Emetophobia

[Looneytune253]

I'm starting to think I might be emetophobic and wondering what I can do with it.
For a couple of years now I have had problems with my bowels and will have nausea and sometimes diarrhoea. I have linked this with stress or anxiety. I have had an anxiety around sick bugs too and i just can't get my head around it. I've never been frightened of vomit before and I'm still not but lately I just have to think about someone (who I don't know) who has a bug and I instantly feel sick. It's not even a conscious thought. My daughter threw up (once) a little while ago and I actually started pacing and panicking and worrying and ended up being ill myself. It's defo not a rational or conscious thought because I can tell myself its ok and I can rationalise it but I still get the physical symptoms.
I heard about a bug this morning and I immediately felt sick. Haven't even seen these people but it got me thinking if my daughter gets ill and I'm not gonna be able to cope with it. I need to do something.

Ive been telling myself its not a phobia cos I'm not afraid of vomit or vomiting but my panic when my daughter was sick was not normal. What can I do?

I have the same feeling as you about sickness/illness. For me, I can trace it back to an occasion a few months ago when we all got a nasty bug. I was pregnant at the time and a combination of these things triggered my anxiety. It sound slike you are feeling panicky and anxious, and there are lots of people who feel this way, and it's a very common reaction to stressful situations. I started sertraline a few months ago and have felt an improvement. I also do deep breaths and try and keep busy. If I feel really worried I try and put the radio or music on make myself have fun by dancing and signing along. Another thing I do to help overcome the anxiety is to have a stash of illness things - antibacterial wipes, n old bowl for sick, cloths, an.old towel to put on the bed, and those incontinence mats.

Hope you can find a way forward, or something which can distract you from the anxious thoughts..

I don't even have a sick bucket which I think would relax me a little bit to know it was there. Lol.
I find distraction does help but it's hard when you're already panicking. Sometimes I just go to sleep (if it's evening) then if I wake up I tend not to feel nauseous as I'm not thinking about it. That's obv not practical all the time though.

Does anyone else have any advice? I was ill again last night but think it was anxiety rather than thinking someone else was ill. My daughter has been in hospital all week which I coped with quite well (even when the nurse was chatting to her colleague about the horrible bug she still had!?!?!) But last night I was quite violently ill (diarrhoea) and think it's just psychological??