New to Society - Please help?

[JulieGsY]

Hello Everyone. My name is Julie, I'm originally from Denmark but have lived in the Channel Islands for almost 3 years now. It's the first time I've come across a forum like this as I've also only just learnt that there is something called Emetophobia as I previously had thought that there wasn't an actual diagnosis of some sort that could explain why I am afraid of the sound of vomiting. So, it's great that I now have other people I can relate to!

However, I am not sure how severe my phobia is and it is for that reason that I made this thread as I was hoping you folks would somehow help me to "assess" the severity of my phobia.

First of all, I am not sure at what age my fear of vomiting started, although I think it might be linked to when I was about 8 years old and I had a bike accident and I vomited as a result of a bad concussion after falling off my bike. I rarely do get sick, for example the last time I vomited was on December 31st 2010 after eating a bacon sandwich (I think the bacon might have been bad?). But before that happened, the last time I vomited was about 3-4 years ago. The thing that I hate the most about it all is actually hearing someone else being sick. I mean of course I hate throwing up myself, it's disgusting and I feel really shaky afterwards, but hearing someone else being sick sends BIG chills down my spine.

The last incident actually occured last Sunday. This was when my fiancé came home after drinking at a gathering at a neighbours' house. He came home at about 11.15 p.m. He was very dizzy and wobbling all over the place, and when he finally crashed onto our bed he told me he felt really sick. I told him to just lay there and relax as being in motion can make it worse. Afterwards, I went upstairs and chatted to his mum about something unrelated to the subject, and all of a sudden all I heard was something like "baaarrrfff...ugh... barrrfff". I knew it was my fiancé vomiting and I immediately put my hands around my ears as TIGHT as possible to block out ANY sound. This went on for another 5-10 mintues after which my fiancé's stepdad lead him outside the house to get some air. His mum then came back upstairs and told me that my fiancé had gotten up from the bed and walked to the door of our bedroom after which he could no longer walk and so just stood there and vomited all over our floor. I was absolutely disgusted and at the same time annoyed at my fiancé. I would not sleep in the same bed with him that night and so I had to go downstairs in our bedroom to get a few things. Immediately, I was even more disgusted as the hallway now stank of sour puke (it smelled sour due to the alcohol he had been drinking.) and upon seeing the vomit on our floor.

The following morning I tried to scrub the floor as hard as I could to get rid of the foul odour and, although I got rid of most of it, there's still a bit of a sour odour where he puked, although not as intense.

So to sum it all up, I hate the sound of other people vomiting more than seeing it or experience myself vomiting. I get disgusted and annoyed at the vomiter when I hear the sounds they make.

Thanks for taking the time to read my long post. It's nice to now have a place to vent.

- Julie

[KaydeeJayde]

I absolutely understand your fear of the noise and your annoyance at the vomitter. I think if people could vomit quietly or better, silently, my fear would be 75% better.

As for the severity of your phobia, it depends on a lot of factors. Does it impact on the way you live your life? Do you obsess over it?

other members will be able to advise you about the vomit smell, there have been some good threads about it before :-)

Welcome to the forums :-)

[JulieGsY]

Hi KaydeeJayde. Thanks for your reply, it's nice to know that there's someone who know understands how I feel. :-)

No it doesn't impact the way I live my life and I wouldn't say I overly obsess over it. But whenever someone talks about the subject, be that family, friend or stranger, it is then I start to get annoyed and worried, like when is the next time I'm gonna hear someone else vomit or when am I possibly go through it myself etc. I can be like this for atleast a few hours.

[ruthie1]

If you can sprinkle Bicarbonate of Soda over the vomit patch and leave it for a few hours and then hoover it off, this should get rid of the smell. I am sorry you had to face such a horrid situation but it sounds as though you handled it very well indeed. I would have really struggled to clear up the mess so I think you deserve a medal ! x

[KaydeeJayde]

Definitely. Great job with that!!

Something that my psychologist told me that you might find interesting is that even people without emetophobia have some amount of anxiety when they're ill or when someone else is ill. It's just that emets take it to the extreme of obsessing over it and panicking over it when really there might not even be any reason to. Perhaps you have a mild case of emetophobia. Either way, I think you'll find a lot of help and support here