously they failed so they had to knock me out so that was that. I thought that my fear was the needle but every time I get a needle, I was fine. Eventually I learned that it wasn't the needle, it was the wrist. If anyone touched my wrist or their's, all the air from my throat seemed to be sucked out and it's a feeling I can barely describe. It's the most sensitive part of my body and I cring at pictures of slit wrists. I've been trying to get over them but I never seem to achieve anything. It's not the veins, blood, skin, or the needles and pictures of slit wrists... It's the wrist itself.

Please do not post in threads after 2 months of inactivity :locked: