Emetophobia

[MissCeltic]

I have had a fear of being sick and in particular eating in front of people and that includes my own family since I was a child. It got better as I got older but over this year it has come back worse than ever. I was almost sick in a car journey back in May and since then I have barely left my flat. My parents were supposed to be staying with me for Christmas but the anxiety over having to eat Christmas dinner and the worry that I will be sick has made me call then and tell them that I am sick so that I can avoid it, I have literally spent the last hour crying because I feel so guilty. I literally can’t cope anymore. My parents are the best people and would do anything for me and I just feel like the worst person.

This fear of sickness has completely broken me and it has made my life so small as I avoid every situation where there are people and it’s exhausting hiding it from my family.

Has anyone ever suffered from this.

My friend's teenage daughter (14) suffers from this. She's been off school since early Oct getting therapy. Hardly leaves the house.

The only time I have left the house since May is to go to the shop around the corner. I work from home so I don’t have to leave to go to work and my parents come to my flat to visit me rather that me going to them. I think on some level they have an idea that this is affecting me again.

I definitely need some kind of therapy but I am so embarrassed to even tell my doctor.

I’ll inbox you xx

Hi, yes I have. I used to feel nauseous eating in front of my family in particular.

definitely reach out to your doctor. I first discovered I had emet (I’ve suffered all my life, but didn’t know it had an actual name) about 15 years ago. There are sooooo many more resources now.

OP you need to get the book ‘Overcoming OCD’ by Professor David Veale. Honestly it changed my life in one weekend xx

Thank you and I will get that

My daughter (aged 15) has it. Has been debilitating but she seems to be much better now. It was the worst in lockdown.

I have this too. its actually a really common phobia, and crippling. nobody i tell ever understands and i get the same comments of "nobody likes being sick".
it is so much more than that!
dont be ashamed to tell a doctor they can refer you for treatment. in my case it has not cured it but lessened the symptoms and allowed me to get out more .

Yes people don’t understand how crippling it is. Of course we all understand that nobody likes being sick but yeah it’s so much more than that.

I think it started when I was little and was sick on holiday and then after that everytime we went on holiday I was sick the first night and then it progressed to eating in front of people or eating in public. It’s exhausting.

I suffer so badly that I didn’t leave my house for a year. The best thing I ever did was exposure therapy, I can now leave the house and go on trips that I never thought would ever be possible again - but it took a lot of hard work and commitment and if I’m not on the ball for even a day or 2, I feel the difference. It’s a phobia that you have to constantly challenge in order to live any sort of life and I’m just so mentally tired of it at the moment, so I really do send my sympathies to you because I know how hard it is.

Dd has this after 9 months of medication 10 years ago that made her nauseous.

So debilitating, she tries the exposure method with varying degrees of success.

I've ordered the book recommended up thread.

My sister has this,which means she doesn't socialise in public,will not travel on a plane,will not have kids in car if any chance of travel sickness,given up jobs because of it and not had children because of fear of a sick baby x

Sorry your going through this, I too have this emetophobia you can self refer to Italk I've found them great ! Really helped I'm not over my phobia but having sessions has taught me a lot

I've had it all my life OP, I'm 52. I'm so sorry it has become this debilitating for you - there is hope, it can be manageable. I had some CBT as a teenager which helped massively at the time, but started anxiety medication after a relapse in my early 20s. I've taken it ever since - I'm not over my phobia (having a bit of a spiral at the moment actually, I have a sore throat and feel a bit rough and the catastrophic thinking has already started), but meds help ensure that I can get out there and function relatively normally in life, work etc.

I never had children because of it.