anyone else currently doing exposure therapy?

[cubiclegal]

Hi all,

I just discovered this site and am posting here for the first time. I'm 26 and have had this phobia for as long as I can remember, but it was only a year or so ago that I found out it was an actual anxiety disorder and not just a strange, shameful part of my personality. I've never met anyone else with this phobia, so what a relief it is to read these posts and see that others struggle daily with the same irrational thoughts. I hear myself in so many of your posts!

I've been in CBT/Exposure therapy for about a year now, and my therapist and I are currently working our way up the hierarchy. Right now she's gagging me with a toothbrush twice a week (fun times!!), and next she wants me to gag myself with my finger, which I have been absolutely refusing to do. Ultimately I'm going to take ipocec, but I can't fathom doing that anytime soon.

If there's anyone else currently in treatment, I'd love to compare notes/chat/hear about your experiences. Am eager to speak with others who are also in treatment.

Thanks!

[nbutcher97]

Hi, I'm not in any kind of therapy for my emet, but I just wanted to ask a bit more about yours?
Why do you have to gag yourself? Doesn't that just make you more anxious and panicky?
I thought exposure wasn't necessary to cure emetophobia? If it is then there is no hope

[Murder-my-soul]

I do my own exposure therapy haha.

I do have a wonderful counselor! But I gag myself sometimes when brushing my tongue, but it's hard for me to gag, like I hardly have that reflex.

[cubiclegal]

Hi, I'm not in any kind of therapy for my emet, but I just wanted to ask a bit more about yours?
Why do you have to gag yourself? Doesn't that just make you more anxious and panicky?
I thought exposure wasn't necessary to cure emetophobia? If it is then there is no hope

Hey -- I'm doing the gagging as part of exposure therapy, which is the treatment of choice for anxiety disorders and specifically phobias. The idea is that if you expose yourself to a sensation/feeling repeatedly and sit with the anxiety long enough, your anxiety diminishes and you eventually re-wire your brain not to experience the trigger (gagging, vomit, whatever) as something to fear.

To answer your question though, yes, gagging is totally anxiety producing! But I've found that the more I do it, the less scary it gets. Even though it's still completely awful! Unfortunately, I do believe that exposure therapy is necessary to cure emetophobia. I'm sure there are cases of people who get over it themselves, or it disappears magically, but I'm definitely not going to be one of those people. Also the longer you have had the phobia, the more deep-rooted it is and the more difficult it is to treat.

[out_of_order]

my therapist and I are currently working our way up the hierarchy. Right now she's gagging me with a toothbrush twice a week (fun times!!), and next she wants me to gag myself with my finger, which I have been absolutely refusing to do. Ultimately I'm going to take ipocec, but I can't fathom doing that anytime soon.

If this is working for you, great, and so please don't let me discourage you from continuing with what's working.... but it sounds extreme and unnecessary for recovery. Most therapists think emetophobia is like any other phobia which is why they do the exposure thing like they would do if you had a fear of, say, dogs. But it's not the same at all. Emetophobia rarely has anything to do with vomiting and that's why very often vomiting does not get rid of the phobia. I would hate for you to go through all that, which sounds traumatizing, and still have your phobia in the end.

[sugarbump]

If you can handle all of that and it works for you then that is great but it sounds incredibly cruel to me and I cannot fathom myself ever doing it. It seems to me that there must be a better solution. I had a therapist last year that suggested exposure therapy to me and I left her office and never went back. I cannot imagine sticking things down my throat on purpose or drinking stuff to make me sick..... that does not sound healthy at all. I hope things work out well for those of you who are participating in this therapy, I will be praying for your well being in recovery and praying that your therapist have the best intentions for you in mind.

[transcend6887]

I completely agree that the exposure therapy sounds terrifying....I have heard that it could help with phobias but I do not know anyone who has gotten results. I do know that even when I allow myself to be sick (after many hours of dehabilitating sick feelings) I STILL have the fear. Even if in that moment I'm like okay I can handle this...later on it's like I never handled it at all. I don't want to discourage you though. If it is working for you than keep up with it! I do feel like emetophobia is not really about the V* but about another underlying issue. I know how you feel about there not being a magic wand to take this phobia away. Although, I am staying open minded to new therapies I know it's a process.