Hi everyone, I'm new. It's nice to meet you.
My name is Janice and I am 20-years-old. For the longest time I thought I was alone, and I kept this secret phobia to myself for years and years, letting it control my social life. I would decline party invites, going out with friends, even going to movies. I never thought anybody else had this fear, as I grew up with two older brothers and they would talk so casually about it without getting grossed out, or my mother always dealing with vomiting when it happened when I, or my brothers, would get sick.
I was so scared of telling anybody about this, until about five or six months ago. I had a friend who I was very close with and felt comfortable enough to consider him as a brother. I told him about my fears one night, and he reacted the complete polar opposite to what I was expecting. He comforted me, and ever since he has been trying to help me overcome my fear. Unfortunately, he's moved out to British Columbia (he moved about three months ago) and I'm all the way in Ontario. I lost my biggest support and that hurt. But before he left, he told me I'm never alone and that there are always people out there who share the same fears and insecurities I do. Through those words, I worked up the courage to actually look up the name of this phobia and I wound up finding a bunch of different websites with a whole mess of information, support, treatment options, and all that good stuff.
I have been dating my boyfriend for about six months now, and he has become a replacement supporter for my friend who moved away. Unfortunately, he likes to think he's hilarious and when I first told him he made a gagging noise. Cameron (my boyfriend) has encouraged me to be more open with people about my fear, and I have had mixed responses. Some people tell me I'm childish, and it hurts, and some people have been so supportive in that they now warn me about any movie that has vomiting in it and when to close my eyes and plug my ears (even though that doesn't help at a movie theatre). Then I have the kinds of friends that will use this fear to stop any argument I'm having with them by making gagging noises, or gestures to suggest their about to throw up. So I'm not sure if that's a good step forward, letting people know.
Anyway, I blab a lot, but I do have a point to all this. I've read through some success stories all over the Internet, and I strongly feel that being a member in a community like this can and will help towards a recovery. After all, one day I would like to have children and not be afraid of flinging my baby across the room when it vomits.
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Re: Hi everyone, I'm new. It's nice to meet you.
