Could you have Emetophobia?

[Gilly 1086]

HOW MANY OF THESE DO YOU SAY YES TO?....

You eat out in restaurants very rarely and when doing so you avoid chicken, spicy or unusual cuisines

You don't drink or restrict yourself to a glass of wine

You don't like pubs or clubs - even to the extent of walking past them

You dislike dinner parties, social events and crowded rooms which could lead to anxiety / panic attacks

You eat little in public and if so you sit near a door

You are very aware of checking sell-by dates

You avoid flying and travelling by boat

You avoid public transport, preferring to travel by car and driving yourself

You feel uncomfortable when visiting a cinema and insist on sitting at the end of a row

You avoid pregnancy fearing morning sickness and / or the fear of having a child and not being able to care for it correctly if they were to become sick

You avoid anyone with a real or imagined sickness bug - either within their own environment or in public places

You ensure that you always carry a bottle of water, mints or chewing gum

You are very aware of pavements and check weather forecasts to see when rain is due

---

I thought it was really quite funny that I said yes to every single one, never realised my 'must avoid vomiting at all costs' rituals and habits were so common. Didn't even realise what I had suffered with for over 10 years was a legitimate anxiety related disorder until a year or so ago, and that it was so common.

More great info and videos here http://www.emetophobia.com/

[JOYCICLE 654]

Please tell me what does pavement and weather forecasts have to do with it?

[Gilly 1086]

Personally, 1 sometimes there is vomit on the pavement, or dog poop. What do you think? yes barf. 2 you know how you have to plan everything in your head, just in case? Like you do when you go to walmart. Well nice dry pavements mean you can walk fast and get home and not slip and fall on your ass and risk puking on yourself. Yes the very thought that could actually happen would make me feel nauseous.

[thinker247 4]

wow... I think I answered yes to like every question. At the top of the list for me are movie theaters, class rooms, or pretty much any place with people where there is no real visible exit or easily accessible exit. I avoid those environments like the plague. Oh and I guess I would also avoid the plague, what with all the vomiting I assume is involved with that. I would also add on that list kissing someone on the lips or making out. I mean, wouldn't swapping be a huge way of contracting some sort of stomach virus or something? "Luckily" for me, the crippling social anxiety protects me from that one...

Also, doctors offices, Hospitals, and any place with a lot of kids are on top of that list. Them little kids puke like they breath man, or at least, that's what emetophobia would have me believe. It's kinda sad actually, because I love kids, but emetophobia makes me suspicious of them. I would like to be a father one day, but how the hell would I do that if I am afraid of catching something from my eventual kids? Once again though, I suppose I would have to get over my fear of people in general (social anxiety disorder) before kids would even be in the picture. Anyway, good post Gilly. Awareness is key, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that emetophobia is real as hell and it sucks monkey butt. I don't even really eat out or order in anymore because of it, and I am quite the glutton...

[shadowxmagic 0]

I DO have emetophobia and have been aware of it for a few years now. It's crippling. I got physically ill 2 days ago and I'm still afraid to eat. I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression a couple years back and I take meds for it, but they aren't helping in this circumstance. I am utterly miserable.

[jonathan123 2367]

The words DON'T, AVOID really come out at me.  For goodness sake! OK, so we have legitiimate anxiety and say yes to all the questions BUT WHAT ARE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT!! Avoidance is not good. Facing our problems and looking for a long term solutions is.

I answered NO to every question. Years back it would have been YES. So I don't like dinner parties or social events but we have to differentiate between not liking and having a phobia. I drive myself not because I have a phobia about public transport it's just more convenient. I avoid, as much as possible, crowded places not because I have a phobia but because I don't want to go through the misery of picking up a bug and getting a cold. Sensible avoidance NOT a phobia. I wonder how many think they have a phobia when, in fact, it is only a dislike. You are entitled to dislike something without getting up tight about it, surely? Yes Joy, I am a bit puzzled about the pavement and the weather. Two things we can do nothing about. Feeling anxious about going to the doctors or a hospital is surely normal? Unfortunately in anxiety we make so much out of nothing. I KNOW that's a real symptom but if we understand that dislike is not necessarily a phobia it can help.  Can't help it I know but an awareness of this fact can help.     Jon.

[Gilly 1086]

emetophobia (fear of vomiting) is pure hell, it is how my anxiety manifested in the early years and contributed hugely to my agoraphobia. I couldn't figure out why after all the times I had been sick in my life, how suddenly the thought of it scared me a ridiculous amount.

 

If I had to leave the house I would not eat anything until I returned, to minimise the chances I might feel sick. I would never eat out, washed my hands a million times to try and avoid germs, I sucked mints almost constantly to try and keep my mouth occupied, brushing my teeth was a real struggle.

 

It's a vicious circle, trapped in your body, feeling nauseous, then feeling more nauseous because the thought you may be sick terrifies you, especially in public. I guess unless you have it it's hard to understand. I feel lucky that I am mostly over it now, it crops up sometimes and can totally floor me but for the most part it's not a major issue like it used to be.

[jonathan123 2367]

You feel lucky you are over the worse of it Gilly, and good for you, but you had to work at it didn't you? These things just don't go way without effort, as you well know. Your CBT and all the other things you did must have helped. I know you still have problems but you do work on them don't you? This  is what I was saying on another post. It does take effort and perseverence and both those things are so difficult when we feel down. Pulling ourselves up by our boot laces is very taxing but it has to be done for any real recovery to take place. Apathy is a real curse in anxiety and has to be guarded against.     Jon.

[Gilly 1086]

I don't know tbh Jon, no it wasn't the CBT, the worst of my emetophobia passed long before I did the CBT. You know how the anxiety can focus on one specific aspect? I think the fear of vomiting was overtaken by a different/worse fear when my Mum had her stroke. 

 

Looking back I can see things with more clarity, I became emetophobic in 2000 and it got worse and worse over the years, but by my 'breakdown' at the end of 2009 my fears had escalated and it just seemed to vanish, creeping back if I had a pending hospital or dentist appt.. or christmas dinner at the in laws eeeek. I had the norovirus in March of this year, i don't know if you remember, but I think that was huge exposure therapy which helped me even more. It can creep up still, but it doesn't have the same control over me like it used to, and it doesn't last.