Severe needle phobia traps teenager

‘‘Due to her condition she will be a hermit at home until Covid has run its course.’’

Evelyn, whose daughter has severe anxiety

Evelyn fears her teenage daughter’s needle phobia will destroy her future.

She’s tried everything to get her

13-year-old daughter vaccinated for

Covid-19, but four months on and without an exemption, Evelyn fears Marie* will be forced to become a recluse.

The irony is that her daughter wants to be vaccinated, but a severe anxiety disorder means she physically collapses at the thought of vaccination.

Her doctor suggested using a numbing cream, but Marie would not allow it to be applied. She was offered tablets to help her relax but anxiety about vomiting from the sedative meant it was not practical.

It’s an issue the mother and daughter have struggled with throughout Marie’s life. Even a trip to the dentist for routine work required a hospital visit, so she could be sedated.

Now the traffic light system means she will be excluded from many activities because her doctor has refused to give her an exemption.

Under Ministry of Health guidelines, an exemption can be granted for a person unable to tolerate vaccine administration with resulting risk to themselves or others, including severe neurodevelopmental conditions.

‘‘We are talking about a 13-yearold girl who wants to be a teenager with her friends but unfortunately due to her condition she will be a hermit at home until Covid has run its course.’’

The situation had left Evelyn distressed. She did not know what else she could do to help her daughter who struggled with anxiety over everyday activities.

Evelyn planned to take Marie to a psychologist next week but was not confident therapy would work as she had already tried every other method she could think of.

She worried her daughter would be ostracised, even though she did want to get vaccinated.

A Ministry of Health spokesperson said clinicians needed to balance the risk the virus posed against the patient’s inability to tolerate vaccination when considering whether to grant a temporary medical exemption.

‘‘Clinicians cannot vaccinate anyone without their consent, or the consent of the legal guardian or the person with welfare enduring power of attorney,’’ the spokesperson said.

Parents could call the Whakarongorau Disability Line for advice, which had a specific link to help those with needle phobias.

Marie’s situation isn’t unique – between 3 and 10 per cent of the population experiences a needle phobia, according to The Psychology Hub in Christchurch.

The hub, which specialised in helping people with anxiety, planned to run two vaccination clinics for people with needle anxiety at Bargain Chemist, Tower Junction, on December 10 and 13.

Hub director and clinical psychologist Aimee Hanson said clinically significant needle phobia necessitated treatment with an anxiety specialist.

Research suggested cognitive behavioural therapy, particularly the exposure therapy component, was the best treatment available.

The therapy would be slowerpaced for younger patients compared with adults, allowing the child or adolescent to gradually learn to tolerate increasing exposure to needles.