beginnings of the emet phobia

[kerryrob]

I've read many posts here that someone has been emet for "XX years" or "since I was XX years old".


Personally I have no recollection of a certain time that brought these fears on for me. Since I found this forum (and no, I didn't even realize it was a real phobia before I found it), I've been trying to put my finger on something that may have caused it or a certain time that my fears were realized...but I can't.


I don't suffer too badly from emet unless someone near me may be contagious with SV*. Even still, when that happens, I suffer from high anxiety, sensitive stomach, and high stress levels for about a week afterwards. I'm always one to try to thinkeverything through and try to handle problems on my own through rational thinkingif possible. Maybe I'm disillusional, but I'd like to think thatI might be able to get a handle on this if I knew when or where it started.


I'm just wondering if anyone else hasNO specific time that they can remember ofthis fear taking hold of them. Also, whether these kinds of people (if there are any) were trying to find the answer in hopes that it may help us understandthis phobia alittle better andperhaps help us to help ourselves in correcting our thinking.


kerryrob

[spilled_milk]

I don't think that I am exactly the type of person that you are talking about...I think that you are talking about someone that in their teen or young adult years suddenly had the phobia (correct me if i'm wrong). However, I wonder the same thing as you, because I first showed signs of this phobia since I was very young, and as I can't remember and my parents weren't looking for signs of it, I want to know how it developed. Was it a traumatic event? Was it genetic? Is it just in my nature? Is it my tendencies to be a control freak sometimes? I can remember some traumatic events but I freaked out even then...did I have the phobia before that, or did those events trigger the phobia?


I think that you're completely correct on the fact that possibly knowing how your phobia started could help you get a hold on it. Good luck!


<3 Anya--

[kerryrob]

spilled milk:


You mentioned being a control freak. That describes me perfectly...and I've also heard it mentioned on this forum before (thatsomeone wasafraid to lose control). I wonder if the majority of us are like this and it becomes somewhat obsessive / compulsive...and eventually turning into the phobia that we have. This could be why I can't point to a particular incident that caused my fear.


I've also read posts that people sometimes have a social phobia (as a result of their emet), and like to be home where they are safe. Maybe tthat's an indication of "why" someone may not know how it all started. It may just happen gradually when one is maturing mentally and gradually feels a stronger need to "be in control". When someone is no longer in control of their fears because of emet, they tend to stay home more and stay in their "safety zone"


Thanks for the input, spilled milk. Just a boring night spent pondering here, waiting for the snow to begin falling.


kerryrob