Things have got better

[Kazzia]

Hi guys!


This is the first time I've posted on the new forum...I haven't posted for a while.


I started Uni in September of last year. I was very nervous because I was in halls without an en suite room which I had requested, but the halls I'm in are the best on the campus and it's great!


OK I have to share a communal bathroom with a dozen other people, but I've got used to it.


However at Uni, particularly in Fresher's week, it's hard to avoid the issue of v* with everyone drinking like anything. I've come across it a few times, but the fact I've managed to avoid it well is because I've made friends who hardly drink at all, and who are very supportive, especially when I told them I was emetophobic.


Since then I've been so busy I haven't thought as much about my phobia, and it only crops up at times when say we're at a fairground or something. Luckily I just avoid the big rides and my friends have strong stomachs!


I know I still have this phobia...if I felt extremely sick (which touch wood I haven't for a while...I haven't been sick for nearly 10 years!) I would still panic. I was worried when I was on an aeroplane last week that someone would have airsickness, but everything was OK.


It's not the biggest of triumphs but also trying to avoid thinking/writing about emetophobia has helped me suppress it somewhat. I know that when faced with v* that I'll panic still, but everyday life is so much easier now - I'm too busy to think of it so much!

[hippyclown]

Woohoo! Go you!

[Jenneh]

wow... im glad u feel u can get on with evrything!! especially at Uni, im dreading going to that place, to be honest


good for you [img]smileys/smilies_02.gif[/img]


Jen xxxxx

[Melikasa]

That is awsome!!![img]smileys/smilies_39.gif[/img]


That is such a big step to getting better. I know that once I started putting myself in situations where it was possible and convinced myself that the possibility was mild it got easier to go out. I started going to malls, and even last Valentines went to a restraunt and ate dinner.


AAAAWsome going on the shared bathroom. That would be a fear for me but you seem to be doing an awsome job.

[NCsmile6]

WOW Victoria!!!!!!


You seem to have accomplished so much since we last talked!!! Like the others have said, I am VERY proud of you and I hope that you continue to make giant leaps toward the end and destruction of this phobia!!! I wouldn't be able to do that whole communal bathroom thing!! Public restrooms scare me!! But good for you!!!! [img]smileys/smilies_39.gif[/img]It IS a MAJOR triumph!!!

[missgoddess]

i start uni in october...i hope i do as well as u have!!!

[Kazzia]

Thanks for your messages guys!


I thought Uni would be hard - I was scared of getting homesick too, but somehow I hardly felt homesick at all - maybe in the first 5 days if that!


The communal bathroom idea was hard at first, I like privacy as it is, but after two weeks it was normal. My room is at the back of the building so it faces the bathroom windows, and once someone had left it open and I heard someone being sick (2am ish). I let myself listen to it, as I had 2 friends in my room at the time and I didn't want to panic. I know people have been sick in there but somehow I blank it out. I know it's mainly alcohol related.


My Hall at Uni has had a major problem with a lot of the drunkards throwing up in the common room/downstairs areas. It's mainly the guys and I've managed to avoid it. And someone threw up on vending machine by one of the stairways!


This "exposure" is normal to me now. I will always avoid anyone who is sick but I try not to let it ruin my time there. Touch wood my friends aren't sickly at all, and one of them is really scared of being sick (not emet I don't think).


So if anyone's worried about Uni, if you're going for the right reasons (eager to do the work and make lots of friends) it should all be fine. Amazingly hardly any of my friends are drinkers...they don't get drunk, and therefore sick.


So it's guaranteed you'll meet people who are likeminded, cos Uni is so big (it wasn't possible in school). If you're going to live in Halls it's a bonus. I don't know what American Universities are like though!

[Abi]

Hi [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]


I'm going to uni in October, so I was amazed to hear how well you have coped with it! I'd have been going crazy if people were v****** in the bathroom! (I'm hoping to get an en-suite bathroom!) I think you've done so well, you should be really proud of yourself!


Abi xxxxx

[Beccah19]

In America, there are so many options when it comes to housing - you can have a single room with your own bathroom in some colleges! Most colleges here, you share a room with one other person, and have a community bathroom. There are some with the same roommate setup, but you share a bathroom with just the room next door (so only 4 people share it!). My friend Aislyn lived in a suite, where there was a community room, and 4 "suites" where two people shared each one, and they all shared a bathroom. Furthermore, some colleges offer apartments that house 4 people, and give you a kitchen along with your bathroom! Hehe. We have a lot of choices!


~Rebeccah

[lj_becker]

Wow, you've done really well Kazzia! I started uni last September and was terrified when I found out I had to share a bathroom and a kitchen with loads of people. I got so worked up about it that I had to leave completely. Looking back, I should have been more like you and faced it. I'm starting at a new university this September and I'm definately going to stick it out this time!


Leila x