Cognitive therapy does NOT work

[dktekno]

Hi, I've suffered from Emetophobia since August 1997. Haven't got any
diagnose, but the symtoms of it seems like something I am very familiar
with.



There are many places where they say that the only way to cure emetophobia, is to v*. Like cognitive therapy.



I can tell you that this does not work, and if you haven't v* for years
and have maybe got over the phase of the "artificial nausea" and learnt
that just small symptoms isn't a sign that you've got sick etc., v*
again will ruin you, and set you back to the stage where you got your
emetophobia.



It is better to simply do anything you can do, to not get anything that makes you v*.



Cognitive therapy is not the solution, because I have tried it. Not as
a therapy, but because I went sick 2 times while I had Emetophobia:



In August 1997 I got sick and v*. One time. From that time I had
"artificial nausea". Whenever there was just a litle thing that I could
feel in my stomach, I thought I got sick and didn't eat anything the
rest of the day.



However, I didn't notice the symptoms BEFORE I v*. So, any symptoms,
whether it was a regular, just normal flu or a cold, was seen as a
possible sign of that I got sick.



After long time, I learned that those symptoms, and getting tirred
doesn't neccessarily mean I've got a stomach bug, so after a lot of
time I took it easy. Then in November 2002 I got a stomach bug again.
But this time, I just told myself that this is nothing. Well, I've had
this feeling before, and there was nothing so why this time? It just
got worse. And even more worse. And suddenly I v*.



This time my brain did record the symptoms, so I could now specifically
tell that "this is how you feel about 4 hours before you v*".



Then I had to go through another round of "artificial nausea", until I
could tell myself that these was only created inside my brain. Also, it
was in 2003 I searched the web and found out that I suffer from
Emetophobia, and I began a heavy research on the cause of this stomach
bug, and found out that it mainly is caused by Norwalk virus, and how
to prevent it. From this time on I stopped having the "artificial
nausea", but instead began to act in odd ways, and still do it. For
example always washing my hands before eating ANYTHING and saying no to
any food which somebody else has touched, holding my breath while
walking past someone and and when eating something with my fingers,
only holding on one part of it, i.e only holding on part of a bread,
and only eat the parts that I haven't touched etc.



However, I soon began to loosening these "rules". I still did it big
parts of the time, but not as much as I did before. Guess what: I got a
stomach bug again.



I noticed the symptoms, but also thought that it might be that these
are only temporary, meaning they would go away in about a minute or 2.



They didn't and I v*.



Now I've got my 3rd round of artificially, mentally made nausea. For
every time I v* my fear only got strengthened. Not less fear but more
fear.



It is not possible to cure emetophobia. If v* is unpleasant it is
unpleasant and can not be cured. The only thing you can cure is the
artificially made nausea. When got over this, go get some anti-emetics,
because if you haven't had nausea in several months and the suddenly
get it again, I assure you it is because you have been infected. Then
it is a good idea to take anti-emetics to prevent v*, and you have to
prevent v* to prevent "artificial nausea" for the next 3 (or more)
months.



We people suffering from Emetophobia see v* as being something that is
TRAUMATIC. Making us v* again won't help. It's like a child that have
seen it's mum being killed in a car crash. Then you don't cure it's
traumatic symptoms by showing it it's dad being killed too in a car
crash.



A traumatic experience can not be curred by another traumatic experience.

[jptk]

thats pretty discouraging

[snowangel]

Wow. Your post seems to be right on the money. I go through the SAME THING that you do and I agree that making oneself vomit does NOT work. Thanks for the wonderful post.

[crazybeautiful]

You guys don't have the right attitude, if you go into it thinking you are going to fail and it's not going to work...well the chances are likely they won't.


You have to be positive and most importantly ready to deal with everything that comes with CBT.

[baseballplaya12]

I havent posted in a while but i have to now because this post is
ridiculous. If you do get a stomach bug, you have to treat it as o i v'd and
it didnt kill me and i dealt with it and it really wasn't that bad because its
not. If you only focus on the bad than you will treat it as the worst thing
that could happen to you while in reality its not. I don't know if you have
been to cbt or not but im in it right now and i have been told that under
no circumstances will i be forced to v. You just need to find the right
therapist and you need to be couragous you need to tell yourself hey if i
get sick i get sick. I think this post should be deleted becuase it is aweful
and completely untrue. YOU CAN CURE THIS PHOBIA, it just takes hard
work and you all have it in you. Dont let this post discourage you
because this person had a bad attitude. Dont have that attitude and you
will be just fine.

[baseballplaya12]

ok im sorry for attacking you because there are some things you are right
about. The line about how a traumatic expirience can't be cured by
another traumatic experiecne is true, but the goal is to make it not
traumatic....and thats the goal of cbt.

[jptk]

ok im sorry for attacking you because there are some things you are right
about. The line about how a traumatic expirience can't be cured by
another traumatic experiecne is true, but the goal is to make it not
traumatic....and thats the goal of cbt.

Hey!! welcome back, i thought you were gone

[spilled_milk]

Welcome to the boards! I hope you find a family here. However, I disagree with the part about how emet cannot be cured. Of course it can! There are some very great stories that I have read about cured emets! You really have to have a good attitude and believe in yourself. If you don't, you will not be cured. You can't give up. Haven't you noticed that professional athletes (I'll use the Red Sox as an example, because I'm from Boston [img]smileys/smilies_04.gif[/img]) just keep going? They never give up, and if they feel discouraged, they don't ever show it. By working and never giving up, they can win. I've seen people in golf tournaments get themselves all in a fritz and lose, because they believed they couldn't do it. If you don't believe that you can be cured, you most likely wont.


I do believe that, for myself, making myself vomit would not be the right diagnosis.


<3 Anya--

[hippychick]

Hmmm


I do agree that emetophobia might not be cured by just suddenly being sick because I think there are underlying causes to emet and if you dont deal with those causes then how can you ever be cured. Slow exposure therapy can work for some and not for others. I am....nearly cured from emet I would say. Because I changed my own attitude. I was so sick of emet I was so tired that i started thinking maybe i should just V* and I'll feel better and then everytime I felt ill i'd think "GOOD V* then I will be cured of this" everytime i panicked i said "please just let this all be over" and while if i had V* I probably would have been traumatised the point is that by thinking that way I slowly changed my thought process, I fought the emet and said enough is enough. If emet tries to stop me doing something i challenge it, if I am panicking over being sick I look into why and usually its because I am stressed with some other aspect of my life.


I have been told by people that I probably wasn't ever really emet because of this. Well you know what? I was agoraphobic for 2 years, I didn't eat anything but crackers for 6 MONTHS because i was so terrified. I have been to hell and back with this phobia and while maybe I am not 100% cured, if I were to V* I would probably hate it yes and I would be scared but I would survive and go on with my life, i dont spend every hour thinking "is it going to be now" I have a steady Job, I travel. Ok i'm not going to say I dont have panic attacks, I'm not going to say I am 100% cured...but I am also not letting emet get in the way of my life so it IS possible.

[japa]

No, I don't believe that cognitive therapy says that you have to V to be cured. It works with your cognitions or thoughts about V.





There are many places where they say that the only way to cure emetophobia, is to v*. Like cognitive therapy.

[mitch4133]

Very well put Hippychick, and good for you being so strong. I too think that if you think negatively about this phobia, it will get the best of you. I was really bad for a couple of months. I wouldn't eat anything except crackers and bread. Now, I am eating meats, chicken, salads really anything. I still won't eat out at a resturant, but I feel that I am making great progress. I just think that if it is going to happenI can't stop it, and I have learned how to start enjoying food again. I think that if you let this phobia get the best of you, its your own choice. Sure I do my OCD things still, but I have stopped and realized that this phobia will consume my life only if I allow it too. So I don't allow it anymore, and I am much more happier. If you think negatively, then the negative WILL happen, if you thinkg postively, than the world is yours.


Michele

[Galadriel]

I can understand your frustrations, but I think it is possible to have emet go into a "remission" state. I do feel tho that even say if you have it kicked and dont think about it say for 10 years, then suddenly you get into a situacion, and you could begin to have emet tendencies again. Its rather like say depression, you can make it so that it doesn't affect your life, and so that it doesnt bother you, but it can always come back if your not taking the steps to keep it in check. This is how I feel about it.


I agree tho that v* won't necessarily help a person get over emet. To be honest, it was v*ing that helped me get a lot better about it, because I did it and said to myself "this isnt the end of the world!" and no its not totally gone, but its a lot better than its ever been. This tho, is not necessarily the "remedy" for everyone, we are all different. I don't think that cognative behavioral therapy involves v*ing tho. Sage went through this program, and found it very successful, and she never had to v* as part of the treatment.

[Galadriel]

Very well put Hippychick, and good for you being so strong. I too think that if you think negatively about this phobia, it will get the best of you. I was really bad for a couple of months. I wouldn't eat anything except crackers and bread. Now, I am eating meats, chicken, salads really anything. I still won't eat out at a resturant, but I feel that I am making great progress. I just think that if it is going to happenI can't stop it, and I have learned how to start enjoying food again. I think that if you let this phobia get the best of you, its your own choice. Sure I do my OCD things still, but I have stopped and realized that this phobia will consume my life only if I allow it too. So I don't allow it anymore, and I am much more happier. If you think negatively, then the negative WILL happen, if you thinkg postively, than the world is yours.


Michele

Very well said Michele! I agree that it helps a lot to have a positive attitude about it. Positive mental self talk helps, because if you do it enough and say those positive things to yourself enough, your mind will think more positive. Its not easy to do tho if your used to thinking negative, and it takes time to do. I know with emet, I used to think it was the end of the world if I was sick, and that I just couldn't deal or handle it. When it did happen tho (for the first time in 10 years) yes it was very scary, but I also said to myself "this is all it is, and v*ing is the same thing everytime you do it, once I've done it once, thats all there is to it" I admit it is a mental stretch, because the one part of your mind is constantly wanting to be like "OMG that was HORRIBLE I can't deal Im gonna die!" and you have to fight that, which isn't easy at all! It definately is a mental battle that your fighting with yourself, and the mind is a very complex thing.

[hippychick]

Yeah one of the things I realised is that V* is not really something I can control you know? But I can control how I react and really I can spend everyday for the next ten years worrying and it might never happen....and what a waste of ten years!!!!! So I got detirmined to get better. It's so hard to fight but I think everyone can.

[ejb199]

i think ive been trying to 'fight' being sick every damn day of my life. And its this fighting that has worn me down and made me the person today.

Guys, your just taking a step back - you wont be moving forward if you just carry on with your old ways of preventing yourself from v*ing.

I dont mean start making ourselves sick now - but i mean lets try and focus on WHY our bodies need to v* at some point in our lives.... isnt this what we should be thinking about if we EVER want to get over emet?

i was sick twice last year and both times it was alcohol induced. You may think in this case im not very 'emet' but trust me - i am and i have learnt my lesson. HOWEVER, these two incidents showed me that i SURVIVED!!!!! it wasnt as bad as id been making it out to be.

At the end of the day its VERY unlikely that we will go through our lives without being sick. I think we ALL know that and fear that. So lets concentrate on how we are going to deal with it and how we can think POSITIVELY about v*ing......

ems xx

[Jenneh]

there is no way anyone can come on here saying "this type of therapy doesnt work" or "this type of therapy does work".


its COMPLETELY unique on the individual. exposure therapy works for some, not others. cognitive behavioural works for some, not others.


most of the time you need to be positive about a therapy for it to actually be of any use. if your thoughts are just " this isnt going to work " " thers no point in doingthis" are u surprised it didnt work? i'm not. you won't have had the motivation, determination... maybe even unconciously u'd be telling urself not to let emet get better because u dont want to prove urself wrong.


i know of someone, who infact used to come on this site, who turned her life around BY HERSELF, just by changing her thought processes. she stopped all the negative ones, and replaced them with positive ones. she told herself " i can get thru this myself"... and just yesterday she told me she has been anxiety free for ages... she can't remember the last time she felt anxiety.


if you believe emet is there for life, it will be. end of story really.


Jen xxxxxx

[shiva]

Very well said, Jen. That is all soooo true. Any therapy that we decide to take on actually happens within ourselves. It's just going to depend on what kind of route our minds are more receptive to. Everyone is different and what works for some will notalways work for others, but there's no reason not to try different methods. I know that each of us can beat this thing and I feel that80% of whether we will be successful when we try is if we arereally ready.Positive thinkingis really important.

[hippychick]

Very Well said Jenneh.


Also, i'm not saying people do this so please no one take offensive but my problem was I was going from Dr to Dr to therapist waiting for the one who would say "do this and you will be cured" and I was telling them about emet, teaching them. One day the Dr put me on seroxat and I had a horrible reaction to it. Not V* but I was sobbing I was...self harming and suicidal which i hadnt been before (and havent been since I came off it) it as like a slap in the face you know? I thought...you know what? I HAVE to change this, if I go to every therapist expecting it to fail, if I dont expect to be cured, if I wait for a magic pill...I'm never gonna get rid of this ya know?

[healthseeker]

I am new here, and this is probably a strange post to introduce myself, nevertheless-I felt very compeled to reply.


First, I am so sorry to anyone that has had negative experiences in therapy or with any other attempts at eliminating this phobia from thier lives. I hope what I am about to say does not offend, but instead opens the door to a new way of thinking an perhaps an opportunity for healing and growth.


My story of emetophobia is posted on a site called www.changethatsrightnow.com under references with the heading
<H3>"I AM NOW HEALTHY HAPPY AND EMETOPHOBIA FREE"</H3>


I am not doing a commercial for this clinic, nor am I trying to tell anyone to go to this site, or read this information. My motivation is to bring hope to anyone out there who may actually be interested in changing thier lives, as it seems so many of you are desperate to do. (not that I am calling anyone desperate, I just feel that I was desperate when I was at the bottom of my emetophobia pit).


Anyway, the idea is that you are not afraid of the actual act of v*, instead it is your thoughts that you are afraid of. It is the way of thinking, your thought process, and not the actual event that in reality is only short lived and although it feels life threatening, and disabling is not.


I know how difficult it is to hear someone say that, since when you are in the midst of the sv season, or in the midst of sv yourself you FEEL like the world is coming to an end-but feelings are only thoughts and chemical reactions and many times they hold no water when wheighed against FACTS. I too have been through cbt, without the end goal of v*.


I have never gone through exposure therapy, which the goal is to ultimately v*. Therapists who use this tactic should be carefully considered and questioned since it is not the v* that needs to be addressed but the fear that surrounds it. Your ultimate goal should not be to v* but to rewire your thinking so that your life is not run and ruined by fear.


I eliminated emetophobia from my life on September 3, 2004.However, fear still ran my life, I just replaced that phobia for countless other "issues" that prevented me from really living my life freely. It wasn't until I realized that the real issue was not what I thought it was, and until I understood the core of my fears, I could not live tomy full potential. Sometimes we have to do things and take action first, cognitively before we can see real changes in our thoughts, feelings, and physical being.


I want health, I want peace, I want security. These things are attainable for you and for me. I am not special, I am not well educated, or rich, and trust me when I say that when it was bad, it was really bad-read about me (i think you can get my full story, if not i would be glad to post for anyone who is interested).


Anyway, this post is not about me or my victory. This post is about hope and about really researching and being cautious of this kind of exposure therapy that is, from what I understand, pretty uneffective for this particualar phobia. Each phobia is different, and this therapy although extremely effective with others, would be likened to giving someone with a virus an antibiotic when used on an emotophobic.


I hope I have not offended anyone. And I hope that even though I am living free, that you would allow me to continue to post from time to time on your site.


Love and peace....

[-celeborn-]

Im not an emet so take this with a grain of salt.



It occurs to me that with each emet the cause may not be the same.



Say one has a severe control issue with the body and V* is loss of that control so they freak out.

Someone else have have had a traumatic event in life say where they v* so profusely that they thought they were going to die.



Ill liken this to the fact that I was not afraid of dogs and being bitten, even the pain of it until I was bitten as a child.



I was ok with being bitten at about 6 or so by 2 large german shepards.

Once the attack was over I was good to go......not afraid of dogs even immediately after the atttack.



But my mother found out I had been bitten and went haywire about rabies.

She was running around fraeking out going on about how I could die if I had rabies.

The dogbites had startled me somewhat, but I was fine within an hour.

Once mom did her little crazy dance I became horrified of dying and started really being afraid of dogbites altogether



I mean, i can actaully remember feeling like ''ok, I got bit by 2 dogs, no big deal"

Then after her insane behavior I remember a feeling of terrfying fear
come over me and Ive been very funny about dogs biting me every since.



Same thing with spiders.

As a child I can remember loving spiders.

I used to have tons of toy ones and played with them no problem.

Real spiders didnt bother me in the least at that age.



One day mom was doing laundry and she was going thru my closet.

She pulled out some stuff from the bottom of a closet and this huge white spider jumped out onto her hand.



Now, I knew it was real, but I told her it was my toy spider cause I
say she was freaking out.....but as I watched her and that terrible
fear in her I started to become afraid myself.



Every since then Ive had terrible arachniphobia when even a tiny spider is around.

If I know ones in the house sometimes I cant even go to sleep.

And God forbid I have to kill one.



My point is that emets may have different root causes of the emetophobia and what works in helping one person may not another.



If the root of the emet is say a control issue, I dont think that all
the V* in the world is going to cure it without dealing with the
control issue first.

And Id have a feeling that if the control thing were helped that the emet would just start to fade on its own.



I think each person should try to find what the root cause of the emet is in their live before trying to find the cure.


Edited by: -celeborn-

[healthseeker]

Good post. I aggree with each of us finding the root, as long as we don't dwell in that place, forward motion and being proactive is the only way to change anything, if change is what one desires, and I am not saying that with antone particular in mind, just in my own exoerience.[img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]

[jptk]

After so many failed attempts at changing your life thoughyou get to a point where you just kinda sink into this depression and lose the will to fight anymore, then what?

[ontariogirl]

celeborn; I agree with what you put down about finding out the root cause of the emet. When I went for therapy I needed to know why I have this, but they felt that is not important. There are more than few therapists that feel that way, I totally disagree. Deep down inside I need to know. My parents were always there for myself, my sister and brother when we were sick, no one in the family has this fear, my childhood was great besides living with this phobia starting at the age of 9. Some people say that sometimes it just happens for no apparent reason, who knows, but I will find out one day to my number 1 question in my life is why?

[disco]

I was sick back in late January and I believe it has helped me greatly.Back in September I got depressed and worried about vomiting every minute of the day,it was the worst time of my life.I couldn't eat or sleep, all over a tiny little thing like vomiting.


Now when I feel sick I don't seem to get the panic or fear"what if I'm sick"because I have experienced so much worse sensations.


As for Cognitive therapy, I believe it does work, it takes time and it dosn't mean you have to be sick.It changes your thought patterns to become less afraid of your fear.

[sage]

Just adding my little bit to this interesting thread (sorry - I've been away for 2 weeks - GAK - where does the time go?)...


As one who's been through cognitive-behavioral (exposure) therapy, I can promise you that the goal is NOT to vomit...it's to stop fearing it. I never, ever vomited during therapy, nor did my therapist want me too. He always said (and still does, cuz I still see him regularly even after 3 years...) that vomiting would be far too overwhelming and he would never, ever make me do it.


The problem is that vomiting would send your anxiety rate up so sky-high that benefit is not possible any more. YOu never want your anxiety to go above a 5 out of 10. Keeping it at about a 3 0r 4 is best for working on treatment. It should be a gentle, safe process. YOu should feel safe, trust your therapist, be able to put yourself completely in his or her hands. Or honestly, progress will be slim IF at all...you can even go backwards.


I agree that the power to heal is definitely within the person...I swear I cured myself of the fear of vomiting myself, even after several therapies. I convinced myself I WOULD NOT vomit under the 1,000,000 circumstances I had previously cooked up in my head that might "make me sick". But the underlying anxiety (the root of the problem) was still there...an anxious mother as an infant, trauma, etc. Once I was cured of the presenting symptoms of the phobia, I began in therapy to erode away that old, old stuff...slowly but surely. Now it's less likely I will get very anxious about anything...and STILL I continue to go to therapy and work on my issues.


Different treatment approaches do work differently for each person. What I believe to be universal is the complete worthlessness of vomiting in "therapy". Certainly simply vomiting yourself NEVER works as a cure. I say this to reassure people - that's my only goal. If anyone tries to make you do something in therapy you don't want to do...move on...find help elsewhere, where it's safe. It IS out there.


Meanwhile, self-help books, tapes, etc. are very helpful. Just never try ipecac or anything like that. Every story is one of disaster.


Good luck to everyone!

[-celeborn-]

Just adding my little bit to this interesting thread (sorry - I've been away for 2 weeks - GAK - where does the time go?)...


As one who's been through cognitive-behavioral (exposure) therapy, I
can promise you that the goal is NOT to vomit...it's to stop fearing
it. I never, ever vomited during therapy, nor did my therapist
want me too. He always said (and still does, cuz I still see him
regularly even after 3 years...) that vomiting would be far too
overwhelming and he would never, ever make me do it.


The problem is that vomiting would send your anxiety rate up so
sky-high that benefit is not possible any more. YOu never want
your anxiety to go above a 5 out of 10. Keeping it at about a 3
0r 4 is best for working on treatment. It should be a gentle,
safe process. YOu should feel safe, trust your therapist, be able
to put yourself completely in his or her hands. Or honestly,
progress will be slim IF at all...you can even go backwards.


I agree that the power to heal is definitely within the person...I
swear I cured myself of the fear of vomiting myself, even after several
therapies. I convinced myself I WOULD NOT vomit under the
1,000,000 circumstances I had previously cooked up in my head that
might "make me sick". But the underlying anxiety (the root of the
problem) was still there...an anxious mother as an infant, trauma,
etc. Once I was cured of the presenting symptoms of the phobia, I
began in therapy to erode away that old, old stuff...slowly but
surely. Now it's less likely I will get very anxious about
anything...and STILL I continue to go to therapy and work on my issues.


Different treatment approaches do work differently for each
person. What I believe to be universal is the complete
worthlessness of vomiting in "therapy". Certainly simply vomiting
yourself NEVER works as a cure. I say this to reassure people -
that's my only goal. If anyone tries to make you do something in
therapy you don't want to do...move on...find help elsewhere, where
it's safe. It IS out there.


Meanwhile, self-help books, tapes, etc. are very helpful. Just
never try ipecac or anything like that. Every story is one of
disaster.


Good luck to everyone!

Awesome post sage.

I dont have emet, but I do have a few phobias Id like to work on myself.



The big one is my fear of flat, wide open areas such as areas of Texas.

I was out there some years back and had to look at the floorboard of the truck to keep my mind off it.



When we stopped to eat and the restaurant was the only thing on the horizon, I nearly hit the ground in a panic.



I never knew I had this phobia as Ive lived in hills and trees and big city all my life, so it took me by surprise.



I know I need to find the root of issue before I can work on the fear
itself, but I dont know of anything that could have caused it.



My arachnaphobia I can pinpoint to a specific occurance, so that one might be fairly easy to handle.

But I just cant figure out what could have caused this terror of flat areas.

Even large parkig lots have gotten me since I was out in Texas and came back.



any ideas?

[sage]

Hi Celeborn,


It's hard to speculate about someone's life challenges over the internet of course. But probably all phobias have similar roots: a sort of "perfect storm" where you need several factors together to make it happen. Partly genetics, partly trauma (more pronounced in some people than others) and almost always an anxious family system...added into the mix. Also the ability to avoid the feared thing over time - add that in. Any one of these missing and the "storm" wouldn't form probably - you might just need them all.


The good news is that despite the "cause", the "cure" is the same...gradually (VERY VERY GRADUALLY) exposing oneself to the stimulus of the fear in tiny, tiny "handleable" baby steps in a SAFE context (usually therapy, but as we know, that isn't always so) until you no longer avoid, and can manage the anxiety associated with being present with the stimulus. It takes a long time depending on the severity of the phobia, but it will eventually pay off.

[fendergirl2020]

Hi everyone. I've been through a pretty intense CBT course and therapy, so I thought I'd share my experiences. When I was really bad with emet last year, I wasn't eating or sleeping, I lost a stone, I honestly thought I was losing my mind. It even cost me a relationship with my boyfriend of 2 1/2 years because he couldn't take how I'd become. I found a doctor who referred me to a therapy course, the main element being CBT.


At first I found it very tough. We had sheets to fill in, about situations we were anxious about. For me it was difficult to do this, as the only situation I became really anxious about was when I thought I was going to be sick. My therepist told me to write how I felt at the time and the outcome of the situation. So if I couldn't sleep because of anxiety, I would write down all my symptoms, my anxiety rating 1-10. I did loads of these sheets and the outcome was always the same. I WAS NEVER ILL. So when I feel anxious now, I look at what I wrote at the time and tell myself that there is no evidence to suggest that I should be ill. And if I am ill, what is the evidence to say that it will be as horrible as I imagine it to be? I keep trying to tell myself that I haven't been ill for 2 decades and what is there to say I will be now?


CBT might not cure emet, but it helps deal with it a whole lot better and rationalize. This is the first step. I no longer obsess about being sick ALL DAY EVERY DAY. I put my weight back on and I'm healthy and happy. If I do eventually get ill, then it's going to be tough. But I'm still working at telling myself that its nothing to be afraid of. Then one day I'll look back and think "what was the problem?"


Roz

[sarahx]

m doing CBT now, my therapist offered me exposure therapy, but i didnt want it, so i now do what fendergirl did, all these diary sheets about anxiety, feelings, rating them, and yes although rationally i can see theres no evidence to suggest i will be sick in the situations i fear, when im anxious, that goes out of the window. Its my huge problem, that i KNOW how to think, how to react, but i can never put it into practice. its very frustrating. But still, everyday i panic about being sick. Every minute is dedicated to it! Anyway, CBT does work, i know that its worked for me before, although i relapsed, which hs maybe made it harder this time? I want to be more positive, but i struggle to find anything to e positive about. I wish this was easier to overcome. But i dont think vomiting yourself helps. Id love to know why this phobia happened to me, i even know the actual incident that caused it, but i cant figure out why?!

[fendergirl2020]

Sarahx, I know exactly what you mean about being anxious and not being able to be rational. I used to be like that and I still do when I'm having my moments! But for me the outcome is always that I'm not ill. My big problem is that I don't know what real nausea feels like so I just don't know if I'm experiencing it or anxiety or anything else. Sometimes reading over my stuff I think "but I REALLY feel sick this time!!!" Its just so difficult to tell for me.


While I was in therapy we tried to get to the bottom of why I had emet. My therapist was digging into my relationship with my parents, attention seeking, etc. I just couldn't get across that I just didn't want to be sick!!!! I also got hypnotised and apparently my subconcious has something else to revealbut doesnt want to reveal!! If that makes sense..


Roz