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From the February issue of Today's Parent magazine:

It all started when 脡lyse was two years old. While on vacation in the US, her parents, Shawna and Justin Clouthier of Peterborough, Ont., took her to a hospital because they thought she had ingested some of her grandmother鈥檚 medication. Blood work had to be done, but the nurse couldn鈥檛 find a vein.

With each poke of the needle, 脡lyse would cry. Each time the nurse failed to find a vein, she would leave the room, waiting for the toddler to calm down. But as the ordeal dragged on, 脡lyse grew increasingly distressed, crying and fighting with each attempt until the nurse finally found a vein.

Now, four years later, 脡lyse鈥檚 fear of needles is so bad that her father has to hold her in a bear hug in order for her to get a shot. 鈥淓very time we have a flu shot, it turns into a fiasco,鈥� says Shawna. 鈥溍塴yse is a calm little kid, but she goes completely berserk. It鈥檚 sad and scary. And unfortunately it keeps happening.鈥� Worse: Her younger sister, Gis猫le, thinks she, too, should be scared of needles, and is terrified of her upcoming fifth birthday because it means she鈥檒l have a round of immunizations.

If there ever was a textbook case of needle phobia, this would be it. While there may be a biological predisposition to be afraid of certain things鈥攍ike the pain associated with needles鈥攎ost people acquire their phobias. Fears and phobias can stem from a traumatic childhood experience, says Christine Chambers, a child psychologist and professor of paediatrics at pilipili漫画 in Halifax. 鈥淚鈥檝e worked with hundreds of children and adults with significant fears. Almost all of these individuals can trace their fears back to one poorly managed procedure as a child,鈥� says Chambers.