Can't stand blood? Then you're actually a survivor

I used to have zero problems with it, but the older I get, the less brave I seem to be. Anyway, I seem to be getting much more scared of everything. Heights, roller coasters, flying… Just name it and suddenly I'm afraid of it. And so of blood. Well, not necessarily afraid, but it really didn't bother me before if I or someone else had a big wound (except that the pain is a bit unfortunate), nowadays I get spontaneous spaghetti legs from it. Completely dizzy.

That's not strange at all: a lot of people have that issue. But where does it actually come from? Such a reaction to seeing blood can cause a vasovagal syncope, or fainting due to something being triggered. That can be from seeing blood, which causes an acute stress moment. This causes your heart rate and blood pressure to suddenly drop, and you therefore collapse.

Okay, that all sounds pretty logical, right? But the funny thing is that this vasovagal syncope has its origins in our survival instinct. Animals also show these reactions, but actual fainting only occurs in humans. Instead of thinking that you're really weak and/or dramatic because you can't handle it, you should see it this way: your body is actually taking really good care of you.

When you have such an acute stress moment, your heart is racing and your blood pressure isn't completely steady, your body goes into a sort of safety mode. As a reaction to your heart doing particularly strange things: your body might think this is a dangerous situation for you, and to give your heart some rest, you therefore pass out.

According to scientists, this stems from a defense mechanism from the past and is therefore a remnant that still exists in us thanks to evolution. If your heart used to make strange jumps, it could indicate an anomaly and could potentially be life-threatening. Reaction: shut down your whole body for a moment. And that probably saved a lot of lives back then. So no, you're not a wimp for not being able to handle blood; you just have a body that protects you the best it can. This also applies to the moments when you faint while having blood drawn. That is regulated by the same vasovagal reaction. You can thank your ancestors for that.