Metaphor Help

[sarkatsug]

Hi guys!

I am doing a speech next week on emetophobia. I have to open and close the speech with a metaphor and am having the hardest time creating one. If any of you have any advice/ideas, I would love to hear them.

I am opening the speech with something like:
Have you ever been so terrified of something that you would almost rather die?
I either need to turn this into a metaphor or create the next sentence into one.

I am closing the speech with:
Now that you are aware of this very real phobia, please try keeping an open mind and understanding when you meet someone who struggles with this or any other type of phobia. To you, it may seem irrational and a bit silly but to the sufferer it is ... (place metaphor here)


Thanks!

[sarkatsug]

Oops. I left of, then face it, on the opening.

Have you ever been so terrified of something that you would almost rather die than face it?

Thanks!

[paulinek]

erm... i can't word it right but for me emet is like my body is my worst enemy, an uncontrollable enemy within, like being locked in a prison cell with your worst fear in that you can't run away from it because it's inside you...that kind of thing - something that gets over the point that it's not a phobia of something you can avoid like pigeons it's withyou every waking minute.

Good luck with your speech, it'd be nice to see the finished thing when you're done - if you don't mind sharing that is.

if i think of anything else i'll post back but i'm not very good putting things into word like that, it's tricky

[vixki]

"...to the sufferer it is 'a living hell' "
"have you ever been scared to death of facing something?"
"have you ever felt your heart come to a stop when faced with something which scares the life out of you?" < see I got two in there!

er. there's a few. haha I'm not too bad with metaphors though I say it myself If I think of more then I'll write them here

& i agree with pauline, it'd be nice to see your speech if thats ok!

[EstherB]

A metaphor is describing something as though it WERE something else... So: have you ever been so scared of something you thought you would die? Emetophobia is the monster of your childhood nightmares, now haunting your every waking moment.

So that's a metaphor because you're saying that emetophobia IS the monster.

To you, it may seem irrational and silly, but to the sufferer, it is Death poised to strike, scythe raised above his head, casting at his worst a constant shadow over the emetophobe's every thought, step and decision, and inflicting an unremitting sense of impending doom upon their everyday life.

Plenty of metaphors in there - emetophobia described as BEING Death, raising a scythe above his head. Emetophobia described as 'casting a shadow' - objects cast shadows, not emetophobia, hence this being a metaphor. Emetophobia 'inflicting' fear - again, people inflict things on other people, not phobias, so the use of the verb 'inflict' is a metaphor here.

Hope this gives you some ideas, even if you don't want to use these examples.

[sarkatsug]

You guys are the best! Thank you.
The funny thing, I have absolutely no problem coming up with metaphors for others. But this speech, is harder on me than expected and I got writers block when it came to them.

I am doing this speech extemporaneously so I don't have it completely written out. I am most happy to share what i do have. You all can tell me what you think or if I have any facts wrong. This site and several others came in very handy!

PS...the V* word and others are written out. I luckily can read them and say them. If you can't, please be warned!



************************
Have you ever been so terrified of something that you would almost rather die than face it? Emetophobia is the monster of our childhood nightmares, now haunting our every waking moment.

- Phobias are real! Maybe you are struggling with one of your own?
- The phobia that I am going to discuss today is much more common than one might think. In fact, I would be surprised if you did not know someone who struggled with it.
-After today, you will.

My purpose is to inform you about Emetophobia.
I will first tell you what it means
Second I will tell you the symptoms & characteristics of the phobia
Third, I will discuss my life as an Emetophobe.

Emetophobia is a condition where an individual fears vomiting and/or others vomiting.

According to The Clinician’s Guide to Diagnosis, Emetophobia is the 5th most common phobia.
-If you type in, fear of vomit, in the google search you will get over 3 million results
-Type in emetophobia, you will get almost 60K results


Explain: Symptoms of Emetophobia
-



"Most Emetophobes report quite sincerely that they would rather die than vomit." A. S. Christie, B.A., M.Div.



According to some of my research, it is common for emetophobia to be misdiagnosed with OCD, Agoraphobia, Social Phobias and Anorexia. Though Emetophobes do present symptoms of all these disorders, if you remove their fear of vomit, they usually have no other symptoms of these disorders.



Explain: Characteristics of Most Emetophobes



Explain: What an emetophobe might do when faced with someone who feels ill and may vomit.


Explain what an Emetophobe might do when they feel ill.



My Life as an Emetophobe:
-I believe that I have been an emetophobe for the majority of my 35 years.
-In my early childhood years I seemed to be more obsessed with vomit than afraid
oI would remember every single time someone in my family, my friends, or strangers would get sick...down to days of the week, time of day, and locations.

oI would talk about it often.
-My phobia was confirmed in my early adolescence and has continued to blossom daily.

My Emetophobia Characteristics
-I think about vomit at least ten times in each day.
-When nauseated or exposed to illness, I will refuse to eat or drink sometimes for days
-I refuse all meds that have a possible side effect of vomiting. (Even after my c-section.)
-When I walk into an unfamiliar room/facility, I survey it for all of the exits and restrooms.
-On the rare occasion of using a public restroom, I will run out at the slightest sound of a cough.
-I panic on public transportation
-I avoid walking near any odd looking puddles
-I will not eat at an empty restaurant
-If sitting theater style, I must sit at or very near the end. If I must sit in the middle I will spend the entire production panicking about how the hell I will make a quick exit should I or anyone else vomit.
-If someone says that they are not feeling well, I will ask a million questions.
-If a person feels like they may vomit, I make a very quick exit.
-I plug my ears and close my eyes if I am trapped.
-I pace, plug my ears, and sing at loud volumes
-I run away
-I panic
-I have social anxiety
-I love to vacation but get great anxiety while doing so.
-I waste a ton of food out of fearing it being bad.
-I fear ER’s
-I have Dramamine, Dr. Shen’s Stomach Curing pills, gum and hand sanitizer with me at all times
-When really nauseated, I have prayed for death.
-OCD –
oI wash my hands obsessively…daily
oI keep a bag in my car at all times, “just in case”. If the bag is not there, I get extreme anxiety.
oI am meticulous about sell by dates.
oIf nauseas, I scrub the toilets, floor in front of the toilets and sinks with bleach.
oI must have a cold washcloth on my forehead and neck.
oI sing, You are the Everything by REM and Sweet Child of Mine by GNR over and over.
-And the list goes on…

We have looked at Emetophobia, its symptoms and my life as an Emetophobe.

Now that you are aware of this very real phobia, please try keeping an open mind and understanding when you meet someone who struggles with this phobia or any other type of phobia. To you, it may seem irrational and a bit silly but to the sufferer, it is a living hell. It is death poised to strike, casting a constant shadow over the emetphobe’s every thought, step and decision, and inflicting an unremitting sense of impending doom upon their everyday life.


*******************************
It will be something like the above...loving these metaphors that you all created (thank you so much!) but I have a week in a half left, so they may change some.



Thanks for your help guys!


Happy day.

[vixki]

Is this for a class or something? I have to say wow, you're very brave to get up and tell everyone about your emetophobia. Good luck!

[sarkatsug]

Yes, it is my "informative" speech for class. UGH! It was either going to be on Emetophobia or Cuddle Parties. I am now wishing that I chose the other...it would have been much easier. I truly want to get over my fear...or at the very least, be able to control it. I have been having a very hard time with my 2 y/o son. I have run away from him while he vomited and I don't want to do that, I am his Mommy! And...I do not want to instill this fear in him. I figure, the more I talk about it...it may help. Fingers crossed.

[harmonygirl72]

Very cool! I have to ask...what's a Cuddle Party?

[silversun]

Good for you for being able to talk about this so publicly. I hope it's therapeutic.

I don't know that this is the type of metaphor you're looking for, but lately I've been thinking that I might explain this phobia to someone who doesn't understand by comparing it to a fear of flying (which I think is far more accepted and tolerated). Someone with a fear of flying (like me -- yes, I have that too) can control when they do or do not fly. It's a completely finite period of time, so even if they have to confront the fear, it's usually for about six hours or less and then it's done. With emet, the fact that just hearing people talk about a s*v* can send me into a tailspin means that it's like someone with a fear of flying suddenly finding themselves on an airplane. No warning, no control over it. You're just minding your own business and then suddenly you're just there, terrified.

This time of year is, of course, horrible for this. Everyone seems to love to talk about this stuff -- in person and on-line -- and there's really no escaping it. In fact, I'm on that airplane right now, thanks to a facebook friend who just had to share...

So that's my metaphor.

Good luck with the speech!

[sarkatsug]

Oops, I just tried to post a link but it won't allow yet. Soon, I should be able to.

[sarkatsug]

Thanks guys!

[sarkatsug]

Let me try this again. Cuddle parties are, let's just say, a bit different. My girlfriend just wrote an article about them. This should give you the basic gist of it.

http://www.bohemian.com/bohemian/02....ties-1006.html

Happy day.