Originally Posted by
Taosaur
I've had the same experience twice in relation to giving blood. Once, at a high school assembly when we were being told about giving blood, with no pictures or anything, I just went kind of numb and clammy with a ringing in my ears and everything seemed very far away and unreal for about ten minutes. The one time I actually tried to give blood, almost as soon as the needle was in my arm, I turned to the nurse and asked, "Should I be this dizz-" and the next thing I knew I was on my back with my feet in the air and people standing around me. Blood in other contexts doesn't bother me, nor do needles, nor was I all that emotionally anxious in either of these situations--something just tripped a breaker and I went into a shock state, somewhat similar to experiencing vertigo.
What I would suggest is a technique I use for vertigo and hiccups (I've cured someone else's hiccups by talking them through this method, too). It seems to be effective with pretty much any involuntary response that's getting out of control. When you feel the response coming on, close your eyes and breathe normally--let your breath do whatever it wants to, whether fast or slow, deep or shallow, whatever. Observe the sensations of feeling feint; experience them fully, but you don't have to analyze them or try to stop them--you know trying to stop them doesn't work, so why would you bother? Just see what happens.
Obviously the technique derives from meditation, and maybe it's easier for a practiced meditator, but I've walked a non-meditator through it to cure a tenacious case of hiccups and it worked just fine. Both my blood-giving incidents came before I'd picked up mindfulness meditation, so I haven't tried it on this particular problem. Maybe I'll attempt to give blood again and try it out.