emetophobia and disability

[tiffclausing]

I have a question for anyone who might know. I have been dealing with emetophobia ever since I was very young. I've tried therapy and relaxation techniques. I have many crazy rituals and sometimes starve myself. I haven't been able to hold a job for fear of contracting a sickness from someone.

My question is, have you ever heard of someone being on disability for emetophobia?

[emetophobicmale]

Hi. Since emetophobia is a phobia and not a disorder, I don't think a phobia like this could be considered a disability in and of itself. However, with that said, there are many of us here whose emetophobia is essentially a symptom or byproduct to a diagnosable disorder/disability....such as OCD, asperger's syndrome, or other correlated diagnoses. If you are familiar with the DSM-4 guide to mental disorders, you may want to see if you might meet the criteria for a disorder. YOu brought up doing many "rituals" which is a symptom of OCD.

But who knows....maybe some phobias can be considered a disability in and of themselves.

My two cents.

Darrin

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