My CBT journey

[Avath]

Hi!

It's been a few years since I posted. I can tell you I'm still "in remission". I'm a nurse now and I deal with both poop daily and vomit frequently and it doesn't bother me at all beside the realm of "normal". I mean, it's not pleasant but it's not so unpleasant that it controls how I act. If I've been with a sick patient during the day, I don't think about it all when I go home.

Every now and then I feel “the fear” but I don’t let it take over. I sit down and have a real think about what in my life that’s making me anxious. I believe that I’m still kind of wired to go to emetophobic thoughts if I don’t direct my anxieties to where they’re actually from. This happens less and less, though.
I look back at how I lived – never going out in case I would catch something, counting hours from when I ate to see if I got food poisoning “this time”, insomnia because I was so afraid, the constant all-consuming anxiety and quite literally wanting to die because I couldn’t stand living like that – and I feel so sorry for past me and I feel very bad for all those who still struggle with phobias.
I just wanted you all to know that it’s completely possible to go from really bad phobia to being “normal” and for it to stick. CBT was hard work and it kicked my ass but the short time it took still astounds me. It’s worth confronting your fears and being very scared for a little while to never be that type of scared again.
I went to university. I travel a lot. I work in a hospital. I eat what I want. I never thought I could do any of that but I can. And from the bottom of my heart I believe that every single one of you can too.

I am happy and I do what I want without fear. Anything that happens, I can handle and it’s not forever. It’s going to be okay.

Does anyone have any questions or something I could answer?

[Boyke84]

Hi!

It's been a few years since I posted. I can tell you I'm still "in remission". I'm a nurse now and I deal with both poop daily and vomit frequently and it doesn't bother me at all beside the realm of "normal". I mean, it's not pleasant but it's not so unpleasant that it controls how I act. If I've been with a sick patient during the day, I don't think about it all when I go home.

Every now and then I feel “the fear” but I don’t let it take over. I sit down and have a real think about what in my life that’s making me anxious. I believe that I’m still kind of wired to go to emetophobic thoughts if I don’t direct my anxieties to where they’re actually from. This happens less and less, though.
I look back at how I lived – never going out in case I would catch something, counting hours from when I ate to see if I got food poisoning “this time”, insomnia because I was so afraid, the constant all-consuming anxiety and quite literally wanting to die because I couldn’t stand living like that – and I feel so sorry for past me and I feel very bad for all those who still struggle with phobias.
I just wanted you all to know that it’s completely possible to go from really bad phobia to being “normal” and for it to stick. CBT was hard work and it kicked my ass but the short time it took still astounds me. It’s worth confronting your fears and being very scared for a little while to never be that type of scared again.
I went to university. I travel a lot. I work in a hospital. I eat what I want. I never thought I could do any of that but I can. And from the bottom of my heart I believe that every single one of you can too.

I am happy and I do what I want without fear. Anything that happens, I can handle and it’s not forever. It’s going to be okay.

Does anyone have any questions or something I could answer?

Did your CBT involve inducing a dizzy action like spinning you in a chair? or any sort of activity that makes you feel n*?

[AZCH]

Thank you for the update, Avath, this is so inspiring. I have done a lot of CBT and exposure therapy and have come a long way myself, but I still don't feel recovered mainly because I still panic if I think I am going to v*. I've gotten a lot better at handling nausea but if it gets bad enough I still panic. What did the last steps in recovery look like for you? Have you been sick since you've been in remission? I want so badly to be done with this phobia and I know I can be, because I've seen a lot of changes in myself. Congratulations!