Fear of Feeling Powerless

[Healed]

I just want to share that the turning point in my healing process was when I realized that my fear was really a fear of being powerless in ALL situations, not just vomiting. But vomiting, in my mind, was the ultimate loss of power because I couldn't control IF it happened, WHEN it happened, WHERE it happened, how MANY TIMES it happened, WHO was around when it happened, WHY it happened, and so on. So emetophobia is really a fear of feeling powerless and I bet if you're honest with yourself and analyze your life, you too will find that you don't just have a fear of vomiting and are perfectly fine otherwise, but that you have a fear of feeling powerless in every - or some - other area(s) of your life. And THAT is the real problem. What needs to be worked on is not finding a way to never vomit but to accept losing total control and being okay with that because control is an illusion anyway.

Hope this helps someone.

[psalm139]

Healed that sounds about right. I agree it's about losing control/power over the unknown.

[Pigatron]

Definitely makes sense. But I feel like I'm OK with most areas where I don't have control... flying, medical procedures, driving down the highway with big trucks speeding in the opposite lane, and many activities in daily life. And I've accepted that we don't have control over life events like losing a loved one to cancer, etc. But there is something so horrific and incomprehensible and alarming about V. Like, when I think about the mechanics of what is happening during the act, it's like a horror movie. Actually, it's worse than a horror movie. It's like a cruel joke by mother nature. Plus, the physical sensation of being N is such misery.

[mhartse]

I hear ya on this... but I think of it like, I have no control of my anxiety... and I hate that, like most of us do. But I feel so powerless so maybe I over compensate with my phobia? I don't know i just hate it!