Emetephobia Community - My Story

Simon few things

1) you're very brave to come out like that and share you're story

2) I didn't know what emetophobia is. Now I do. Thanks for teaching me about that.

3)I'm just hoping I don't have that(to be honest I'm not sure if that's hypochondria talking or not)

4) hi

Wow thank you for being brave enough to tell everyone this! I have pretty bad emetephobia, and havent heard of anyone else having it until now, so thats a huge relief! I can relate to alot of this, especially the shaking, but i think you definitely have it worse than me. i was never deterred from doing certain things like eating in the cafeteria, but i was always on alert to see if anyone looked sick. anytime i thought someone looked sick in class i would just focus on them the whole time so that i could monitor if they puked or not, and then the shaking would start. I think my worst experience was in the 5th grade, there was a kid in my class who had some sort of problem with his stomach, and he would throw up at least twice everyday. yikes. anyway thank you so much it was really nice to know that someone else struggles with this! best of luck, i hope it gets better :)

Hi!

I suffer from emetophobia too. I have since I was 10 years old. This post makes me feel less alien, so thank you for writing it. I'm struggling a lot more at the moment, but it helps to know that you are coping now.

I'm happy to hear that there's an official awareness day for emetophobia.

To everyone else suffering: you're not alone! Stay strong!

ellie x

I hope I'm not too late but I struggle with this phobia DAILY. I honestly hate it. I have such bad hypochondria and anxiety because of it too. I don't know where to go or what to do. I started seeing a therapist in the summer but so far it has not helped. The only thing I feel like I do there is vent and talk about my panic attacks and hypochondria. I am stuck between finding a good therapist and finding other people to connect with who also struggle with this phobia.

It controls my daily life and there hasn't been a day that has gone by where I haven't thought I was going to come down with an illness. How do you all cope? Do you get anxiety attacks often because of this? Please let me know as I am feeling desperate, scared, alone, and DOOMED.

Any time someone around me is getting sick I get a terribly unpleasant adrenaline rush, including hammering heart and shaking hands and my skin feels cold and numb. I would say it might be a mild form of anxiety attack. The first time I can remember it happening I was 7 and I was on a plane and the person sitting just diagonally across the aisle from me was getting sick and I cried and covered my ears. It's horrible. I never knew this was a legitimate phobia until this week, actually, just before stumbling across this thread. Mine isn't as severe as your sounds, simon, but I definitely have a strong reaction. And it lingers for hours. I am a delivery driver and I had a delivery for the hospital once, but when I went in, the receptionist was violently throwing up in a trash can right at his station. I had to wait outside and have a security guard fetch the nurse I was delivering to because I was shaking and lightheaded and horrified. This was probably two months ago and I still refuse to go there anymore. I send coworkers when deliveries for the hospital come in.

Alright, I'm going to bombard y'all with stories now because holy hell this is a subject of horror and no one ever seems to believe how much I cannot stand being around vomiting humans (for some reason dogs and cats are mostly fine. I think I've gotten used to that). My family used to go on a couple road trips every year and I have a sister who ALWAYS gets carsick. One reason I hate road trips, and love noise cancelling headphones. I hate planes for the same reason (as well as an irrational fear of crashing. Planes on their own are a huge panic attack). I also have a mother who throws up for basically no reason. If her food was even slightly iffy. If she drinks a decent amount of alcohol. If she's simply sick. (If you are squeamish please ignore the next very yucky sentence, I'm sorry to include it but she's just awful). She screams when she's vomiting, which creates the most awful gargling sound, and to make it worse, she leaves the bathroom door wide open, and it faces my bedroom door, and did I mention our house is the opposite of sound proof? The master bathroom is completely across the house from my room, and I can still hear her. I hear her in my dreams even. I am actually afraid of her. Every time I hear a noise outside my room at night I get irrationally terrified that it's her and she's awake because she's going to be getting sick. It makes sleeping difficult. My boyfriend is also a hideously disgusting vomit machine (only digusting in that sense, I mean he's very pleasant in all other senses) and it's scary to sleep by him too because every time he jerks around or sits up my heart starts racing and I feel my throat tighten because it's happened enough times that he's rushed out of bed to throw up that now it's a consistent fear. Last story: I found out in the worst way possible that my coworker is pregnant and has morning sickness. What is it with people that they can't be silent when they're throwing up? I don't make a sound. I've thrown up in a bathroom right off the living room, with several people right on the other side of the wall, and no tv or loud sounds going on, and no one even knew I was sick. It's not that hard! Please stop terrifying me with your yuckiness! (Fun fact: I have no problem throwing up myself. It's only other people. Odd!)

Anyway. THANK YOU for listening. I am really glad to have found out that this is a legitimate phobia and I am not just an overly-sensitive weirdo. My boyfriend think I'm weird because I hate barf so much but seriously, what is worse. What can possibly come out of a human that is worse than barf? Can a human make any more disgusting a noise than that gagging cough? No. The answer is no.

Have a nice day, people! sorry for making it gross! :) :(

Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone.

I'm lying in bed as always at 1am, my stomach hurting and my mind racing. This happens unbearably often. I take mental notes: have I been around anybody that is sick? What did I eat today? and things of that nature. Let me tell you something. I'm tired of feeling this. I'm starting to lose hope. It's nights like this that I'd almost rather die than sit here and be afraid. This phobia is literally killing me. I hardly eat anymore. I can't sleep at night. I'm miserable. I just want the pain and fear to end. I'm seeing a therapist but she doesn't specialize in phobias so she doesn't know how to really go about treating mine, as severe as it is. I just feel so helpless like I'm doomed to feel this way forever. I'm glad I'm not alone, really, but it's still so hard for me to be willing to go on.