Right, it's hard to put all this down into words because there are SO many thoughts going through my head right now...

Okay. So i've been anxious and emetophobic for nearly 10 years (i'm 17 now). I always remember being anxious at school and then i also remember worrying about being sick a lot. I have been on prozac for 2 years and i recently had a terrible relapse and am now having CBT and hypnotherapy. My therapist want me to stay off this website so I will do when I have got the answer to this question.

The question I wanted to ask was...
Sage and a lot of people on this website say that emetophobia is just a SYMPTOM of our anxiety disorder... So if this is correct, then why in CBT are we treating the symptom and not the underlying anxiety? My hypnotherapist is trying to help with the anxiety whereas my CBT therapist said that I should gradually expose myself to vomit. I gave her the FAQ's sheet on this website and my hypnotherapist has it as well. BUT the problem is... I used to be TERRIFIED of other people being sick because i thought it would make me feel sick. But because i'm a teenager, i've sort of got used to it. I've had SO many house parties where my friends have just puked EVERYWHERE all over my floor and stuff. At first I used to run away and put my fingers in my ears and cry. But i just sort of got used to it. It's the same with watching videos, when I was little I used to watch Casualty and if someone vomited on it, I would think about it all night long and have images for ages. But now, I can watch programmes with loads of vomit it. I can see vomit and not be too scared. I still don't WANT to watch it but I feel that i have got used to it. So in CBT, Alice (my therapist) said we are going to look at pictures and videos and build up a hierachy... and I said that i don't really know what scares me about being sick because i've sorta got used to seeing other people be sick so I can;t think of anything to put on my hierachy?! But i'm still SO scared of it! I have panic attacks ALL the time about it. So now i'm scared that CBT won't ever work for me because i've got used to vomit but i'm still not cured... So maybe i'll never be able to be cured because i'm different from everyone else?! I don't know what to do! Am i un treatable?! And why are we treating the symptom? Surely if emet goes away, my anxiety will just latch onto something else?


Or maybe my phobia has become less severe because i've done part of the therapy myself? As in, i've got used to other's vomiting. But then again, if it was less severe why do i still have LOADS of panic attacks about it and feel deathly afraid? And also how do I treat the bit I still have left?

Anyone got any ideas or similar experiences?


LONG RANT sorry