I Have Emetophobia

[Julia31]

I have always as a child been slightly afraid of throwing up. I've a had a few awful experiences that may have set it off. Food poisoning from potato salad being one. Try being in a car full of seven people throwing up on vacation and then going to the home you're staying in where there's only one bathroom!! And then my cousin threw up beside be in the car after eating a rotten egg!! I was absolutely mortified. I can actually pinpoint when it became that much worse though and I think it actually shed some light on Emetophobia. It started getting a whole lot worse when I decided to be a stay at home mom. I sit in my house all day long in fear. I'm actually crying while writing this because I'm both upset and angry that my life has turned out this way. I overcook any meat, I constantly check everyhting (even canned goods) for expiry dates and I constantly listen to my kids for sounds of coughing that may be followed by throwing up. Here's the thing. I think for me it's a control issue. I have no control over my life, I don't work my husband does so I have no control over money and this is the one thing I can control or try to!! My absolute breaking point was when my son woke up in the middle of the night and didn't make it to the toilet. I found him crouched down in the bathroom in the middle of throw up trying to clean it up with toilet paper. He said "I'm trying to clean it up mommy because I thought you'd be mad at me" I cried the whole time cleaning that up. My biggest fear is that my kids will somehow pick up on this and live like this. Anyways..that's my story and it helps me if I repeat this everyday. It's actually for AA which I am not an alcoholic or religous but I find it helps anyways so I thought maybe it would help others on here. Thank You.

God, grant us the...Serenity to accept things we cannot change,Courage to change the things we can, and theWisdom to know the differencePatience for the things that take timeAppreciation for all that we have, andTolerance for those with different strugglesFreedom to live beyond the limitations of our past ways, theAbility to feel your love for us and our love for each other and theStrength to get up and try again even when we feel it is hopeless

[sage]

Hi Julia,

Welcome to the site! I'm sure you will find a great deal of help and support here as well as helpful information. It's a good idea to read through the whole "Information and Research" section of this website as well. All that info is also on my website as I wrote it (link below).

I like the Serenity Prayer too. Emetophobia falls into the category of "the courage to change the things we can" - because it is a highly treatable phobia. You don't have to live your life in fear, and you're right - it is hard on the kids.

Good luck and once again welcome!