why do people copy other people Vting?

[hairyfairy]

Has anyone ever wondered why people are supposed to V when they see others doing it? I have never felt sick when I see others V, I only feel disgusted. I saw an episode of HOUSE recently, when he`s on a plane, & everyone gets sick, including this girl who Vs just becuase he told her to! He says "monkey see, monkey barf " I would have thought that humans would be smarter than that. do any other members have any ideas?

[Rebecca85]

It's an evolutionary thing, in the past if someone ate bad food and v'ed it up, chances are everyone around them had also eaten it and so by v'ing in response to the first person, none of the bad food would actually be digested. It is basically the same as disgust, but a few steps further (the emotion disgust is supposed to stop you eating the bad food to start with!).

[asianeko]

Rebecca is dead on with this one. Imagine a hungry tribe, and the buffalo they just killed wasn't safe to eat. They don't know that! The person with the weakest stomach would definitely be ill, which may trigger the rest of the tribe getting ill. This would prevent crippling the tribe with long term illness or even death.

[turbokinetic]

Some people are subject to "sympathy spew" more than others. As an emetophobe I don't have any urge to puke when i see someone else do it. It just is not going to happen. I feel one of 2 things - either I laugh about it (silently or otherwise) OR I feel very sorry for their misery.

One friend is SO completely sensative to sympathy spewing that I pretended to be about to puke, and he actually DID puke!

I felt bad about that but it was still funny because he is not an emetophobe.

David

[Andrilla]

One friend is SO completely sensative to sympathy spewing that I pretended to be about to puke, and he actually DID puke!

David

Wow! My brother has issues with "sympathy spews" as you put it. Thankfully he isn't THAT bad.

[Rebecca85]

I think that this may even be contributing to my phobia. When someone else pukes, my overriding thought is 'oh my god I'm going to' even though I never actually have sympathy spewed (I have retched though), and I'm not even that phobic about v'ing myself now!

[paulinek]

I feel queasy or heave (or nearly heave) too if i see somethig gross but I hope to hell it never leads to actual vomiting. Even stuff like bogeys hanging out of a kids nose or skid marks in a loo turn my stomach, if i breath really deep and hold my breath for a bit though it susbides the retchy feeling

[Jill in Apartment 413]

I panic and think I might vomit when I see others do it IRL but I never have. BTW the episode of House was called "AIRBORNE" Hee hee it's my favorite eppy!

[StaceySGMW]

If someone v* as a result of a bug or something, odds are I'll feel n*.

If someone v* as a result of alcohol, or they're drunk, it doesn't seem to bother me for some reason.

[asianeko]

If someone v* as a result of a bug or something, odds are I'll feel n*.

If someone v* as a result of alcohol, or they're drunk, it doesn't seem to bother me for some reason.

I'm the opposite! Drunk V freaks me out and in the past I got more panicky with it. Bugs don't bother me as much.

[CielSoraXQR]

Wow. I'd never even heard of this response until today. I guess I'm lucky.
I've never really felt any response apart from getting as far away from the person.

[turbokinetic]

Possibly non-emetophobic males are more susceptible to this than the ladies or any emetophobic person?

[emmalinda]

i am definate one with the sympathy spews!! i didnt even know it had a name. i feel so terribly bad for people when they v* i feel i have to as well to help take the burden and awful feeling off them. but i also think im gonna do it becasue i think its gonna be too gross for me to handle. but i believe i am actually good with gross things. i have 3 older brothers who love jackass and falling on their heads and putting themselves in strange situations. and as a kid i could handle blood and bad injuries and hospitals. but v* always gave me this scary feeling. but not gross. if i heard my brother got sick...i would immidiately feel sorry for him, and wonder what it would look like (isnt that wierd!?) and how he felt before it happened and how hes feeling afterwards, and how terrible it must of been and thats rare! and i would go to the area without hesitation and then suddenly ferak out and not because if i look at it might make me sick as well. and this is when i was 6!! I would just love to be one of those persons at a party helping the sick person with the other strong stomachs and not be the one cringing in the corner with the others.and what sucks is i know i could of been

[turbokinetic]

..... I would just love to be one of those persons at a party helping the sick person....... what sucks is i know i could of been

Could have been? CAN be! Your still alive and kickin, you can yet be that way.

[Silivrin]

I'm not one of those people who gets sick after seeing people v*. I haven't v*'d since I was 3, so I suppose I must have a strong immunization to that. When someone v*s I'm just scared out of my mind, especially when there are loads of people around because I'm worried about that kind of a chain reaction.