Still scared :(

[Dxxr]

It's now July and I'm still terrified of v I can't be bothered going anywhere or doing anything because I don't want to face a day of panic attacks im so afraid of it that I'm giving myself constant phanthom symthoms. Ive been wishing for summer since October last year so it will all go away but it hasn't it's still constantly on my Facebook people talking about bugs I tried looking up how to block words from my newsfeed so I don't have to read other people's dirt but can't find how to do it .. Ive never been so miserable in my whole life any advice would be appricated!

[thecheesecake17]

Well just think , winter is the usual time for bugs, thats what I always find.
The weather is fresh in the summer, especially after a good storm...Ive felt abit icky today but it cleared and it felt so refreshing!!!

I panic too though , a classmate of mine put down "everyones sick! ooh no!" and i nearly died, it does make you wanna stay in right?

First thing though CALM DOWN. It makes everything ten times WORSE trust me...

[Afdpt]

Have you tried any formal therapy? I haven't done it myself but I know that a lot of people claim varying levels of success with CBT.

For me, a big part of it is just training my brain to be less afraid. Learn your "phantom symptoms" - become really familiar with them so that when they come on you can recognize them as being just that. Most, if not all of us, suffer with anxiety-induced symptoms that mimic stomach bugs (upset stomach, n*, etc.) however I think most agree that these symptoms are different than true n* and the feeling of being about to v*. It's important to recognize that because if you panic when you feel certain sensations it's likely to spin out of control and make you feels worse when there may be nothing wrong at all.

Figure out which coping mechanisms work best for you and use them as much as you have to. Keeping distracted is huge for me when I'm feeling anxiety induced symptoms. I like to get engaged in conversation with people or write if there is nobody to talk to. Keeping my mind off of my body makes me forget about the anxiety - a sign that you're not truly sick. Some other people like to read, watch TV, exercises, etc. Figure out what works for you.

If I'm having trouble distracting and need something else then I try different meds and tools to manage my n*. Whether these things actually help or it's just a placebo effect doesn't really matter to me. I always have tums on hand, peppermint, pepto at home or for traveling, zofran only for extreme cases.

As far as being afraid to go out in public - remind yourself that in order to catch something like noro, it has to be ingested. If you're just out in public, you're not going to catch it because it's not floating around in the air. If you wash your hands correctly before you eat and don't put your hands near your face/mouth, the chances of catching something are EXTREMELY rare. Have faith in your hand washing as the greatest preventative against catching a stomach bug.

For a while I ALWAYS carried a plastic bag around with my in my handbag. Part of my fear was being sick in public and it helped me to know that if it had to happen I could do it somewhat discreetly. Or if someone around was going to be sick I could hand the bag to them so they could do it more discreetly. I have never had to use the bag but it helped just to have it.

Facebook is a hard one because you can't control what people say/what you see unfortunately. My best way to deal with that is just to remember that 1. some people are really dramatic and claim to have stomach bugs when they may just have an upset stomach and allow themselves to v* for any reason. 2. you can't catch anything through the internet luckily so just continue with your good hand washing in public and you'll be very safe!