People who call themselves emetaphobes - are they for real?

[haychee]

I hadnt even heard of this until a thread i started which mentioned the word puke produced an effect on some that they coudnt even come on to mn until that thread had died. They couldnt even bare to read a word?!

Another thread running now, is talking about how some are affected by this phobia. Some of them i can see it is a real big problem and for them i do have sympathy. But some, who like me, do not like to see others being sick but are classing themselves as emetaphobic - this im finding difficult to comprehend. I dont like it at all - i avoid being too close to someone (eg kissing dh or dc if they have been ill in the last few days) for fear of exposing myself to a possible bug. But im not emetaphobic - please tell me im not.

Dottydot and DG - your posts are really good and heart felt. I hope ds is feeling better today dg.
Just wanted to say that although I don't suffer from this I do have an irrational fear of spiders and wasps so I can empathise and would never dismiss it the way the OP has

She is!

oh DG I am sorry you are feeling so down.

haychee, you really know how to upset people, dont you

and your phobia is obiously much worse than mine as I can get dh or somoene to deal with orrid insects whereas you and dottyd's dp live all day with your fear

yes I agree, mine isn't a phobia it's a dislike

Oh and the definition of a phobia is an IRRATIONAL fear. Irrational means something that is not reasoned, sane, intelligent or judicious (quoting dictionary here). So stop trying to make our fears fit your understanding of a situation because that is the whole point: they don't.

Is a fear of snakes irrational, though? Because I have a HUGE phobia of snakes, but if phobia is irrational fear, I'm confused. I thought snakes were dangerous, can poison or suffocate...? So it's rational to be nothing less than wary of them, surely?

And a fear of sick is pretty rational, too. I don't have a sick phobia, but I don't enjoy it and certainly worry if I feel I might be sick.

I will annoy some people here by saying I haven't read the whole thread, or in fact anything past, ermmm, the OP - I'm supposed to be studying - but phobias are very real and very hard to deal with. Mine is snakes. Others have phobias of clowns; my friend hates balloons. Usually triggered by something that has happened in childhood or early adulthood, sometimes even later on.

Having said that, I think wanting a thread to disappear because you have a phobia of something mentioned in the title, is probably a bit off. Should I avoid the pets section because of my phobia? I can see how the word would give an image of sick/being sick and may even remind the person of the feeling, but there are other boards here. Everyone has a different phobia, and how is every poster here supposed to cater for every phobia - like clowns - 'I booked a clown for my DD's bday party and it was rubbish. AIBU to want my money back?', may put people off with a clown phobia, but we come across our phobias every day in life; it's unavoidable.

Unfortunately, I don't know the solution. Just don't look at the word too long. But don't avoid MN.

MrsCarrot,

I will not use public loos for this reason. Maybe I am phobic of them. I know if I am touched by someone I don't know or touch a bin or surface then I have t use milton. Right or wrong, whether it causes MRSA or not, I have to.

I challenge you to find anyone who likes being sick/seeing sick/smelling sick. But a phobia is completely different to that.

I have a fear of driving. Have done lessons over a period of 2 years, and have still not progressed to my test. I have an irrational fear of crashing and killing my nearest and dearest or someone else. Totally illogical I know.

Perhaps Haychee as a driving instructor you can help?

I have stopped lessons for the time being. But couldn't get through them without being dozed up on Imodium.

Your stomach is your enemy and its the not being able to distinguish between whether you really feel sick or whether you have an anxiety about feeling sick.

My mum didn't have the phobia but it was very obvious to me that she didn't like being sick herself (which I know nobody does) but somehow I believe I picked up the phobia from her as I saw her distress and thought it was something to be afraid of.

I am totally scared of spiders but I know for a fact it isn't a phobia. I don't wake in the morning and wonder whether I will see one but at least once every day in my life I have thought about myself or someone close to me being sick.

Wow, haven't read the whole thread, but it's a bit harsh isn't it? If you don't have the phobia OF COURSE you're not going to understand it!!! I'm not agoraphobic (OK, probably not spelled correctly) and I don't understand it - but am sympathetic to those who have this phobia. It's irrational. That's the point.

Of course no-one likes vomit. But I have lain on a bathroom floor for 7 hours barely moving to avoid the reflex of being sick.

Ah well, everyone's different. I'm a particularly sympathetic person - can't expect everyone to be the same.

Howdo Lapin

Do you think they will perhaps customise it in a similar way to the button you can press to select "Without Buying or Selling", but have a Without threads started by ........ so you could type in, say Haychee.

Actually, I sometimes think there is a button that says "Without Winestein" [paranoid]

CrazyDazy - that's interesting, because I think I picked up a massive snake phobia through my mum. She can't see them on TV or anything, but I am worse! I guess I was always aware of her phobia when she wouldn't go near the reptile house at the zoo, switched off the tv/radio if they were mentioned... But one day, when I was 5, it was pet day. She was there helping for the day and was stood by the wall while all us children were sat on the floor. There were teachers and other helpers stood by the wall. The man from the zoo took out this HUUUUUUUUUGE snake from a cage thing and brought it round all the children to look at and stroke. My mum screamed the minute she saw it and ran from the hall. I remember to this day where she was stood, the sound and her movement, and also where I was sat and what the man looked like, the position of the snake... everything! Anyway, because she did that I wouldn't touch the snake when it came to me and remember physically receeding! From that day my phobia has grown. I feel sick at the thought of the zoo or places like it - took the kids I nannied to Tropiquaria as a treat when I left a few weeks ago, and found the day nearly impossible. The mum took us there and I thought I'd just avoid the snake areas, but it was really difficult to with three young children. I have read stories about snakes coming up through the loo after people losing their pet snake, and have a massive fear of that every time I use the loo. My primary 6 teacher had snakes and one got behind the skirting board and died in her house, after weeks of her thinking it was missing, so now I am afraid of finding someone else's snake behind my skirting board. I can't read stories with snakes in, look at snake teddies, pictures, listen to snake noises or look at them on the TV. Even worms give me the creeps because they remind me of snakes. I went for a casual babysitting job interview about 18 months ago and ended up leaving the house when they told me they had snakes, asked me to come see them so they could show me how I would need to feed them.

I can't DO snakes, thanks to my mum, but IMO, it isn't an irrational fear because they are dangerous and pretty evil looking.

I had a major phobia about vomiting about 15 years ago to the extent that I took travel sickness pills every day and ate nothing but cheese for 2 years because I thought I could not catch any form of food poising from cheese I would not eat out I would not go to pubs, clubs etc etc - the only way I got over it was therapy there are 2 common forms of therapy for phobias one is called flooding where the object you have a phobia of is put in front of your eyes again and again and again and gradually the brain starts to rationlise it and you begin to understand that this situation is not killing you or making you ill and you begin to deal with it - this worked for me with vomiting and spiders not to the extent that I like either but to the extent that I can deal with them and more importantly will not pass these phobias onto my daughter sorry if this has already been said new to site - the other form of therapy for deep routed phobias is step therapy this works for heights and flying and does exactly what it says on the tin you take it step by step much slower

Horseywoman, totally feel for you with your phobia but as I have no fear of snakes apart from the general wariness of them as they can kill etc I could not, until I saw your post see how they could affect your life like my phobia does as we don't often see snakes day to day but its the actual "thought" of seeing the thing your afraid of which makes the phobia much worse. So now I can see why you could be just as scared as I am with your phobia.

Better not invite you to ours....we have two skinks which are lizards but just look like little snakes with legs on.

My brother has 2 gekkos. LOL. I think it's his ploy to not have his older sister for dinner!!

Yes, you are right, it's the though; and it's not something you notice unless you are afraid of them - adverts with snakes in, cartoons with snakes in, kids' books with snakes in, the nursery one of my charges went to had Sammy Snake the puppet (I am a nanny). When you are afraid of something, it is everywhere, and indeed could be everywhere, including in very vivid nightmares sometimes. I've had dreams where I am sleeping on a mattress full of snakes. The story of medusa at school, scared the life out of me!

Lapin

May I take the opportunity to apologise for the second one. I had just got in from the pub and thought it was a good idea, Mi Lud.

However, in the morning it transpired that drinking had not been a good idea and my comment wasn't funny.

(The second one. First one still stands )

Aw bless you!!! Yes you are right, there are snakes everywhere, my kids love toy ones. I had never noticed because like you say it doesn't affect me. If I think of a snake then its a snake in a zoo not in day to day life but yes on lots of children's programmes there are snakes aren't they?

HorseyWoman, the point is, if your fear of snakes is irrational. of course most of us have some sort of fear of snakes in that if we saw a boa constrictor coming for us or a rattle snake rattling at us, we would all be scared. But dd and I saw a snake a few months ago - it slithered in front of us and nearly got run over by dd's bicycle wheel - and neither of us were scared, but excited because we do not have a phobia of snakes and I for one knew it was harmless.

A phobia of snakes would be if you were scared where you did not need to be, eg got panic symptoms at the sight of a picture of a snake or with a child's cuddly toy, or worried about unlikely encounters with snakes (all of which you say you do).

LittleLapin, I love hugs. Thanks for yours.