Please help this emetophobe prepare for long trip.

[NoroWorrier]

Morning all,

Hoping for some packing advice from those of you who share the fear of stomach bugs.

We’re off on a huge, 10 years in the saving, long haul trip very soon.

I have huge health anxiety/emetophobia and now that everything is booked and paid for and mostly packed it’s time for that to creep in.

Packed Dettol wipes for surfaces. Clinell wipes for hands. Anti viral hand foam.

Is there anything though that I could be doing better in terms of virus protection for our family?

I will disinfect the whole of our plane areas as we board. And same with each hotel as we arrive.

Obviously also be careful with food and drink.

Thanks in advance to anyone who understands. I know it’s silly to most. X

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Also - as I’m very much aware of how MNers can be - if you’re the sort of person who isn’t hugely phobic of stomach bugs/illness then please just scroll on by.

Yes I realise germs are good for us and we shouldn’t be sanitising everything. Yes I realise everyone gets sick sometimes. Yes I realise it’s just a stomach bug and not the end of the world.

But I have a genuine huge phobia - have had a lot of therapy - but it isn’t going to magically disappear in the next week so I’m here for advice that will help in that time frame please.

I like to use this when I travel... https://www.boots.com/nasaleze-travel-barrier-spray-800mg-10279758?cmmmc=bmm-buk-google-ppccPLAsAsHeroCompareareOTC--UKKSmartShoppinggOTC&gclid=CjwKCAjwxr2iBhBJEiwAdXECw2RM25Zw-dDckm7mJcxBdJTQO1vOUQfgXJSC3KfbS4FRA94r88pOpBoCgEkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Morning,

Ive struggled with emetaphobia my entire life too, so no judgement here! But I’m also trying really hard not to join in your panic and come up with avoidant solutions because ultimately it will make your anxiety worse.

You’re a week away from the holiday you’ve been planning for so long, so it’s natural to feel very stressed and very anxious about all the “what ifs”. The higher the stress/anxiety, the more we feel the need to control the environment and the more the phobia ramps up. Which works short term perhaps but long term it keeps us stuck in this belief that there are sickness bugs coming for us and it will all be a nightmare we can’t manage. But we can manage! You can do this.

My advice would be, to allow yourself a set time of worry okay. So it might be today between 12-2pm for example, in that time get a pen and paper and write down all the potential what ifs and then try to come up with a solution.
Eg; what if child gets sick on the plane and I’m stuck next to them on a plane with vomit - solution/ thought challenge - pack a spare change of clothes and some wet wipes, air hostess probably has dealt with this a million times and will offer some supplies to clean, I can count on my partner to clean up. Etc.

Once you’ve written it down, you say NEXT and carry on with your permission to worry.

But once the worry time is up, it’s done. Put those notes away and focus on what you can do to distract and ease from your anxiety. Lots of deep pressure/ proprioceptive feedback, plan the fun parts of your holiday, look at local stuff to do while you’re there. If the thought pops up then you say to yourself, sorry but we’ve had the worry time now so we don’t have time for it right now and distract distract distract. The worst thing you can do is start looking for evidence to confirm your fears (like being on social media/ looking at recent mumsnet threads about illnesses) because if you look for the evidence, you’ll find it and then you’ll get yourself stuck in the worry cycle and your holiday will be you feeling on edge the whole time.

You can do this!! If you need to take the safety items to feel prepared then do, now isn’t the time to be challenging yourself not to. So pack the wipes, sanitizer and maybe ask your doctor if they can prescribe a small course of antisickness medication? When I travel I usually have, hidden away at the bottom of my case, some antisickness prescription pills as my phobia is very much just about me being sick and I can manage others being ill. I don’t really ever take them unless I’ve really got myself in a loop where I’m not sure if I’m just really anxious or I genuinely feel nauseous but I’m strict on myself that they are a last resort. I’ve probably taken 1 in the past year, but just having them in the bottom of the bag just eases that anxiety when I’m travelling/away from home.

Hope this helps, have a lovely holiday 😊