Needle Phobia – Why are children afraid of shots?

Children often are afraid of shots, which are not only necessary but also frequent in a child’s early years. This fear, and frequency, can lead to long-term fears of shots, according to the new report.

“Preschoolers are at a vulnerable period for developing phobias. Four-year-olds are developmentally more prone to fear, are very sensitive to their parents’ anxiety, and are concrete thinkers for whom good and bad are binary. Doctor good, pain bad,” Baxter says. “They remember traumatic events, and tell themselves stories to make sense of the world. If a good place where they’re supposed to be safe turns painful, they have to be held down, and their parent is upset, it makes sense that from their perspective it is a traumatic childhood event. To avoid causing a phobia, reduce the trauma.”