A triumph & things ^-^

[Claire-]

Hi guys! I haven't been around for a while, because I've been trying to work on emet by myself for a little while and stay away from this site, in case it triggered new fears.

But recently I've been trying a new sort of therapy, and I think it's really helping. I googled 'cure emetophobia' one day, as I do every now and then, and came across this article about the technique of 'Anchoring'. It's where you associate a very strong, happy and powerful feeling with a certain action, like pinching your knuckle or squeezing your left fist into a ball - something you don't do every day. So, you'd go out and look at a beautiful view, or read something funny, and whilst at the peak of that happy emotion, fire your 'trigger' for 5-10 seconds. You do this every day, several times if possible.

Then, whenever you think about vomit, or start to panic over it, you fire that trigger again. You can use it for however long you like, just fire it until your anxiety subsides. And OK, so I don't know if it will work for everyone, but it's working for me! My brain is learning to associate vomiting with neutral, if not happy thoughts. And I know that it's beginning to work because just now I was downstairs, picking at my dinner and starting to cry/hyperventilate because I didn't want it. That's how my last stomach virus started.. So I came upstairs and fired my trigger (which is pinching a certain knuckle, for me). Within 30 seconds, along with a little distraction, I was relaxed and fine again. Yeah, I still feel a bit nauseated, but I'm not filled with that complete dread I had a few minutes ago. I feel like I could cope if I vomited - like I'd actually rather vomit than live with this bloody awful fear any longer.

If anyone is looking for new ways to try and overcome their emet, I'd strongly recommend checking out Anchoring! ^_^ Here is the link if you want to read about how it works, and how exactly to do it:

http://www.changethatsrightnow.com/e...w-to-overcome/

I feel stronger now. Like, I believe that I'll be able to get over this. I know I'm nowhere near it, but I don't feel like it's going to hold me back from achieving my dreams any more!

Hope you all have a great day -Hugs-

[paulinek]

That's fantastic! Well done and I'm really pleased for you. It's always interesting learning of other methods to the usual CBT route too as while its very effective for many it doesn't suit everyone so it's encouraging that there are alternatives out there. I hadn't heard of that before. I will read that link when I'm in bed. Long may your road to recovery continue and thanks so much for sharing.

[pogopig]

Yes thank you. Great to have some positive tips for over coming this awful phobia. I'm going to try it.

[Claire-]

Yay! I'm glad posting it might help a few people ^_^ It's probably necessary to do a little CBT and changing your thoughts at the same time - But I've been doing that on its own for a long time and it wasn't getting me anywhere. But coupled with anchoring, I'm really starting to see a difference. I felt so sick last night I could hardly think about food, but I just went to bed and fell asleep!

Thank you for the encouragement for recovery, and I'm sure that you'll make it too!

[thecheesecake17]

That's awesome!!!! Does it have to be physical though?

I used to find that thinking of my crush and kissing him would distract me heavily lol but then he went and got a gf xD