How severe is your emet?

[courtneykay]

I am so grateful for this site because it is comforting to know I am not alone in this phobia. I used to think I was SO weird for being afraid of v*, but I've learned that so many people suffer from the same debilitating fear as me. However, after browsing the forums I have found areas where I seem to be more of a "mild" emet.

Don't get me wrong, if I feel n* I will be shaking and crying hysterically. During SV season I am constantly on edge. But I realized I don't take that many precautions.

Of course I wash my hands after using the restroom, I shower daily and practice good hygiene. I wash my hands before eating when I remember. But when it comes to other things, I'm not very careful. I touch my face A LOT. I eat out, I let other people prepare my food, I drink from time to time. Part of me is happy that I'm not super uptight about everything, but at the same time I wonder if I could better protect myself if I took more of these precautions.

I'm more of the type of person that just isolates myself when I become super anxious.

What about you guys? What are you super anal about? And what are you more relaxed about?

[EmetophobicTeenager98]

When my phobia just sparked like 6 months ago, I was crazy OCD. I could barely go out. But like since then until now, I've gained a lot more awareness and knowledge about my phobia so I'm a lot less careful. I wash my hands before eating, shower daily, wash my hands after the bathroom, and other BASIC hygiene. One thing I learned is that isolating does not help. I isolated for weeks when it sparked. It just dug a whole for me. Me constantly going out and hanging out with my friends, going to school, drinking occasionally led me back to normalcy and actually helped the phobia a bit. Again, as you said, if I have nausea, which btw I do right now because I'm tired haha, I have intense panic. But at least I am able to cope with the panic outdoors as well as indoors. Also if you follow the basic hygiene tips, which you seem to be following, the chances of actually catching a SV is very low.

[Shubertgoddess]

Very low fear here. I just worry about v* myself or catching something, but I don't let it cripple my life. I eat out and go out all the time. I always wash my hands first thing when I come in the house and before eating but that's mostly from being raised doing that. It's just habit now as an adult. Once a week the house gets a deep clean including bleaching door handles, light switches and faucets.... But again, that's how I was raised. These are things you touch constantly so they're dirtier than most other surfaces. My grandmother was a nurse and while she wasn't a germophobe, she was big on good hygiene and cleanliness

[tiredofitall]

I live a pretty normal life. I work full time, travel, eat out etc. I was doing well for many years but have been having some pretty bad stomach issues lately that have sparked my fear. For instance it is currently 1:23am where I am and I have to be up at 5am for work yet here I sit typing this response instead of sleeping due to this weird nausea I have been getting at night when I lie down to sleep. While I am not terribly panicked I am anxious and I'm sure that is making things worse.

[rrosedawsonn]

Like many of us, my emet got seriously bad. I ended up in the hospital, I was living off of anti emetics and crackers at a point. But now- it fluctuates. I only get really bad when I have to go to classes for some stupid reason. Which is why I'm still working on graduating. I haven't had a full day of work because I started having panic attacks for the first time. I usually just don't go anywhere crowded after eating.

[socitycourty]

It comes and goes for me. There have been 2 instances where I had complete nervous breakdowns and couldn't leave my house - 2008 and 2013. During those times I lost weight, stopped eating, couldn't drive, etc. It was really, really bad.

The rest of the time...I have OCD so I have "rituals" but I don't go into panic mode unless someone is s* and I feel I'm at risk. I do avoid a lot of things though, which can make life hard.

[Afdpt]

Well I've dealt with this to a degree for my entire life as much as I can remember. I used to take no precautions and never think about it unless I was in immediate danger of being sick or someone near me being sick (eg I got n* which I knew was real n* because I didn't have any anxiety induced symptoms, or someone near me said they were going to be sick)

About 2-3 years ago my phobia took a turn for the worst and I had increasingly severe symptoms to the point of daily panic attacks last summer/fall. It didn't stop be from doing most things. I recognized I had a problem and the cost of seeing a therapist was a little discouraging so I started working on it myself with techniques I learned online.

Now I'd say my phobia is mild to moderate on a bad day in Peak SV season especially if someone I know is sick.
My phobia is severe if I hear or see someone v* or feel in immediate danger of being infected. Certain situations cause increased symptoms as well such as public transportation especially planes - but I don't allow myself to avoid travel because of it.

[kaiilyn_23]

The severity fluctuates with my level of stress/anxiety. From December - April, it was terrible. I fell into old habits of relying on medications to get me through the day. I would avoid school because of panic attacks - not even because I feared of catching something - because I feared feeling sick or scared at school. Now that it's nearing the end of school, conveniently when the course-load thins out, I'm finding a calm balance and feeling secure again.

Five years ago, my emet was horrible. I barely left the house, and when I did, I was miserable. I stopped eating out of fear, which was dumb. I ate a handful of "safe" foods with a complete lack of nutrition and weighed next to nothing, before starting Zoloft and regaining my sense of self. I'm still not the same person I was before my anxiety began when I was 12. Obviously I've changed from natural factors, as I'm now 17 not 12, but a lot of my care-free traits have vanished, and I miss them more than anything.

I've always been afraid of v*, but I never obsessed over it like I do now, or started to 5 years ago. It would only freak me out when someone around me did it. I don't think I was even super concerned with myself doing it, unless my stomach was aching super bad. It's a horrible phobia and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. All phobias are terrible, but this one just happens to be a natural part of life, that may or may not happen, and it's something we can't control. I believe that's a huge factor in this phobia, the lack of control.

My anxiety was really bad for 5 months (this year), but I didn't stop doing things. I missed a lot of school, but kept up my social life and even flew by myself to see family in Arizona. I travelled on school trips, went on boats, etc. So although it's very much present, I'm not completely handing myself over to the fear.

[cat1]

Not gonna lie, it's pretty terrible.. during winter I can barely go out
I have bad habits though, when I stress I start picking at my skin (especially on my face) and when I was little I sucked my thumb ALL THE TIME. Messed my teeth up though, so after I got braces it stopped =D So I'm probably not as careful as many others with this phobia. But letting other people prepare food for me, hearing someone cough near me or my stuff, people saying they feel sick, being around small children etc Oh boy does that freak me out! I'll be a shaking mess. I also can't watch any movies that aren't animated

The times I've v* myself I've completely lost it, It's hard to explain but it feels as if I'm hearing colors and seeing sounds, my skin stings, my head and heart are pounding basically I just completely lose it. When others do it I scream,cry and cover my eyes and ears as best as I can. It probably looks ridiculous but at that point I'm completely out of it!!!

The only v* related thing I can deal with is cats' hairballs haha. I know the cause and it's not contagious + they tend to do it fairly quietly. Anything else is terrible.

[Pigatron]

I'm probably somewhere in the moderate range. I do wash my hands somewhat obsessively, before eating or touching any food I'm preparing, maybe to a slightly ridiculous degree. For example, if I'm making a sandwich, I'll open the bag of bread first, and get everything else ready too, then wash my hands, and only then will I touch any of the food. Because I worry that the outsides of packages might be "contaminated" from people touching it in the store. So that's pretty crazy. I also don't eat salads or anything raw in restaurants during the winter. I'm able to function, go to work, eat, have a drink or two, fly if necessary, etc. But if I feel real N, I have a complete meltdown. It's pure terror. I don't think that fear will ever leave me.