The DOI matches its Crossref record; 18 of the 18 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Treatment of Severe Blood-Injection-Injury Phobia With the Applied-Tension Method: Two Adolescent Case Examples
Abstract
Blood-injection-injury phobias can be so severe that they interfere with receiving necessary medical care. Compared with most other phobias that typically increase heart rate, blood-injection-injury phobias are unique in their association with vasovagal responses. Thus, patients with blood-injection-injury phobias are typically less responsive to relaxation techniques, which in fact may be counterproductive. The current case studies describe use and clinical effectiveness of applied tension for treatment of severe blood-injection-injury phobia in two adolescent patients. Treatment included in vivo gradual exposure to feared stimuli combined with mastery of the tension technique to cope with anxiety, reduce vasovagal responses, and ultimately receive recommended medical treatment. Both patients experienced a significant decrease in anxiety and successfully underwent medical intervention without experiencing syncope. Directions for future research are discussed.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Citations
Cites
One-session treatment for specific phobias
Öst, L.-G. (1989) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(89)90113-7 · Cited by 498
Management of Vasovagal Syncope: Controlling or Aborting Faints by Leg Crossing and Muscle Tensing
Krediet, C. T. P., van Dijk, N., Linzer, M., van Lieshout, J. J., & Wieling, W. (2002) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/01.cir.0000030939.12646.8f · Cited by 372
One-session treatment of specific phobias in youths: A randomized clinical trial.
Öst, L.-G., Svensson, L., Hellström, K., & Lindwall, R. (2001) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.69.5.814 · Cited by 281
Pate, J. T., Blount, R. L., Cohen, L. L., & Smith, A. J. (1996) · Children s Health Care · doi:10.1207/s15326888chc2504_4 · Cited by 223
Cohen, L. L., Blount, R. L., & Panopoulos, G. (1997) · Journal of Pediatric Psychology · doi:10.1093/jpepsy/22.3.355 · Cited by 219
(1988) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.145.10.1207 · Cited by 213 · cited 3×
“, slow heart rate), decreased blood pressure, vertigo, and potential syncope (e.g., fainting; Marks, 1988).”
BackgroundThe epidemiology of blood-injection-injury phobia
BIENVENU, O. J., & EATON, W. W. (1998) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291798007144 · Cited by 212
Blood and injection phobia: Background and cognitive, physiological, and behavioral variables.
Öst, L. (1992) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.101.1.68 · Cited by 199
A specific behavioral method for treatment of blood phobia
Öst, L.-G., & Sterner, U. (1987) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(87)90111-2 · Cited by 158
Applied tension, exposure in vivo, and tension-only in the treatment of blood phobia
Öst, L.-G., Fellenius, J., & Sterner, U. (1991) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(91)90006-o · Cited by 138 · cited 5×
“It is probable that, unlike the adult trials that suggest that exposures are not an essential part of the initial treatment (Hellstrom et al., 1996; Öst et al., 1991), practice with exposures concurrent with learning the tension component may be particularly important for children and adolescents who likely need more…”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialKleinknecht, R. A., & Lenz, J. (1989) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(89)90088-0 · Cited by 120
One versus five sessions of applied tension in the treatment of blood phobia
Hellström, K., Fellenius, J., & öst, L.-G. (1996) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(95)00060-7 · Cited by 117 · cited 3×
“It is probable that, unlike the adult trials that suggest that exposures are not an essential part of the initial treatment (Hellstrom et al., 1996; Öst et al., 1991), practice with exposures concurrent with learning the tension component may be particularly important for children and adolescents who likely need more…”
BackgroundMethodCohen, L. L. (2002) · Journal of Pediatric Psychology · doi:10.1093/jpepsy/27.8.749 · Cited by 111
Berlin, I., Bisserbe, J. C., Eiber, R., Balssa, N., Sachon, C., Bosquet, F., & Grimaldi, A. (1997) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/diacare.20.2.176 · Cited by 102
Applied tension, applied relaxation, and the combination in the treatment of blood phobia
Öst, L.-G., Sterner, U., & Fellenius, J. (1989) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(89)90069-7 · Cited by 87 · cited 1×
“…be learned quickly, the 16 and 11 sessions conducted with these two patients were significantly more than the 1 or 5 sessions typically reported in the majority of the Öst and colleagues studies (Öst et al., 1989; Öst et al., 1991; Öst & Sterner, 1987; Öst, Svensson, Hellstrom, & Lindwall, 2001).”
BackgroundPrinciples of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Disorders in Children
Gosch, E. A., Flannery-Schroeder, E. C., Mauro, C. F., & Compton, S. N. (2006) · Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1891/jcop.20.3.247 · Cited by 81
The effects of muscle tension on cerebral circulation in blood-phobic and non-phobic subjects
Foulds, J., Wiedmann, K., Patterson, J., & Brooks, N. (1990) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(90)90134-5 · Cited by 39
Psychophysiologic effects of applied tension on the emotional fainting response to blood and injury
Vögele, C., Coles, J., Wardle, J., & Steptoe, A. (2003) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(01)00133-4 · Cited by 37
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The multibranched nerve: vagal function beyond heart rate variability
Karemaker, J. M. (2022) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108378 · Cited by 65
Chapman, L. K., & DeLapp, R. C. T. (2014) · Clinical Case Studies · doi:10.1177/1534650113509304 · Cited by 16
A comprehensive group‐based cognitive behavioural treatment for blood‐injection‐injury phobia
Mason, E. C., Gaston, J. E., Pestell, C., & Page, A. C. (2021) · British Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjc.12345 · Cited by 16
Hiermeier, U. M., & Mofrad, L. (2020) · The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist · doi:10.1017/s1754470x2000046x · Cited by 6
Self-arranged exposure for overcoming blood-injection-injury Phobia: a case study
Pitkin, M. R., & Malouff, J. M. (2014) · Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1080/21642850.2014.916219 · Cited by 4
Castagna, P. J., Nebel-Schwalm, M. S., Davis, T. E., & Muris, P. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108140416.016 · Cited by 2
Managing Maladaptive Mood and Arousal
Pincus, D. B., Madigan, R. J., Kerns, C. E., Hardway, C. L., & Comer, J. S. (2014) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118500576.ch16 · Cited by 1
Martinez, S. E., Walker, S. G., Zangrillo, A. N., & Graham, A. N. (2023) · Clinical Case Studies · doi:10.1177/15346501231184269 · Cited by 1
Freeman, D. H., Freeman, J., Farmer, E., Turner, H. S., Ward, R., Miguel, A. L., Bousfield, M., Myrick, J., Rovira, A., McShane, H., et al. (2026) · EClinicalMedicine · doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2026.104038
Metadata
- Authors
- Mednick, L. M., & Claar, R. L.
- Affiliations
- Boston Children's Hospital (US)
- ORCID
- Mednick, Lauren M.
- Venue
- Clinical Case Studies
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-02
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 24-34
- ISSN
- 1534-6501 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-3802
- OpenAlex
- W2013150024
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Clinical Case Studies (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Sara Page Mayo Endowment for Pediatric Pain Research and Treatment
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Health Sciences › Dentistry › Oral Surgery › Dental Anxiety and Anesthesia Techniques
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- blood-injection-injury phobia, applied tension, vasovagal reaction, anxiety reduction, adolescents, syncope, relaxation techniques
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review