How to Overcome Your Anxiety of Self-Injections for Diabetes

There’s no right answer to get past or cope with anxiety surrounding self-injections for diabetes, but these strategies may help.

Very few, if anyone, likes getting injections. But living with diabetes means daily (or sometimes several times a day) injections are often a reality you need to face.

This can be particularly daunting if you already dislike needles and injections. And experiences with vaccinations, like flu or COVID shots, don’t really help.

Several strategies may help you cope with your anxiety surrounding the idea of self-injections, so you can figure out what works best for you.

Why do injections scare us?

The thought of daily or, possibly worse, multiple-times-a-day injections is often enough to make many people’s skin crawl.

Some people have needle anxiety. This might come from previous vaccinations or even blood draws. These are often done use large needles to inject the medications or draw blood. The needles used to inject insulin are much smaller.

But needle anxiety may only be one reason injections scare you. It may not even be the primary cause.

You may want to spend some time figuring out what about the injections scares you or makes you anxious.

Some possible causes of anxiety may include:

• fear of pain or harm from the injections or repeated injections
• feeling like injections suggest failure at treating the disease
• not wanting to do injections in front of others or in public spaces

Tips for managing self-injection anxiety

If you have anxiety around self-injections, you may find some of the following tips helpful to manage your anxiety.

Distract yourself

Distraction may help you get through your regular injections. The idea is to take your mind off the procedure by listening to music, watching a movie, or engaging in any other distraction that might help you do so without compromising your ability to inject your insulin safely.

Get to know your anxieties

What exactly bothers you about the injections? You can try to write down and identify what makes you feel the most anxious and then assign it a value based on how much it affects you.

You can then start working on addressing the least worrisome aspect, and once you have conquered that, move on to the next.

Do the injection in a private area

If the idea of injecting yourself in front of others bothers you, you can try to find a private area for the injection. This could be a restroom, changing area, or stepping into an empty room.

Not being in the public eye may help you feel more relaxed and comfortable.

Take steps to reduce pain at the injection site

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends using numbing sprays or creams to help reduce pain at an injection site. You could also cool the skin off, rub it, or use a buzzer to help your brain focus on the other sensation instead of the potential pain of the needle.

Take deep, calming breaths

Breathing exercises, such as breathing in deeply and exhaling slowly, may help calm your nerves and distract you from the injection.

Avoid pictures of injections

Watching others get shots, seeing pictures of needles, or seeing news about vaccinations may be triggering your anxiety or fear of self-injections.

Experts recommend avoiding seeing others get injected with needles to help prevent fear from building.

Talk with others

You’re not alone, and many people have struggled with the need for self-injections during their treatment journey. You might find it helpful to discuss with others how they manage their self-injection anxieties. This might lead you to find new strategies that work well for you.

Is it anxiety or fear?

It’s also possible to develop an extreme fear or phobia of needles. The fear of needles is known as trypanophobia.

It’s estimated that as many as 1 in 4 adults and 2 in 3 children have a strong fear of needles — often due to experiencing pain from needles.

If a phobia develops, it can cause severe reactions that make treatment difficult, including:

• fainting
• an intensified feeling of pain from a needle
• severe panic

If you feel like you might have a phobia of needles, consider sharing your fears with a doctor. They may recommend counseling or other therapeutic options to help you cope.

Takeaway

A lot of people have self-injection anxiety or fears. It’s normal, and you’re not alone if the idea of poking yourself regularly makes you anxious.

If you find yourself worrying about self-injections, you may want to discuss your concerns with your doctor. They may have some advice to help you or recommend you see a therapist.

Several strategies may help you cope with anxiety about self-injections. It’s important to find one that works for you. Reaching out to others may also help you come up with new strategies that help.