is anyone else totally fed up?

[sljordan85]

im sick and tired of people finding this phobia funny. You try and tell people your worried about it and they just look at you like your a total idiot - sick to my family and friends is like just taking a pee or blowing their nose - it means nothing to them when they get sick yet its on my mind from the moment i wake till the moment i fall asleep every single waking day.

I just WISH people would understand. I understand fears of heights/spiders/dogs/birds so why cant anyone i know just have a normal understanding conversation with me about sick? EUGH its driving me nutts!

[maxwest555]

I know hwo you feel, many of my so called friends, and brother all mock me, they play pranks on me about it, they keep on pretending that they are about to be s* and they keep saying that they feel s* I hate it! I thought I could be open about this problem, but obviously not, the only supportive people are my Mum, Nan and 1 of my friends... i know what you mean though spiders is fine yeah that's totally normal, clowns sure that's fine but emet? suddenly your a total freak.

[sljordan85]

exactly! even my fiance thinks im a total nut and laughs about my phobia - or they tell me to give shut up if i ask about it - its such a shame no one understands
like today i was talking about the chance of getting sick and my mum was like "everyone throws up get over it!" (( Fingers crossed i can get to sunday without catching anything and have a sick and bug free holiday!!!

[KaydeeJayde]

I always explain my phobia to people in a serious manner. I have a friend who tells people about it and laughs at herself. They mock her, but the same people treat mine like it's serious and real, and wouldn't dare laugh at me. That being said, there are a couple of people at uni who say stuff like "Get over it, people vomit, no big deal..."

My mum and my boyfriend are amazing about it though, they don't understand, but they're so supportive and helpful. My dad seems to think I'm faking my anxiety to get attention just because I had a panic attack on father's day last year. I hate him, but the rest of my family are great!

[mrsdjb09]

It certainly isn't something people should laugh it. Unfortunately, many people who do not have phobia's or anxiety do not understand at all and think that we can just turn it on and off.

I'm lucky to have a supportive husband and family. I wish the same for all of you

[Fear Is Not An Option]

People think it's just a fear. They don't understand "phobia".

[idontfeelreal]

I just recently opened up about it with my boyfriend, best friend, and parents. My best friend is actually very similar to me in his OCD with germs/sick people/etc. So we kind of make light of it by joking about our common habits, tendencies and hatred of public bathrooms. We know its a serious issue, but being able to laugh at ourselves a little bit once in a while kind of helps ease the anxiety that builds up over it. When people who are on the outside of Emetophobia make fun of it without fully understanding it, its just malicious and cruel.

[person54321]

My parents finally understood better when I had my first panic attack, but now it's the opposite of joking, they think I'm mentally ill.

[chocolategirl]

yeah im fed up with it too. people don't understand how it makes us feel on a daily basis. But becuase of that inexperience they don't know how to handle it i guess so they joke about it. even so thats no excuse for them

[sljordan85]

My parents finally understood better when I had my first panic attack, but now it's the opposite of joking, they think I'm mentally ill.

this is another thing i HATE! people who think your mentally ill because you get anxiety or panic attacks over sick/feeling sick

Ive been called "mental" before when ive had a panic attack - do they not see im not mental its just my way of dealing with my phobia? :-/

[person54321]

Yeah... I don't like being treated like a crazy person. I don't know why mental illness has such the stigma it does. It's no more debilitating than a physical one and it's certainly just as out of our control as to who gets it.

[KaydeeJayde]

Technically, anxiety IS a mental illness. There's no shame in that, but technically speaking, it is a mental illness. That doesn't mean crazy though. I HATE it when people say stuff like "Erin is a bit crazy, she's afraid of vomit."... I mean, just saying "Erin is emetophobic" would suffice.

[hairyfairy]

I really can`t understand how people can be so casual about vting, I mean many people seem to think it`s cool to v, they make videos for u-tube about it! I think that I would rather die than be seen doing sometthing so degrading & disgusting, let alone be filmed.

[crd08]

People think it's just a fear. They don't understand "phobia".

This is pretty much what I was going to say. People who don't suffer find it hard to understand. We are all so compassionate towards other phobias/mental conditions because we know first hand what it's like.
I know sometimes I mention having a phobia and someone says, "Oh, yeah, I'm afraid of ___, and____, and ____"
No, I'm AFRAID of spiders, but I don't have a phobia of the, There is a difference, which people can't grasp.

[person54321]

I know there are a lot of groups out there campaigning for better awareness for mental disabilities. The stigma needs to go away. We don't think badly of someone for having lupus, so why think badly of them for having OCD or a severe anxiety problem? The idea that a phobia can just go away if you think about it rationally enough needs to stop too. I get extremely aggravated when someone tries to calm me down by just going, "throwing up isn't that bad. You're not going to die or anything. It's not the end of the world." What they don't understand is that to a phobic person it IS the end of the world.