Hello, does hypnotherapy work?

[xsahrah]

Hey, its my first day on this site and to bo honest its a big step for me, I have suffered from emetophobia since I was 7, I am now 30 and I have not V* since I was 16. Everything come to a head yesterday when I was driving back from a long distance trip with my partner and my nephew who is 5 years old and he got really ill, I was so scared that I ran out of the car and left my nephew to deal with it with my partner. I think if my partner had not been there I would have left my newphew by the side of the busy main road on his own. I refused to get back in the car afterwards and ended up getting a taxi back home because of this stupid fear!! I am of course now very scared that he had a bug so I am calling my sister and partner every 2 mins to find out if they are now ill because if they fall ill I am certainly doomed!! I am also avoiding them and anything connected to yesterdays events like the plague!! I even bleached my hands last night and I didnt even touch anything! so today my hands are sore
I know the reason why my phobia started, its from the age of 7 and one evening I didnt feel very well and I went downstairs to find my mum, my mum had left my in the house alone with my little sister and of course I was very ill, so because no one was there to support me or to tell me its all ok, I have always been petrified!! since then I can count on one hand the amount of times I have V* and no one has ever seen me ill!!
I do some of the usual stuff like clubbing, drinking, and travelling however I am constantly checking foods, always washing my hands and I also avoid the usual hot spots like hospitals, doctors and even small children!!
I have booked myself in to see a hypnotherapist tomorrow and I wanted to know if anyone has any success stories that they could share, I just want to over come this fear asap so I can get back to a normal life and also start planning my future i.e children..... thanks

[Username]

hey,

it's my first time on the forum, and it's SUCH a relief to hear that there is whole community of people out there that are going through exactly what I am - it makes me feel more sane!

re: hypno, I did have a short block (about 6 sessions) a few years ago when my emetophobia got really really bad and yes, it definitely did help. ALTHOUGH, ive never quite worked out if it was just that i has someone sympathetic to talk to for an hour a week, or because this guy combined hypno with alot of CBT-type stuff, or because so much of the session was relaxation.

nevertheless, yes the sessions definitely helped me and i really hope they help you too emet is a horrible, completely debilitating condition.

good luck with it and let us know how it went xxxx

[asianeko]

I have heard from many people that it didn't work for them, however it worked wonders for me. My hypnotherapist literally turned my life around. I went from being afraid to leave the house to being able to see it on TV, hear my bf do it, and even do it myself without any anxiety!