Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy About Squeamishness and Fainting

Our DD had the same reaction. For her, it was the word blood, and many things associated with it, even having her blood pressure taken at a well visit was extremely difficult for a few years. And yes vaccines; she was one of those kids much too big to need several nurses to hold her down, but she did.

She would describe similar feelings to your son's, but she would sometimes have more extreme reactions which resulted in fainting. She fainting during the first grade field trip to "hospital land" (an informational/educational visit to the local children's hospital.) She fainted while helping her dad stuff the turkey one Thanksgiving. She came close in health class a few times. She rationally knew this was an overreaction, and that she should be able to control,herself, but she couldn't, at least for several years.

Good news is that she is now able to handle her reactions, and hasn't fainted in a few years. She is aware of the warning signs in her own body, and knows how to prevent it. And amazingly, she has been able to compartmentalize things so that she can learn and enjoy topics that she shied away from when she was younger, like dissections in biology. We were worried she would never be able to get through high school bio, but she loved it including the parts that would have made her squeamish before. She will never like blood, and I doubt she will choose a career path that involves the hips an body, but she learned to control what is a very real, physical/visceral reaction.

I guess my on,y message is that this is a real problem for some people (adults as well as kids) and that he can learn to manage his reactions. I would talk to your DS about his relatives that faint, and if they will, have them discuss it with him, too. We also made sure to notify teachers ahead of time about potential problems. Especially in high school, it was very important to DD not to draw attention to herself; what she needed was awareness from the teacher in case she had to excuse herself and step out of the room (which she did a few times.) I also,think sometimes teachers don't really get it (though the HS bio teacher did, the first grade teacher assured me she would be fine, and then was kind of sheepish when she had to call me becuase DD had indeed fainted- I think she didn't really believe me.)