June 13, 2012

Plot

Last week, I faced one of my greatest fears. Don’t laugh at me when I say all I did was get a cavity filled. It’s not the dental work itself that scares me — three years of braces got me pretty used to someone poking around in my mouth. The trouble is the Novocain. I’m terribly afraid of needles. I know lots of people don’t like shots, but that’s not quite what I’m talking about.

I’ve always been queasy about shots, and I remember a fair bit of anxiety at the doctor’s office when I was a kid. But the real trouble started when I had two traumatic needle experiences my first year of college. Since then, the very thought of a needle has given me cold sweats. I think I may actually be clinically phobic, though I haven’t checked with anyone on that. Talking about shots causes my heart to race. Sometimes I get light-headed. It’s ridiculous.