Duration of the phobia

[feathermask]

I've had emet since I was very young (around 4 or 5) and I'm now in my early 30's.

I'm wondering if people who have suffered with emetophobia since childhood find it more difficult to be cured than those who aquired it later in life. Is it "wired" into our brains because it set in during the formative years?

Sometimes I worry that these feelings and responses are so old that they'll always be with me. It seems that over the years, every time I think I've found a way to handle the phobia, it rears it's ugly head again and finds a way around my defenses.

[ejb199]

ive had emet since i can remember - 4 or 5 too and im nearing 30s now. i too think it will be here with me or at least a part of me for ever more. its so ingrained and ive given up trying to get rid of it now. i just try and manage it day to day. its so hard tho. [img]smileys/smilies_06.gif[/img]

[cobainity]

yeah i agree, it only started for me when i was 17, i'm now 23 and i do believe it's getting better, i don't honestly think i will ever be 'cured' but it is getting easier to manage and i'm getting less irrational all the time. or maybe thats because i'm in a good mood.. third day of my course of antibiotics (i'm VERY proud of my little self) lol.
but anyway, yes i think phobias that begin at a very young age may be with you for the rest of your life, but that doesn't mean to say you won't learn to manage it, i just think it means you will always hate v* but you will be able to work around it and live a normal life, baby steps i think [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]

[icicledreamz]

I knew i always didnt like v*, myself doing it or being around i..when i was younger i would run away, or avoid it.
The actual phobia didnt come about till i was about 15-16, im 21 now..it got bad, then i pretty much overcame it, and then its back again with a vengence..When i actually found out it was a phobia, it made so much sense.
But even though ive only had it for about 6 years, its been a very hard struggle to try and overcome it, or live with it in that matter.

[feathermask]

Do you find that when you've had it for a longer time, the symtoms are more physical, ie. more n*,rapid heartbeat, rather than just anxiety? It seems to me that my body is so conditioned to this phobia,the feelings come on with no warning or "gap" between thought and feeling. Usually there isn't any thought at all. All I need is the scent of something such as the bus to set it off.