Do people really faint at the sight of blood?
Certainly not all people do but yes there are people who faint or have a panic attack at the sight of blood. In most cases it is simple vasovagal syncope (I have a link to information below). A lot of things can cause a vagal response including the sight of blood, having blood drawn, having any medical procedure (or even watching a person have medical procedure- be it brain surgery or a blood draw), and several dozen more. Less common is hemophobia, a phobic fear of blood. Keep in mind that being afraid of something and a phobia are completely different. Often hemophobia is a result of a traumatic injury involving a lot of blood) to oneself or a friend/family member, a result of a somatoform disorder, a result of having a medical procedure that did not go well, the death of a close friend/family member, a complication of mysophobia (fear of germs), thanatophobia (fear of death), nosophobia/cyberchondria (fear of having a disease due to research of disease online). A phobia causes signi
