My son has always been very sensitive. He knew too much about germs when he was in Kindergarten (from those science encyclopedias he liked to read) and washed his hands excessively until I convinced him that he had a really good immune system that would take care of those germs. He also worried a lot about getting a head injury and brain damage any time he bumped his head--he had to know what that area of the brain controlled. This was after his grandmother went in for routine surgery and came out with brain damage and severe memory loss and we had to explain that she couldn't remember who he was even though she saw him every day because her brain was damaged. I was surprised when he didn't develop a fear of getting cancer when his dad was diagnosed with cancer but we had told him that we thought it might possibly have been the result of exposure to Agent Orange many years ago and that seemed to calm any fears that he might get it.
I have to come up with reasons why the particular thing that scares him is not likely to happen to him. We have to talk about what precautions we can take to keep the feared event from happening and he keeps asking questions until he feels that I have told him the whole truth and not left anything out. I understand this because I have always been like this too, just not as extreme.
At 11, he still sleeps with the light on. He still hears every noise. I still sometimes have to read to him until he falls asleep and he can go all night without sleeping. If you are in a tent with him trying to sleep, every time you fall asleep, he wakes you up asking if you heard something he heard, asks what could it be and are we really safe out here, etc.
He has never been stung by a bee or wasp but has seen people get stung, one was his best friend. He developed a fear of flying insects that he can't identify as they are buzzing past his head. He still has this fear especially if he is with the insect in an enclosed space like the car or tent (one reason I am worried about the Boy Scout camp). If the others found out about this fear I am sure they would tease him about it instead of being sympathetic and he would be very embarrassed. He is at an age now where he does care about what others think about him.
