My opinion

[baseballplaya12]

I think that this site is a very beneficial place to come when in a time of crisis...(someone close got sick..etc..) but i think thats its not the best thing to be on this site everyday. The best thing we can do is get out and live. If we are on this site everyday that causes us to dwell on our phobia...which in my opinion is the last thing we need to do...I know its a scary world out there but its only going to get worse if you can't take your mind off it.

[stella9]

While that may be true for you, it may not work for others. Yes,
dwelling on something can make someone ruminate about something
over and over excessively. However, it is also very comforting
for many people, who feel isolated by this disease, to know there are
other people in the world who feel exactly the same way they do.
This is a community for people of like worrries and concerns to come
together. I also believe that a lot of information has been
disseminated on these boards that have helped people.



Stella9

[snowangel]

Hi there, I agree with you to some extent. It is not good to obsess about our phobia and dwell on them. However, for some people this site really helps. It helps me to help others in a time of crisis, for example. And others have helped me just by being on the system at the same time I was feeling panicky.

I think you raise a good point, baseball player. We should use this site to dwell on the phobia. Rather, we should just treat it as our own little community of friends who share the same fears. I think that's what we do for the most part, there are a lot of off-topic conversations that go on, which is great. But when you need to turn to someone who understands, you can always rely on a fellow emet....!

[roxi27]

I work everyday, and run errands as well. I am busy, but I look
forward to comming on the site every night before bed. I am not
dwelling or feeling sorry for myself. Writing to all of you makes
me feel better, and has actually given me confidence to go out and do
things I have been scared of doing before. I do understand what
you are saying, and there may people who do dwell, but it's part of the
emet. I am glad you are all here to help and support me. Carrie

[skon]

I don't think visiting this place would do any harm really. Though I do understand that the best cure for this phobia is to get away from it and do things. I only really come in here when I have an issue, since I'm not really good at consoling people and making them feel better.


I think it's just a by product of getting over the phobia when you don't come here as much. For me at least, I was here all the time when it was at its worst. I'm not saying that the forum was the reason for it being worse though. I think it's too big of an issue to be affected so much by a website.

[charzysbebe]

I agree that we shouldn't dwell on our phobia...but for me, coming to this site is my "safety net". I know that I can communicate with others about my phobia; for no one else, not even my family, understands what I go through;us emets do. I feel like I can sound "stupid" (as my familywould say to me) by sharing what it is that scares me....with other emets.


I can see where for some people, this forum would do more harm than good, but that simply isn't the case for me.


I know that if I am sick, or anyone around me is sick, I will get the support I need, and I want to be here in time of need for others.


Yeah, I admit, I have been scared reading something really graphic on here, but I see it as helping me somewhat, by desensitizing me is some way. [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img] Charlotte

[sarahg]

Hiya, I have mixed feelings about this site. When, like today, I hear about someone being ill, this site has helped me. It has given me the opportunity to talk to others who understand how I freak out and who can offer me support and reassurance.


However, there are times when I check out this site and find it makes me feel worse. Reading about people who are here in the UK who say they are feeling ill or know of someone who is ill makes me panic ... how far do they live from me, is the bug in my area etc. etc. I try and tell myself I will be OK, if I am fine by a certain day, then I wont have caught it, but then come here and read something about someone who appeared to catch something within hours or several days after contact with the ill person.


With this in mind I try to limit the amout of times I visit, try to only visit when I am in panic mode and not at other times, because if all is OK the last thing I want to do is start myself off worrying.


Hope you all understand how I feel, its nothing personal towards anyone. I know my thoughts are irrational, but thats just how the phobia grips me.

[holly18]

i try to visit this site everyday. it is very comforting to talk to other who share similar fears and wants as me, but it does not effect my everyday life. I do have somewhat of a social life and i have found this to be better since i have been using this forum. I am no onger relying on my boyfreind and family for support so it is taking the stress off of them. I think that this forum is a great way to vent our feelings and then get on with everyday life. My boyfreind was quite stressed out before i first came here,i nthink he was just overwhelmed by the pressure i was exerting on him, and although i still talk to him about it, i think he feels less stressed now that i have other people to talk to.


I also think i have alot to offer to other emets because i have made alot of progress, for example i overcame my emet related anorexia, and i can cope with others being ill to some extent. I hope that i can help others to make progress similar to my own. I also knw that there are emets here that have made more progress than myself and can help me even more.

[holly18]

how about adding an off topic section to the forum? Where us emets can talk about anything but our emet, for example hobbies etc. It would be a great way for us to communicate on nights when we dont want to hear anything about this horrible phobia?

[sarahg]

That sounds like a good idea holly18. We should have somewhere to chat about our hobbies and interests ... basically somewhere any mention of our phobia is banned!!


Take care


Sarahxxx

[hippychick]

I visit this site everyday just about and I have done for the last...2 years nearly 3. When I joined I was at my lowest, now I think I am the happiest I have ever been. This site has been a constant for me. Sometimes I read things that were not good for me, sometimes I read things that helped. My mum always said I shouldn't come here because it was thinking about it too much. But emet took up my life anyway so why not come here??? lol


It Isn't healthy to always think about it, however it is for each individual person to decide how helpful this site is for them. Just like everyones emet is different, everyones feelings toward the site are different. I know that people on this site have helped me through the worst times of my life, I know if I have a crisis I can come here and instantly I have people who care enough to talk to me.


I can understand people who cant spend lots of time here, I REALLY understand people who may pick up bad habits from this site but I also understand that I was so low with emet...nothing could have made me any worse lol

[Jenneh]

hav to say i dont agree with u either..


if people come here for reassurance ONLY, then maybe yes they are using this place to dwell on their phobia too much.


but i never start a post unless im desperate, and only reply to others. i aim to help others... it doent drag me down or anything... infact makes me feel comfort that im not the only one whos gone thru the bad experiences i have.


Jen xxxx

[sage]

The people who seem to have benefited most from this site in the long run are those who came, got wonderfully validated that they are not alone, got the information they needed to get into a treatment program, then got out. For some, they have used the site to help themselves plug away at their own treatment cuz they couldn't afford or get hooked up with a proper therapist or program for some reason. The support is good when you're panicking as well, but seeking constant reassurance is probably not ultimately helpful.


Unfortunately, constantly reading about others' anxiety can fuel your own, and you get more worked up about stuff you never thought of before by coming here. It's a neat community of people that are supportive and good to talk to, but it is very transient and not as good as developing real human relationships with other friends, partners or family members.

[holly18]

i kinda disagree with that. most of the people on the forum have the same anxieties as myself, and i like to read this. I find that by reading it from somebody else perspective actually makes me realise how irrational it is for myself to have the same anxieties. I reply to most of the threads i read and i find that i can give advise to somebody else who has the exact same anxiety as myself but yet without reqading and replying to that thread, i probably wouldnt have realised it myself. does that make sense?


i think that reading other peoples anxietys that are exactly the same as mine allows me to restructure it in my head and become more rational about it. For example, i really worry about being near someone that is sick, but helping others deal with the same way, allows me to deal with it better.

[jazz]

Although this site has been a fantastic base for support, I'm the first to admit that i haven't always benefited from making regular visits..
for eg; if there's a stomach bug going around an area in which some of us live, the worst possible scenario, would be to log on here, and see it announced all over the forums..I've also been told to perhaps, distance myself from here, because yes, it was making me anxious.
However, i can't necessarily imagine *not* making visits to this site.. and recently iv taken more of an interest into the off-topic posts..which should definately remain where they are..
sometimes we need a distraction from this phobia, and logging on here can do just that too..
i really couldn't think of a better place to come in time of an emet-crisis.. but depending on how anxious you are, you will develop a different impression from your visits here.
luck of the draw right?

[jennyleigh1975]

I think that we dont need to dwell on our phobias, but for some people coming here daily is helpful. Everyone is different. I may not need help myself everyday, but I might can be helpful to someone else who does.

[auggiedoggie12]

I disagree with you baseballplayer. I don't depened on this site, I go to school, I work and I have a social life...but when I feel insecure about my emet of that maybe I ate something that will make me sick, this is the only place in the world that understands and can help me bring my ANIXIETY BACK DOWN. So in a lot of ways I think this is healing for me not detrimental. This may not be the case for you baseballplayer, and if it isnt then maybe you should start to see this site the way I do, and many of us do, a place to comfort others and when you need comforting... a place to be comforted.


I appreciate your ideas though! [img]smileys/smilies_04.gif[/img]


Lauren

[wing]

I agree with both sides a bit. [dont kill me ><] The site does make me think about it alot but on the other hand when I feel sick,I need to come here. The computer and this website is like my calming object O.o [dont ask] even ifthe window is just open and i'm not looking at it.

[kellybean]

This site has been both good and bad for me. Everyone here is so helpful when someone needs comforting. There is so much information about emet on this site that I couldn't find anywhere else. I get down sometimes when I read about a bug that'sgoing around in different areas, but I like coming here because I know that here is the only place people will understand how I'm feeling when I'm worring about something that other people wouldn't think twice about.

[sage]

Holly,


Your response makes a great deal of sense - if the visits here help you to see the phobia as irrational, they it's worth coming.


I also agree with the people who say they find it a help and support, and it doesn't make them feel worse. However, everyone who replied has only been coming here less than a year. This new site was developed last April, and very few people who were on the old site ever come here regularly anymore. So I guess you have to look at it long-term...is it ultimately helpful over the long-term? Maybe I should do a study of this! But from my own memory it seems like anyone who came here as a "regular" eventually decided that it wasn't helping, and stopped coming here. Those who came briefly for information, validation, etc. and then left may have fared better by going and getting treatment...again, I wouldn't know for sure without trying to hunt them down and ask them...but it's an interesting idea.


The point is - whatever works for you, right? Whatever you find helpful in your life, then...just do that - lol!

[Jenneh]

iv been on this site for flipping ages. well over a year by now i wdda thort. and its always benefited me, and weare lookin in the long term here, without it, hell i have no idea where i'd be right now!


Jen xxx