Fear of vaccinations: What to do.
You and your partner have a baby and then it's time for big decisions, such as: to vaccinate or not to vaccinate? There is doubt about this for many people; is it right or wrong to vaccinate your baby? Because of a lot of negative publicity that you can find on the Internet, many people have also become afraid to vaccinate their child and if your partner really thinks otherwise, it is time to overcome that fear or at least check how real your fear is now
Vaccinations
Vaccinations are especially necessary for overall public health. In fact, vaccinations mainly target serious diseases that are highly contagious. If this were not done, you could get sick every so often from an infectious serious disease and die from it or at least become disabled.
So vaccinate you do for yourself, your child and your neighbor so to speak.
On the RIVM website, you can see all the things your child can be vaccinated against in the Netherlands[1].
Discussion around vaccinations
In 1998, researchers came up with the story that vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella could cause autism. However, this study was so poorly designed that the results were invalid and the study was withdrawn, but because the media immediately picked up on it, many people are still afraid to have their children vaccinated against these diseases.
The study spoke of 8 children who developed autism after this vaccination. However, the study had no control group in children who were not vaccinated so the effect of the vaccinations on developing autism could not be verified.
Thereby, according to the researchers, this was a kind of indirect consequence of the combined vaccination which then affected gut function allowing substances that could cause autism to reach the brain through the intestines in the body[2]. So even in this study, it was not even necessarily due to the vaccination, but mainly due to the combined vaccination.
Meanwhile, there are growing sounds that a certain gut flora may affect the development of autism, but this is still a chicken-and-egg story ( 2b).
In addition, it is now known that the measles virus actually attacks and destroys the memory cells of your immune system, thereby weakening your immune system for an extended period of time[3]. This effectively debunks the whole idea of not vaccinating so that the immune system can become strong on its own.
Then there is also discussion about the HPV vaccine. This vaccine is for girls that they can get between the ages of 10 and 12 and is to prevent cervical cancer from a certain bacteria[4]. There is also much discussion about this vaccine regarding its side effects, such as nerve pain. Many parents therefore give their children the choice at that age.
Reduce fear of vaccination
To reduce vaccine anxiety, it is helpful to first read up on vaccinations and the likelihood of side effects. You will find that the chances of chronic side effects are extremely low or virtually nonexistent.
This knowledge alone can reduce your fear of vaccinations.
In doing so, it is also helpful to read up on the risks you face from diseases when you do not have your child vaccinated[5]. Because it is now so popular not to vaccinate your child, it has actually become more dangerous not to do so[6]. You also notice this with regular measles outbreaks in the Netherlands and even streets that are then quarantined.
Not vaccinating your child really only works if everyone else is vaccinated, and unfortunately you can't assume that as much as you used to.
In addition, hypnosis can help you reduce your fear of vaccinations. This fear is based on beliefs in your subconscious. Perhaps you come from a family where vaccinations were forbidden for religious reasons, and your parents passed this belief on to you quite effectively, even though you yourself actually want to go in a different direction.
With various hypnosis techniques, it is possible to get to the core of your anxiety. This can be done, for example, with a Socratic Conversation. In such a conversation, the why question is repeated several times in order to get to the core of your fear or problem.
Most of the time, you then find out that your fears are not based on anything, and this makes you more open to installing new beliefs. You can do this with hypnosis by repeating hypnotic suggestions such as:
"Vaccinations protect my child from serious infectious diseases."
"Vaccinations keep my child's immune system strong."
"Vaccinations also protect the other children my baby plays with."
"My child can go to any daycare center with a vaccination."
These are just examples of hypnotic suggestions that help against these fears. Depending on your beliefs and fears, a hypnotherapist may choose to give you other suggestions.
Reduce fear of needles
Another issue clearly linked to the fear of vaccinations is the fear of needles—specifically, the fear of the pain a needle might cause during a vaccination[7].
You can unconsciously pass on this fear to your child. By saying things like "it's going to hurt for a while," for example.
Hypnosis can help you reduce your fear of needles and the pain caused by them. In addition, you can even receive hypnotic anesthesia, which allows you to feel less pain—or none at all—from the vaccine injection.
To ensure that you remain calm during your child’s vaccination—so you don’t pass on your fear of vaccinations—you can practice this behavior using a guided visualization. The hypnotherapist will help you so that you can evoke this feeling, this state of mind, while you’re at the vaccination appointment.
Such a guided visualization with a post-hypnotic suggestion can go as follows:
"You go to your appointment to get your baby vaccinated. You have everything with you and feel good and relaxed. You allow those feelings of relaxation and spread them to those around you, so that your baby and other people around you are also relaxed. You hold your child and let him/her feel from your grip that you are relaxed. When your child receives the prick you continue to smile and be cheerful. It feels good to give your child the protection he/she needs. You keep everything you say positive "You will soon be even healthier", "it is safe", "it is good". After this moment, that's the only way you talk about vaccinating with your baby."
Such guided visualization helps you stay positive and avoid unconscious signals of danger precisely. For example, many parents say "it won't hurt," but because the word pain is used, children start thinking about that anyway. Therefore, it is important not to use words that can evoke fear.
On the contrary, do you have an adolescent who needs to be vaccinated and whose fear of vaccinations you want to remove. Even then, it is important to stay positive and avoid double denial. For example:
- No pain = feels normal
- Scary diseases = get healthier
- Getting sick = strong immune system
In addition, you can come to a hypnosis seminar yourself to master the basics of hypnosis and positive suggestions.
In short, vaccinations and the fear of vaccinations are of all times. Yet it is important to vaccinate your child for his/her own health and the health of those around him/her.
To reduce fear of vaccinations, you can read up on the risks of vaccinations and diseases and weigh them against each other.
In addition, hypnosis can help you reduce yourself or your children's fear of vaccinations.
Want to know how hypnosis works? Then come to a hypnosis workshop in Zwolle or Wormerveer to learn in just one day how to put people under hypnosis and verify that they are truly hypnotized.
Would you like to get started right away with techniques to help yourself and others overcome fears? Then sign up now for one of our courses. The courses are held in Wormerveer, Zwolle, or online.
[1] https://rijksvaccinatieprogramma.nl/vaccinaties
[2] https://www.pnas.org/content/112/40/12236.short
[3] https://www.amc.nl/web/nieuws-en-verhalen/actueel/actueel/hoe-mazelen-het-immuunsysteem-wist-.htm
[4] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.5694/j.1326-5377.2011.tb02978.x
[5] https://www.voanews.com/archive/overcoming-fear-vaccinations
[6] https://www.ad.nl/den-haag/in-spagaat-na-uitbraak-van-mazelen~a6cb0bcf/
[7] https://www.mja.com.au/system/files/issues/194_06_210311/ber10870_fm.pdf