MANAGEMENT OF BLOOD-DRAWING FEARS IN ADOLESCENTS WITH COMORBID ANXIETY AND DEPRESSIVE-DISORDERS

As more pharmacologic treatment and research on child and adolescent p sychiatric patients are conducted, the common problem of blood-drawing fears will need to be addressed. Avoidance of blood-drawing could jeo pardize an individual's physical and mental health, and inhibit the co llection of data aimed at furthering the study of psychiatric disorder s in youth. This report describes the naturalistic application of spec ific techniques for managing severe blood-drawing fears in adolescent subjects undergoing a clinical trial. The adolescents (ages 12-18) wer e 44 consecutive school refusers with comorbid anxiety and major depre ssive disorders. Of the school-refusing adolescents, 27% (12 of 44) we re observed to have a severe fear of blood-drawing. A management strat egy comprised of providing information, distraction, supportive reassu rance, and exposure appeared successful in managing the fears of blood -drawing in all of the adolescents, except two. These 2 adolescents re fused to enter the treatment study due to a marked fear of blood-drawi ng. All 10 subjects who exhibited a fear of blood-drawing and were abl e to complete the initial blood test, using the interventions noted, w ere able to obtain subsequent venipunctures with minimal or no avoidan ce behavior. These preliminary findings suggest that blood-drawing fea rs can be effectively managed in most cases, though controlled studies of these interventions are needed.