How old were you at the onset of your emetophobia?

[emet-ana]

Hi,

Just wondering how old you were when your emetophobia started?

[hairyfairy]

Iv`e always hated vting, but Iv`e gotten more scared of it as Iv`e got older, especially in the last 16 years where iv`e become determined never to do it again in my life.

[Cynna]

Birth with pyloric stenosis or 5 when sis trapped me in bottom bunk.

[Grace47]

I was 12. I was with my aunt when she v*ed right before dying.

[Missy Chump]

I was around 5 or 6. Had a few very traumatic v. episodes when i was little. People in elementary school would always v. and it scared me so bad I would have to hide in the bathroom until my mom would come take me out early.

[berzerkgirl]

My sister was born 15 months after me and had terrible car sickness. My earliest memories include being strapped into car seats in the back of my parents car, trapped next to my sister that would get car sick every time we got in the car.... I remember curling up into a ball, covering my ears and holding my breath. The smell of Lysol still freaks me out! That was about 40 years ago.

[jennjt]

Berzerkgirl, my little brother had terrible car sickness, too. My emet started at age 7 (that I can remember), and he was 4 years younger than me, but I remember him v* in the car several times. I tried to jump out once!!

[aquamarinist]

Mine started when I was 9 at summer camp when I already didn't want to be there and missed home, and a girl v'd in the cabin in the middle of the night.

[Amanda Pomerenke]

I was 7, and I v'd in the middle of my 2nd grade class. The fact that my 2nd grade crush saw it happen may or may not have to do with it. I haven't v'd since(knock on wood)!

[Skittles04]

i started to get emet from the age of 6, but got really bad after vomiting when i was 9. two weeks later the panic attacks started and haven't pissed off since :/
on the bright side, the 16th marked 7 years since that happened

[ALaudell]

im saying around 5 or 6. i remember my parents taking me to the doctor because i refused to eat because of being afraid id v. i look back now and i get mad cuz all they did was give me medicine and ignored i actually had a problem.

[argyle_angel]

Probably around 6. V*d at school in the first grade, out in the yard. I remember that day well....

[Miss_Pink24]

I have no idea, I've had it for as long as I can remember. I would have to guess at 6-7 though. I remember many traumatic *v sessions as a child, but not too sure when the full on phobia took hold. I was hospitalized as a little tot as I just kept *ving all the time. I remember parts of it, but not all, it must have stemed from there though in some sense.

[I'm Haley]

I think 4-6. The first time I remeber v*ing is when I was 2. It happened many times and I remember dry heaving a lot.

[kate16]

Not sure. Only v'd as a kid a few times, alcohol a few times. I always hated it, but didn't obsess about it until pregnant with my son. I was 34. Got worse from there, and really bad at about 39. I'm 42 now.

[I'm Haley]

when I was six the same thing happened. I refused to eat solids and I had to be tube fed for a week.

[julybabe]

Just a thought, it is interesting that the most common age for onset appears to be 6-10yrs, that is when my emet started also

[jennjt]

I noticed that, too... Mine started at 7, and it's just interesting that a majority of us started at the same time. Maybe something about the development process at that time? I think some of my wires got crossed

[wiscomommy]

Early, age 6-9, something like that. I had a bad sv when I was a little one that was quite traumatic for me. Then I had this kid in my class who seemed to "target me out" whenever he was sick, which was, like, every damn month. He v*d on me 4 years out of my 8 in grade school. It's almost ironic and funny, as if he deliberately looked for me. He was a sickly kid. Anyway, in 5th grade I missed 30 straight days in a row from school because of the trauma this kid being sick on me had. Now I'm 38 and have been this way for 3+ decades. It's misery. I have four kids, and this is getting worse every year. Scared to take them to the water parks, the fairs, camping, crowded places, out to eat, everything. It's like a prison in my own mind, and I've had enough! I saw a therapist once about doing CBT for this emet, but the counselor had never heard of emet in the first place. Really???? I guess to me it was so common, yet they had never even considered this could be a phobia for somebody! They looked at me and shook their head in disbelief for a few sessions before I decided to quit wasting my money. Need help and would love help....

[Amanda Pomerenke]

Wiscomommy you could always get a therapist that specializes in phobias. Even if they haven't heard of emet, they would at least have an idea on how to treat phobias. Mine has never heard of emet either, but she's trying her hardest
Second of all, omg, he v'd on you in school!? I could understand why you'd be terrified. That must of been horrible

[SUM1]

I voted 6-10, but I clearly remember I've ALWAYS been terrifyed of being sick since I was very young, it's just now that I've come to understand how I felt more and understand that it's a phobia, it's become more noticable and distinguishable. I always felt very scared when I was young, I just didn't understand my feelings and couldn't really tell anyone. Now I know that it's a phobia, I take a lot of precautionary measures (you could call them compulsions) and they actually seem to work.

[Amelia28798]

Actually ive always had SAD an i hated v*ing but it became emtepohobia when i was 14. Just got worse since then D:

[Kittycat319]

I can remember almost every time I've ever v*d but im pretty sure the actual phobia started when I was 6, after going to a street fair with my family and getting a very horrific sv*, I can distinctly remember that day.
Anyway, I don't know if this has happened to others but I've had times where my emet has barely been a problem, it was very bad between ages 6-10 and then from around 11-16 it was barely there at all, just recently has it gotten very bad again

[Taylor105]

This poll amazed me. I am in the majority of people who stated the phobia in the 6-10 bracket. As a psych major in college that gets me thinking as to what level of development our brains were at that could have caused such a crippling phobia to last for life?

[nathanraile]

6ish, On and off for the next 7 years, until now

[XxLOVExX]

6 yrs old when it first started, it comes and goes this horrible phobia. These last few months have been especially bad.

[Kinetic]

I was 12, vomited on a bus from motion sickness in front of my peers.

[skippy88]

i was 18 when i v so bad i passed out.

[kthomas629]

I was between 6 and 7, can't remember exactly. I just remember being super freaked out by how sick my mom was when she was pregnant with my middle sister, she had horrible m/s with her and she would v* in the sink while she was trying to fix me breakfast or dinner and it scared me terribly. Plus my mom was always hypersensitive when we were little and would get sick and I think seeing her anxiety over my v* added to my own. I remember refusing to eat when I was like 7 and having a stomachache all night b/c I was so hungry and crying b/c I was convinced that if I ate I would v*. My doctor finally prescribed me Phenegran to help and I finally outgrew that eating fear when I was around 10 or 11. Except when someone in the house would get a *sv then I'd have those fears again, still do today to a point. I just would isolate myself from everyone in my house when a *sv would circulate.

[butterfly91]

About 9, when i v* in school, was obsessed with it for a few months after that, then it calmed down for a few years, and it started up again last year after i was ill from an sv, and its gradually getting worse i think, i'm 21 now, but my mum told me i was always scared about v* from a very young age, younger than 9, so i think its been on and off nearly all my life.