It went horribly wrong :( what do you think i should do?

[lelliottxx]

hey,
so i started cbt about 12 weeks ago for my emetophobia but the guy just made me 50x worse!!! i had to quit in the end because he was so bad! he was CRAP at his job! i am now worse then i have ever been, i am even finding it difficult to leave the house! with my phobia its not as much as other people being sick but its me, im terrified that im going to be sick and where ever i go i just panick that something will make me throw up or i am going to be sick and people wont udnerstand my phobia.
so basically the last cbt was a disater, my mum has found me someone else who specialises in emetophobia, i know its sounds like a good idea, but because the last cbt went so wrong im scared of that happening again and i really dont know what to do. what do you think? should i go to this guy who specialises in emetophobia and see if he can help me?
HELP IM SCARED! :'(

laura.

[olschesky]

sorry you had such a bad experience......i think i would go talk to the new person and let him know before hand what you went through with the last person and your concerns at trying cbt again. if he''s good he will definitely listen to you and let you know what to expect.

i'm like you....i'm more afraid of me being sick than other people.......

good luck....keep us posted

[lelliottxx]

olschesky

yeah thats the problem, after the last experience with cbt ive lost hope init, and im scared of it going wrong again cause im really stuggling with my emetophobia at the moment :/
yeah i think if i do go i will tell him that ive lost a bit of hope init because of my past experience so he understands and hopefully i will know sooner if it will work or not with this guy, im just so tired and fed up at the moment that i just dont want to go through any more rough time with it :/
yeah im always making sure i cant be sick and if anybody else is im afraid i will be ill because they have been.

thank you

[jadepanic]

I am so afraid of myself being sick...not so much anyone else unless they have a bug i might get...the other day when a car infront of our car at the traffic lights,the passanger door opeend...and he started to be sick infront of me and my husband (husband) was driving....i actually asked my husband if i could catch what he had...even though i was not with him,i was in a car and there was some road between us....thats how afraid of V* i am.My husband said he was more than likely drunk and thats y he was being sick...but i cant help thinking...it was a wednesday eveing about 8pm....why would he be that drunk on a wednesday and at that time?? thats why I'm sure he was ill.

[lelliottxx]

JADEPANIC...

i am EXCACILY the same as you! for a start if i saw someone just be sick like that out of nowhere i would be panicking so much! but i would also ask the person im with if i could be sick because they were, to be honest with you, if somebody was sick on the otherside of the world i would ask whoever im with if i will get ill!
the truth is that guy probably was ill but you will NOT be ill, theres no way you could catch anything form that i promise. but i know excacily what you meen because im the same, if someone else is sick, no matter who or where i will think im going to be sick aswell and need to ask for reasurance.

[jadepanic]

I no its so awfull isnt it?? its good in away to hear i'm not alone in this but i always hate it too wen i hear people feel same way as me,i wouldnt wish this phobia on my worst enemy (not that i have one)...I fear bugs ALL the time,and i pray to God to make it all go away,but he never listens to me.hows the cbt going? im having this too.xx

[emmalinda]

mhm...me as well. im terrified of v* myself. i would go to the new person and get cbt done there. every person is different. you might find this other guy wonderful! maybe just have consualtation with him first and explain to him about what happened last time

[lelliottxx]

i know excacily what you mean, its horrible, i would wish this phobia on anyone, i do the same as you, pray all the time that i wont get ill and that it will stop but he dosent listen.
well my last cbt went horribly but i am starting a new one next week which will hopefully be better, hows your going, what type of stuff do you do?

[icicledreamz]

I wouldn't let that bad expierence stop you in trying to get yourself help, this person might be great and do wonders for u. You need to just keep truckin'. I gotta wait until december for my first phyciatrist appt!

[olschesky]

i'm in that "club" also.......i worry for days if i see some random person sick......or even if i hear of a friend who's been sick.....even if i havent been near them in ages........it sucks!

[jadepanic]

Well my therepist wants us to start "visual work" which meand watching people on u tube being S* or looking at pics on google...i have looked at some pics on google myself and they were absolutly terrifying and discusting,so i don't know how i'm going to do it...i also have to soon make some V*....in cbt,they actually have a recipe for it and they get you to make it with them.again,don't know what I will be like doing this.I also do thought records for my therepist,which do make sence...as thats the cognitive bit of cbt,trying to change your thoughts.xx

[lelliottxx]

so your quite far into treatment if you starting visual work, which is good but scary! my last theropist did non of that, he was absoulutly rubbish! just made me worse!
oh my gosh! you have to make v*! that sounds terryfying! but im sure by then you will be ready for it,
good luck! tell me how you get on! i really hope you overcome it, its a horrible phobia, let me know if you do! xxx

[oksana]

I had six months of CBT this year and it didn't help one bit. I don't feel CBT is all that helpful of emetophobia. Everything definitely seems far worse than it did before I began the therapy sessions. I'd love to be referred to someone who specialises in this kind of thing.

[lelliottxx]

i went through the exact same experience as you and i am also worse now :/ and im not going to see that guy anymore i think, because its just the same as cbt and that diddnt work :/

[oksana]

The therapist I saw would go on and on about "what's the worst thing you think can happen if you are sick" and "what is it you're scared of" and every week, I'd tell her that I DON'T KNOW! If I did know, I probably would have worked it all out by myself. I'd quite like to give hypnotherapy a go. I saw a video on YouTube once where a girl spoke of her treatment and said it did work (or maybe it was all fake and they filmed it to get people through the door.. cynical, me)

[lelliottxx]

thats EXCACILY what happened to me! it was just so pointless and diddnt work!
ive tryed hypnotheropy a couple of years ago and it diddnt work for me at all, i think because emetophobia is a more complicated phobia then say somebody who is afraid of birds or something. but it might work for you, i hope i find some help one day because hate living with this!
at the moment my mum is v* upstairs and im TERRIFIED! i just want to leave the house!

good luck, let me know how you get on!

[oksana]

My therapist kept banging on about a woman she saw who was afraid of dogs and that in one session, she brought a little dog in for the patient to pat and she was "ok with it". Well, it's not the same! I wish it was as simple as petting a dog.

I hope your mum is ok

[lelliottxx]

yeah! maybe cbt will work for you its just the theropist you had, its like i you have a bad teacher then you wont work, cbt might work really well for you, you just need to find someone who has more experince in the job, thats what im going to try and do, that or try another form of treatment.

thanks i hope she is too!

[jadepanic]

what is wrong with your mum?? poor her and poor you.let us know.hope shes better soon.xx

[lelliottxx]

shes just had an operation and she came out yesterday but for some reason last night she got very ill and started v* alot and then she had to go back into the hospital at about 5am, shes feeling a bit better now thanks, it was quite a rough night, i havent slept or ate yet.
thank you

[claire43]

I think all of you who are having cbt are so brave. I would never have enough courage to confront my phobia head on, even though I hate living with the fear 24/7. Over 20 years ago I did pluck up the courage to go to a hypnotherapist but one of the first things he did was give me a bowl "just in case I v*"!! I was out of there so fast I cant even remember what excuse I gave. Good luck to all of you.

[lelliottxx]

oh my ggosh!! he gave you a bowl! he shouldetn of done that, i also had that treatment a couple of years ago, it diddnt work for me, but he certanily diffrent give me a bowl, if he had i would of ran out there screaming scared out of my mind!
it is hard confronting it, but even tho its hard its better to try and get help then live with it, i hope you do get some help one day cause i know its such a life controlling phobia sometimes!

[rwfoss]

Go to the new therapist. Progress is taking one step, and then another. As a therapist myself, I always want to hear about what DID NOT work with their previous therapist. You have to be in communication with your therapist and let them know your expectations. You also never know what little things you may have heard or learned during this previous set of sessions may help later on. I've helped people get over their arachnophobia rather quickly. Unfortunately, because emetophobia is classified as a phobia, most therapists treat it like other phobias. If this new therapist specializes in emetophobia, they may have a much better understanding about what you're going through. I am also learning that even emetophobia has different faces. Personally, I did a lot of exposure therapy with myself and can view people getting sick on TV or in movies without wincing in the least. I still have struggles with getting sick myself.

It's all a journey...

Rick

[rwfoss]

Go to the new therapist. Progress is taking one step, and then another. As a therapist myself, I always want to hear about what DID NOT work with their previous therapist. You have to be in communication with your therapist and let them know your expectations. You also never know what little things you may have heard or learned during this previous set of sessions may help later on. I've helped people get over their arachnophobia rather quickly. Unfortunately, because emetophobia is classified as a phobia, most therapists treat it like other phobias. If this new therapist specializes in emetophobia, they may have a much better understanding about what you're going through. I am also learning that even emetophobia has different faces. Personally, I did a lot of exposure therapy with myself and can view people getting sick on TV or in movies without wincing in the least. I still have struggles with getting sick myself.

It's all a journey...

Rick

[lelliottxx]

hi rick,
im guessing you have emetophobia aswell, thats really good that your a theropist because you will understand your patients and what there going through alot more, no matter what there phobia is because you know how it feels to be that scared.
i have now found this new treatment called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing ) that im going to try, im hoping my new theorpist will help.
i think your right, alot of theropist treat emetophobia like other phobias and its more comeplecated, also ive had emetophobia from birth so ive never known a life without it.

[damean29]

I just started seeing a therapist and she said we will use CBT. I only had one session and she just listened to me the whole time - who i was, what my family was like, and my phobia. She told me to start keeping track of the number of tmes i feel fear and what i was thinking. she also told me to scale it from 1 to 10 (10 being the worst). I have done this now for about 9 days. I graphed the number of times each day i had fear. Seeing this over a week has helped me see a pattern and hwen i re-read my journal i also see that there are times i am doing really good. All in all its been a bit of confidence booster. Looking forward to CBT.