Phobias

[louisvillelou]

Anyone willing to talk about phobias with me? I'm currently facing my most severe phobia (have been since yesterday) and I have no idea whether my responses are normal. I'm feeling pretty useless right now!

Over the last 24hrs I've gone from coping remarkably well, to suddenly freaking out and being unable to cope any longer, to hiding and panicking in bed, to utterly exhausted and just falling asleep, and then today I was ok, managing again, coping with direct exposure to my phobia, then noting that my anxiety levels were rising, no appetite, and now I'm exhausted again and want to burst into tears.

Is that normal? It's pretty prolonged, I guess. How do you find your phobias affect you? Do the up and down emotions I've described seem normal-ish? I feel so guilty for reacting this way, but I really can't help it. My back is aching with the tension and anxiety!

This sounds very similar to what I feel when I am faced with my emetophobia. It’s a rollercoaster and it’s absolutely exhausting when you’re faced with it for a long time. For me if anyone in the house is ill I have to hide away as it’s too much.

I think it’s normal and it’s normal to feel guilty too. Be kind to yourself

Thank you @TeamNegan, rollercoaster is exactly it! I have just been out into the garden and regained some equilibrium, but I didn’t want to come back in 😩

Yes, mine is emetophobia too, and toddler DS has a stomach bug. I feel so guilty because he wants me and I’m struggling to be there for him. Not least because he’s already puked down me twice 🙈

It's normal. I've just posted a long post about facing my dental phobia yesterday.
The night before I went to the dentist I spent the whole night panicking, sweating, feeling faint and nauseated. I was then quite calm again and then it started up again. Got really really bad when I went into the practice.
In the weeks running up to the appointment I've gone from being ok about it and being absolutely knocked out - curled up on the sofa facing the cushions and just crying and shaking.

Thank you @conxray . I’m so sorry you’ve been suffering too! Phobias are the very worst, and however hard you work on them (and I’ve worked HARD on mine) they still bite you when you’re not expecting it.