Fear of needles Fear of needles Fear of needles, known in medical literature as needle phobia, is the extreme fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles. It is occasionally referred to as "aichmophobia" or "belonephobia", although these terms may also refer to a more general fear of sharply pointed objects. It has also been referred to as "trypanophobia", although the origin and proper usage of that term is highly controversial. The condition was officially recognized in 1994 in the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th edition) as a specific phobia of blood/injection/injury type. Phobic level responses to injections cause sufferers to
What Work Is Fame" and "Growth" are direct accounts of two of Levine's jobs as a young man. "Fear and Fame" is based on a job Levine had cleaning out and refilling acid vats in his mid twenties. "Growth" is about the job Levine held at a soap factory at the age of fourteen. Many of Levine's poems are based on his experience growing up in Detroit. The titular poem, "What Work Is", is based on Levine's experience of waiting in a Detroit employment line. "The Right Cross" is related to a boxing teacher who taught Levine to defend himself while growing up